But the true Church of Christ has remained and is one. In its mystical unity, it is inseparable. If there are different Christian Churches in the world today, then they are only fragments of it. The gates of hell will not prevail against the true Church until the end of the world, according to the word of Christ the Savior. And this true Church exists; it is, one, holy, catholic and apostolic – it is the Orthodox Church. It does not need to unite or reunite with any other Church. To it, as to the true Church of Christ, must be joined by all the other Churches seeking unity. In this sense, the Orthodox Church views the unity of the Churches, for which she prays at the litanies during the Divine services. Catholics organize weeks of prayer for the unification of the Christian Churches, but they understand this unification only around Rome and the Vatican under the primacy of the Pope. They do not recognize any other way of unification. They think over and invent various means and methods of how best and more successfully to achieve this without any damage to Catholic doctrine.

However, the Orthodox cannot accept the Catholic teaching on the infallibility of the Pope of Rome, on the filioque, on the immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on purgatory, and on many Catholic doctrines. To accept them is to become a Roman Catholic. All the missionary work of the Vatican boils down to this, but it is unacceptable for Orthodoxy. On the part of the Pope of Rome, there has not been and cannot be an invitation to the Orthodox to take part in the Ecumenical Catholic Council convened by him. To do this, it would first be necessary to change the canonical rules of the Roman Church. Orthodox Christians can only be admitted to this Council as observers or guests on an equal footing with journalists. But such a presence of the Orthodox at the Ecumenical Catholic Council cannot have any practical significance for the unification of the Churches. Both before the Council and after the Council, everything will remain the same. Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras expressed his point of view on the matter of the unification of the Churches. Literally, the Patriarch told the Greek journalist P. Palaiologos the following: "The Orthodox Church is ready to recognize the primacy of the Pope on the condition that he is recognized as the first among equals, and not the first if all the other heads of the Churches are equal, which would resemble a monarchical doctrine over Christianity." If the Pope recognizes this, then the first step towards the unification of the two Churches will be made. Each Church would retain its present form and practice until theologians found a way to overcome some doctrinal differences. On these conditions, the Patriarch would be ready to visit the Pope if he agreed to pay him a return visit. The Patriarch sees no reason to avoid participating in the Vatican Council if other Orthodox and Protestant Churches take part in it, since there was a report that "observers" would be invited.

This is the point of view of the Patriarch of Constantinople, but it in no way reflects the opinion of all the other Orthodox Patriarchs and Metropolitans, the heads of the Local Orthodox Churches. They may have a different point of view and a different approach to this issue. In any case, it can be definitely judged that the forthcoming Vatican Council will not bring about a significant change in the Christian world. Its decrees will affect only the Roman Catholic Church. The disunity of Christians will remain in the same form, the apostasy from the Truth of Christ will continue, godlessness and materialism will strengthen their strength. The signs of this are obvious.

The Problem of the Pan-Orthodox Church Council

Under the impression of Pope John of Rome's convocation of the 23rd Ecumenical Catholic Council, voices began to be heard among the Orthodox about the convocation of a Pan-Orthodox Church Council. There is a great deal of material for discussion at this Council. Pan-Orthodox conferences were already convened in the years before the Second World War, at which theologians discussed various problems of a theological nature. The first such conference was held on Holy Mount Athos, and the second in Athens. In September 1961, a Conference of representatives of all the Orthodox Autocephalous Churches on the island of Rhodes was held. This Conference was attended by 80 delegates from 12 Orthodox Churches. In all these Conferences and Conferences there was only an exchange of views on various current issues of church life. No important decisions have been made. Instead, different points of view emerged between church delegates from the countries of the communist bloc and the rest of the Orthodox world. This divergence was clearly expressed at the Rhodes Conference. Delegates of the sub-Soviet Church tried to introduce politics in favor of the Communists. Others disagreed, except for delegates from Communist Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. The latter stood on the side of the Soviet delegation. In 1963, an inter-Orthodox Church Council was convened again on the island of Rhodes. To prepare for this Council, a special committee will be formed, with its headquarters, probably on the island of Rhodes. The main initiator of all these pan-Orthodox conferences is the Patriarch of Constantinople. Pan-Orthodox Councils cannot be ecumenical without the participation of delegates from all Christian Churches. But these Christian Churches must be Orthodox in faith. An Ecumenical Council cannot consist of heterodox churches. For these reasons, even the Catholic Council now convened by the Pope of Rome is not Ecumenical, although it is so called by the Catholics.

The last Ecumenical Council took place in 787. This was the 7th Ecumenical Council. After him, there were no more Ecumenical Councils. There were many reasons that prevented the convocation of the Eighth Ecumenical Council. The first reason was that in 867, during the patriarchate of Patriarch Photius of Constantinople (857-867), the Roman Patriarchate fell away from the Universal Orthodox Church, and in 1054 this falling away was finally consolidated. Without the participation of the Roman Patriarchate, the Ecumenical Council would not be complete, just as the Ecumenical Council cannot take place without the Eastern Orthodox Church. An Ecumenical Council is possible with the unity of all Churches. A serious reason for the impossibility of convening an Ecumenical Council was the conquest by the Arabs of the Orthodox East, North Africa and Spain. Three Patriarchs: Jerusalem, Alexandria and Antioch suffered greatly from the invasion of the Muslim Arabs. The Muslim Arabs, admirers of Mohammed, did not allow the Orthodox to participate in the Council.

And then came the so-called Crusades (1096-1270), of which there were seven. The Popes of Rome launched these campaigns to liberate the Holy Land from the Mohammedans, but in reality they had the goal of destroying the Orthodox Church. By temporarily seizing Orthodox lands, the Catholic crusaders did more harm to the Orthodox than the Muslims: they mocked the Orthodox, and especially the Orthodox shrines. And this further deepened the division of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches. In 1453, Constantinople (Tsargrad) fell under the blows of the Mohammedan Turks. The ancient Byzantine Orthodox kingdom ceased to exist as a stronghold of Orthodoxy. Byzantium and Constantinople were called the second Rome, as the capital of the Roman Empire. As we can see, the Orthodox world had no rest, and there was no longer a suitable time for the convocation of the 8th Ecumenical Council.

But on the other hand, further Ecumenical Councils were not needed, because at the former seven Ecumenical Councils everything that was necessary for Orthodox teaching was determined and established. All Christian dogmas are fully formed on them. But with the passage of time, new questions have arisen that require a conciliar solution by the entire Orthodox Church. From this point of view, the 8th Ecumenical Council is necessary and will be convened when the time is favorable. All Orthodox conferences and conferences are only preparatory bodies for the convocation of an Ecumenical Council. If it pleases the Lord, then such a Council will finally resolve the question of the unification of the Churches, for which everyone prays, and what the best Christian thinkers aspire to. The unification of the Churches is the work of God, and without the will of God it will not be accomplished.

Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses are an extremely militant, one might say, aggressive organization. 20 years ago it had only 60,000 people, and now it has 950,000. Every year, on average, it grows by 10%. See how the conventions of Jehovah's Witnesses held in New York stadiums are growing. In July 1950, 112,410 "Jehovah's Witnesses" gathered at the Yankee Stadium. In July 1953, there were already 165,000 of them. In July 1958, one stadium was no longer enough, along with the Yankee Stadium, the Polo Grounds Stadium was also removed. That year, 259,922 "Jehovah's Witnesses" participated. Now they hold their conventions simultaneously in several cities in America.

Who are Jehovah's Witnesses? This sect was founded by Charles Russell in 1872. Russell, a native of Pennsylvania, was a Presbyterian. On the basis of some sophisticated calculations connected with the Egyptian pyramids, he predicted that the end of the world would come in 1874, i.e. two years after the founding of the sect of Jehovah's Witnesses. Russell then moved the end of the world to 1914. But Russell died in 1916, and the "end of the world" never came.

Another leader of the sect, Rotherford, denounced Russell as a "servant of the devil." He created a new theory, according to which at the end of the world there will be an "Armageddon" battle between "Jehovah's armies" and the armies of the devil. At the same time, the 144,000 chosen "Jehovah's Witnesses" will be transformed into disembodied angels, and a million other "Jehovah's Witnesses" belonging to the lower class will acquire their worldly flesh and become immortal. It is immortality that those preachers who go from house to house insist on. They begin by supposedly bringing "hope for the future": become "Jehovah's witnesses" and you will gain immortality...