St. Pachomius Library

Catholicity

There are several approaches to understanding the term "catholic faith". One is the "Vincentian canon": "that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, by all." However, as St. Vincent himself noted, this can only be approximated.
To modern Roman Catholics, it is the papacy which guarantees the Church's universality. Obviously, the Orthodox reject this view, saying that Christ is the head of the Church and needs no vicar, and that the conciliarity of the Church assures unity better than any central authority.
The question of the Church's boundaries is also implicit in any discussion of catholicity. This issue arises frequently in the current debate over ecumenism.
This page contains links concerning the general concept of the Orthodox Church as an universal institution, including St. Vincent's canon, but additional information may be found on the other pages mentioned in this introduction.
Norman Hugh Redington

General:
- Fr. Andrew Phillips: The Unity of the Orthodox Church. --- OA
- Fr. Georges Florovsky: The Catholicity of the Church. --- Minor Clergy Blog
- John H. Erickson: The Local Churches and Catholicity -- An Orthodox Perspective, (1992). The Jurist (52): 490-508.
- Fr. Milan Savich: Catholicity of the Church -- "Sobornost", (1986) --- ORI
- Abp. Nathaniel (Lvov): Catholicity. --- Orthodox Photos
- Abp. Nathaniel (Lvov): The Ever-Holy Trinity -- The Image of Catholicity. --- Orthodox Photos
- Panagiotis Nellas: Catholicity -- the basis of the Orthodox unity. Syndesmos News, September 1971. --- Syndesmos
The Vincentian Canon: Quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus.
- Fr. Georges Florovsky commented on the limitations of this formula.
  
  Fr. Georges Florovsky: The Catholicity of the Church. --- Minor Clergy Blog
  Abp. Chrysotomos of Etna and Fr. John Whiteford: St. Vincent of Lerins and Catholicity. A discussion of Fr. Georges' views. --- OCIC
Orbis major est urbe: No one city, not even the capital, can claim that its idiosyncratic practices are correct and the rest of Christendom's custom is in error.

St. Jerome, Ep. 146, i;
Re: Bishops:

The bishop of Rome and of the most obscure rural diocese are equally successors of the apostles:

St. Jerome, Ep. 146, i;

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