Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs

Letter to all Eastern Orthodox Christians from four Eastern patriarchs in 1848

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The Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs is a letter issued in May 1848 by the four Eastern patriarchs of the Eastern Orthodox Church, who met at Council in Constantinople. It was addressed to all Eastern Orthodox Christians, as a response against Pope Pius IX's Epistle to the Easterners which had been issued in January (1848).^[1]

The encyclical was solemnly addressed to "All the Bishops Everywhere, Beloved in the Holy Ghost, Our Venerable, Most Dear Brethren; and to their Most Pious Clergy; and to All the Genuine Orthodox Sons of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church". The encyclical explicitly denounces the Filioque clause added by Rome to the Nicene Creed as a heresy, censures the papacy for missionizing among Eastern Orthodox Christians, and repudiates Ultramontanism (papal supremacy). It also describes the Roman Catholic Church as being in apostasy, heresy, and schism.

In the course of all this, it notably makes reference to the Fourth Council of Constantinople (879-880) as being the eighth ecumenical council.

Signatories

Patriarch Anthimus VI of Constantinople
Pope and Patriarch Hierotheus II of Alexandria
Patriarch Methodius of Antioch
Patriarch Cyril II of Jerusalem
The Holy Synod in Constantinople
The Holy Synod in Antioch
The Holy Synod in Jerusalem

References

^ Meyendorff 1996, p. 89-90.

Sources

Meyendorff, John (1996). The Orthodox Church: Its Past and Its Role in the World Today (Revised 4th ed.). Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. ISBN 9780913836811.