As I’ve said to Scott elsewhere, I welcome the news but am seriously skeptical as to it having any real effect. The same issues that (from our, Orthodox, point of view) caused the Schism are still present and, in my opinion have not really been addressed by the RCC. Other issues have since been added which cause further problems and I don’t think it’s an exaggeration, nice gestures notwithstanding, to say that we are further apart in beliefs now than we were in 1054. Unless there are changes on the RC side, even if all our Patriarchs were to agree to reunion, the best you would get would be another Great Schism as our laiety would refuse to accept it, just as they refused to accept the Council of Florence, and we have no overarching authority to force acceptance on us.

I’m all for working together where we can and I am completely in favour of continuing our discussions towards reunion, but I truly believe that only a miracle of God can bring us back into communion. Fallible mankind has had just over 950 years to work out our differences and we have singularly failed (and there is blame enough on both sides for both the initial Schism and its continuing existence).

James