“martyriological structure” and the Union of Brest revisited

I received several emails and a comment on my post updating the status of the Union of Brest ecumenical workgroup (vide infra). Since there is interest, I'll point you to another historical treatment of the events. It may be a little dense for some, but if bite-sized portions are taken it should prove rewarding.

... As similar historical paradigm for the "martyriological structure" of papal primacy can be found in the UGCC. The Ruthenian hierarchy freely sought out the Union of Brest, because neither the Patriarch of Constantinople "nor his predecessors since the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453 had exercised any direct authority over the Kievan Church" (S. SENYK, “The Background of the Union,” in Analecta OSBM, Section II, Volume XV (XXI) 1-4, 1996): 103). Moreover, the Patriarch of Constantinople was powerless to deal with the Kyivan church's concrete problems, as he himself was in need of aid and constantly in search of "generous alms to payoff the contributions the Turkish authorities imposed on the holders of the patriarchal thrones" (SENYK, "The Background of the Union," 103). Furthermore, the Kyivan Church was in a deporable state, and, in some senses, Patriarch Jeremiah II, during his visit to the Kyivan Church in 1588-9 (in search of alms) worsened the situation, by granting stauropegial status to the Brotherhood in Lviv, making it independent from the local bishop. As Senyk notes: "Ruthenian hierarchs, whatever their personal character and abilities, were too conscious of the authority with which they were invested at ordination to tolerate supervision from a portion of the flock they were to guide" (Senyk, The Background of the Union of Brest, 104). In short, “Jeremiah's stay in the Metropolitanate of Kyiv seems to have variously catalyzed the bishops' union initiative" (B. GUDZIAK, Crisis and Reform: The Kyivan Metropolitanate, the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and the Genesis of the Union of Brest, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998): 210) ...

Complete post here.