50 Spirituality Studies 9-2 Fall 2023 2 Soloviev’s Catholic Convictions In 1883, Soloviev exchanged a series of letters with the Croatian Catholic bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer (1815–1905), a leading intellectual figure of Catholic Slavs in the Balkan part of the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy and promoter of Catholic-Orthodox reunion. In one of the letters to bishop Strossmayer written as a memorandum on the position of Russian Orthodox believers in relation to the Roman Catholic Church, Soloviev explained at length his ecclesial standpoint. According to Soloviev (1966, 380–386), the Russian Orthodox Church in the area of dogmatic teaching preserved faithfully the doctrine of the first seven ecumenical councils. Although Russian Orthodoxy did not embrace the more recent dogmatic developments of the Catholic Church, it had added nothing contrary to Catholic doctrine (Lichner 2019, 49). Any heterodox or heretical propositions opposed to the Catholic Church and its teaching made supposedly by the Russian Orthodox Church were “never confirmed by any higher authority.” Hence, Soloviev held that these were no more than opinions by private individuals comparable to the conflicting unofficial teachings of theological schools over the long history of the Catholic Church. It was from this ecclesiological standpoint that Soloviev wrote his profession of Catholic faith that was published in the introduction of his work La Russie et l’Eglise universelle (2003, 30): As a member of the true and venerable Eastern or Greco-Russian Orthodox Church which does not speak through anti-canonical synod nor through the employees of the secular power, but through the utterance of her great Fathers and Doctors, I recognize as supreme judge in matters of religion him who has been recognized as such by St. Ireneus, St. Dionysius the Great, St. Athansius the Great, St. John Chrysostom, St. Cyril, St. Flavian, the Blessed Theodoret, St. Maximus the Confessor, St. Theodore of the Studium, St. Ignatius, etc. – namely, the Apostle Peter, who lives in his successors and who has not heard in vain our Lord’s words: ‘Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build My Church;’ ‘Strengthen thy brethren;’ ‘Feed My sheep, feed My lambs.’ Soloviev presented this statement under a personal conviction of the fundamental unity of faith between the Orthodox and the Roman Catholic churches. He was convinced that their schism did not impair the doctrine, sacraments, and the moral teachings of the Orthodox Church; and, that their corporate reunion was indeed possible. Hence, while Soloviev defended in his 1886 treatise on Dogmatic Development the new Catholic developments of doctrine as the legitimate part of the Christian doctrine, he did not consider these new developments an essential obstacle for the unity between the Catholic and the Orthodox Church. As Soloviev elaborated (1966, 352): The true essence of the Church does not depend on greater or lesser progress in the ‘definition’ and ‘formulation’ of dogmatic ‘details’, but depends on the presence of apostolic succession, on the orthodox faith in Christ as perfect God and perfect man, and finally on the plenitude of the sacraments. In sum, Soloviev held that one was able to practice the Catholic faith in its fullness within the bounds of the Russian Orthodox Church, praying for the restoration of the full and visible unity with the Catholic Church that had been lost due to the schism of the 11th century. In this regard, Soloviev defended his position in a polemical article of 1886 published in Croatia [4]: My personal views on Catholicism can be of no value, but the fact that such views are tolerated by the Eastern Church and that I have not been excommunicated by this Church is important to a certain degree. If an Anglican, for example, spoke publicly in this manner about Catholicism, he certainly could not remain a member of the Anglican Church. A nightingale does not create a spring. But if this nightingale withstands the climate of the north without dying from cold, it is certain that winter has passed, that one can have more confidence in the sky, and that no one should stay indoors any longer. As Sergei M. Soloviev emphasized in his biography (2000, 304), Soloviev repeatedly refuted suggestions that he formally entered the Roman Catholic Church; he saw such suggestions stemming from a narrow notion of Catholic unity as uniformity with the Latin-rite Catholic Church. He believed that becoming a member of the Roman Catholic Church was not imperative for him as a member of the Russian Orthodox Church; moreover, such a step would have practically terminated his ecumenical work on account of the prevalent anti-Roman bias and suppressive state control over religious matters in Russia.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjkyNzgx