Don’t you just love Saul of Tarsus?  Paul was a Jew and Pharisee with roman citizenship.  He lived in a state of privilege among his own people in Jerusalem.  And just think he gave all of his privileged status away for Christ.  Which man would do that but for one having an encounter with Christ.  Christ as a human person probably met Paul during Christ’s lifetime. Paul’s description of his encounter with Christ after Christ’s death has to be true.  Who else would leave a position of privilege to follow Christ unless he had a conversion?  And look at what that encounter achieved.  Paul was completely changed.  He once hated the Christians and sought to kill them.  His heart was cold, prideful and unloving. His mind dwelled on conceit and discrimination and hatred.  And it was no other than Christ who changed him.  Paul was fortunate.  He had a literal, first hand and personal encounter with Christ. And that encounter changed him to the core. Paul shed all of those pent up Jewish vices and took on the virtues Christ offered.  And he preached those virtues to the gentles, heathens in the eyes of the Jews.  But what is truly amazing about the story of Paul is that he discovered a goodness within the gentiles, a goodness which they possessed even before Christ.  He saw that humans have an innate goodness that can be encouraged and eventually perfected.  These heathen gentiles may have been worshipping the Roman and Greek gods but they did not know any better.  Paul showed them the love that flows from their Creator, the one invisible God whose presence is felt when the innate goodness of humanity is exposed and encouraged.  Love became infectious and found a way to heal the depravity of the gentiles. Paul recognized that this goodness exists within most of humanity and Paul encouraged its growth with the help of the Holy Spirit.  And grow it did.  Paul and his close followers built the whole western Church under the tutelage and guiding hand of Christ himself.  Paul preached but it was Christ’s own Spirit that converted humanity to bring forth within them the love, humility and brotherhood that became the Church. But with Paul, this brotherhood had to be practiced.  If you did not practice what Paul preached, Paul had complete disdain for you and Paul preached exclusion for such heathens from the Church. Paul did not hate anyone, he just loved the true believers more.  True believers are those who follow God’s laws, both natural and divine. The unfaithful, those who believe that they can do whatever they want without observing the law, were the heathens, heretics, haters and trouble makers.  Paul excluded the unfaithful and railed against them. Don’t we still have these troublemakers around today?  Except they have become wolves in sheep’s clothing. They try to deceive the faithful who retain Paul’s innate goodness.  These wolves try to make the faithful believe that their innate goodness is somehow defective and hateful and discriminatory.  These wolves try to make God’s people believe that the wolves deserve special treatment and should be loved in spite of their continued depravity.  They try and shame the faithful and make them feel guilty if any group or any action is condemned by the faithful.. Don’t be fooled.  Paul would have easily excluded these heathens and wolves in sheep’s clothing from his new Churches and we must do the same today. These wolves must be excluded today.  They try and pretend that the faithful are hateful and discriminatory when the wolves are called out and excluded.  In other words the wolves disguise their own hate and disrespect for the natural and divine laws by placing their guilt on the hands, heads and hearts of the true believers.  This farce must stop.  What is the Church afraid of?  I think the churches are more worried about losing money and members than saving souls? Grow a pair like Paul did and take a stand.  You only have the support of Christ to lose.

      While doing some reading tonight, I came across two unusually remarkable reasons for exegesis (biblical interpretation):  conversion/mission.  Imagine, some think that reading the bible is just an attempt to understand its literal meaning and not a regard for the authentic understanding of the real truths and wisdom it communicates through the Divine Law.  Another insight that I stumbled across is that many modern religions, and some older ones too, view the love which Paul speaks and that which Christ demonstrated in the Bible applies to every single person alive on this earth through their entire lifetime. Let’s address the second insight first.
     As I recall reading Paul’s many writings and even John in revelation to the seven Churches, these apostles disliked lots of people.  Paul was always writing about individuals and groups causing discord within the community.  Paul demanded that they reform or otherwise be shunned and removed from the community.  Paul advised the Churches on many occasions to disassociate with followers who did not conform to the words of Christ.  John also talked about the instability of some of the seven churches and their lax submission to the words of Christ.  And what about the Church Fathers.  These guys were always railing about some heretic creating confusion among the believers.  These heretics were declared apostates and were often called spawns of Satan. They were thrown out of the church and stripped of their ecclesial positions. The church fathers were constantly fighting against the various heresies that reared their ugly heads. 
     So I marvel at the modern churches today.  According to many, even some in the Catholic Church, the love of which Christ demonstrated and Paul spoke of so eloquently is supposed to be a gooey kind of love.  These superficial churches and leaders have the mindset that the church must open its doors and windows to every sinner and expose these violators to all of the other humbled members of the community. And this open door policy must be applicable to everyone at all times.  Unrepentant homosexuals, divorced and civilly remarried, pedophiles, corrupt priests, radicalized persons, criminals, and any other type of depravity should be allowed to participate in the Church without impunity or reform.  According to these all-encompassing bleeding hearts , if these reprobates are not allowed to commune, the church is somehow not being inclusive and is unloving to God’s creation. Well I recall from the stories in the Bible that Christ healed a lot of sinners, and that included prostitutes, tax cheats and fornicators.  But He always said repent and sin no more.  I don’t ever recall Christ coming into contact with the previously forgiven sinner a second time who had managed to return to a life of sin.  We can only assume that they repented and reformed their ways permanently.  I can only imagine Mary Magdalene having sex with some Roman guards after Christ forgave her.  Do you really think that Christ would have let her stick around with He and the apostles. So you sinners, who keep on sinning when you know that you are in fact continuing to break God’s laws, must stop your whining when the Church wants to exclude you.  Can you see that the Church offers forgiveness but you lack gratitude?  Your lack of prudence exposes your intemperance and pride.  You think the Church must accept your continued violation or else the church is somehow not inclusive and unchristian.  You are absolutely wrong and any church or leader who believes otherwise has been fooled and overcome by Satan himself.
     And now my first insight.  I have been fooled all along my journey. When  I began seriously reading the Bible, I wanted to understand what it meant to be called a sinner and I wanted to learn how to be forgiven and how to become a follower of Christ. I knew my soul was in a state of confusion, but I never fully realized the flux I was in until I had a conversion experience. I then began to gain wisdom, truth and knowledge as I read the Bible.  I came to realize that the sewer I was in was caused by my self-idolization. I reformed myself and not with the help from another human being as Paul and the apostles managed to accomplish.  I did it with the help from the man above. And I started writing to help others on their journey to salvation. I continue to read and as I was reading about exegesis, I assumed that everyone understood what the bible says and the steps needed to be converted along the path to salvation.  But I have come to realize now that everyone takes different learning paths and we are all in various stages of knowledge, repentance and forgiveness.  When I was a horrible sinner, I read the bible a little but didn’t care what it meant and didn’t want to understand the truths it proclaimed.  My free will did not want to listen and understand, I guess.  God finally forced me to read with an understanding heart.  And now I understand.  He converted me and changed me.  But I find that it is still very hard to refrain from sin.
     So what is the mission of the Church Christ started?  The natural and divine law must be proclaimed to all who want to listen and even to those who do not want to listen.  And it must be proclaimed again and again.  Everyone must be given a chance to hear and see.  But their must come a time in the life of each and every individual when the opportunity to listen, understand and accept the proclamations come to an end and decisions have to be made.  Paul and the apostles did not leave a wide window of opportunity in those early days.  The churches today seem to never want to close the window.

          In the news today was a statement by the mayor of Philadelphia, Jim Kenney, about the actions of Archbishop Charles Chaput.  The archbishop issued a set of guidelines entitled “Pastoral Guidelines for Implementing 'Amoris Laetitia'.” [The Apostolic Exhortation issued by Pope Francis on March 19, 2016, Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), concluded the Church’s reflection on the family which was studied by the Synods of 2014 and 2015.] The mayor stated that the archbishop’s guidelines were “unchristian.” I wondered to which Christian was the mayor referring.  Mayor Kenney has been separated from his wife for several years and is homosexual.  Archbishop Charles Chaput's moral decisions were in line with the theology of Christ and God as expressed in the Bible.  His guidelines may not be to the liking of some protestant Christians who are so far removed from natural and divine law that these groups should not even have the word Christian associated with their name. The guidelines may not even be to the liking of some fallen away Catholics and apostates like Kenney.  But the church, which sprouted and grew these the words of Christ, is the Catholic Church.  And this church’s theology and moral direction has remained constant and consistent for 2000 years. Numerous heretics and heresies have been defeated throughout the centuries, all through the guiding hand of the Holy Spirit. So to determine what the word “unchristian” means, we should first attempt to define Christianity.  What describes, defines, delineates and distinguishes a true Christian? It is not the thoughts and ideas of a particular person or group of people or the actions of a particular person or group of people but rather the thoughts and actions of an ideal person in the eyes of god.  Christ would be a perfect example of a true Christian.  And what made Christ Christian?  His internal moral bearing was constantly directed toward heaven. And what caused this unrestrained focus: infinite truth, knowledge and wisdom. From where did this knowledge and truth come? God’s laws. Like it or not, God created all of the natural and divine laws we live under today. 
                Natural law consist of laws of nature in the outdoors, in nature, and beyond. The forests of North America, the permafrost of Siberia, savannas of Africa and the galaxies in the universe are all governed by the same body of natural law.  It is universal and unchanging.  The natural law produces rain, ice and snow in the water cycle; it feeds the plants, insects, fish and animals of the kingdom; the natural law causes reproduction (sexual activity); it causes birth and death of stars and keeps planets within their orbits so they don’t go bouncing around against each other.  These laws of nature create harmony within the kingdom.  Where did these laws come from?  Humans and legislatures did not enact them.  They were created by someone though.  I suggest God. Some examples of these laws: fire burns; gravity keeps everything in its place; water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit; light and sound travel at specific speeds; plants require moisture to germinate; nature provides food for the animals since they cannot sow and harvest; and males and females reproduce to perpetuate the species.  There are hundreds of other examples of natural laws. Humans had to discover these laws on their own and we are still discovering new ones today in the fields of physics, biology and other branches of science. These laws have always been and will always be fixed and unchangeable.
                The other body of law enacted by God and made known to man through revelation is Divine law.  It exists today as the ten commandments of the Old Testament, which everyone should know, and the two commandments of the New Testament, love of God with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. These laws only apply to the higher species- human beings. Divine law governs the interaction within and the relationship between humans and, of course, between humans and God.  It covers morals and virtues, vices and defects of will, and judgment and grace.   Virtues of justice, prudence, temperance, and fortitude lead to the gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord (wonder). They are obeyed or broken in this world but enforced in a spiritual realm and with earthly and heavenly consequences.  Violations create discord, disgust and debauchery.  The violator receives God’s judgment of withdrawal of grace and denied entrance into Heaven and often times penalties from society, for example, divorce and incarceration. Followers of the divine law receive honesty, harmony and hallowedness as a free gift. The human mind and soul obeys because we are fashioned toward goodness.  When the will submits to the divine law, God’s grace produces joy and loving-kindness. When the will disregards divine law, the violator receives negative earthly consequences and divine judgment. Studies of the Divine law fall under the guise of philosophy, phycology, sociology and theology but they, just as the natural law, are fixed and unchangeable. Revelation of divine law changes, societies change, even people change but these rules of human interaction between man and man and between man and God are constant and never changing.
                Laws are not necessarily made just for the law breakers.  Actually, in all honesty, these Laws were enacted for the protection and well-being of those who observe the law.  The Church must have these rules not for the sinner, but for the flourishing of brotherly love amongst the innocent sons and daughters of God. God's love is pure and He expects the same type of love in return. A Church steeped in sin cannot foster brotherly love among its members or offer pure love to the Father.
                “Love of God and of one's neighbor cannot be separated from the observance of the commandments of the Covenant renewed in the blood of Jesus Christ and in the gift of the Spirit…The present time is instead marked by a formidable challenge to undertake a "new evangelization", a proclamation of the Gospel which is always new and always the bearer of new things…Evangelization — and therefore the "new evangelization" — also involves the proclamation and presentation of morality. The new evangelization will show its authenticity and unleash all its missionary force when it is carried out through the gift not only of the word proclaimed but also of the word lived. At the heart of the new evangelization and of the new moral life which it proposes and awakens by its fruits of holiness and missionary zeal, there is the Spirit of Christ, the principle and strength of the fruitfulness of Holy Mother Church.”  VERITATIS SPLENDOR, by POPE JOHN PAUL II, year 1993, the fifteenth of his Pontificate.
                So Mayor Kenney, the reason you don’t like the guidelines issued by the archbishop is because you are probably violating one or more of God’s laws, either one or more of the natural or divine.  Our present society is becoming radicalized by people like you.  If you and others would just take the time to read, study and understand what the natural and divine laws command, humans could exist in a state of joy and loving-kindness. But instead, our society is filled with people going around calling leaders in the Church unchristian, racists and bigots.  I hate to say it but the only unchristian in this tiff is the mayor with his unchristian rhetoric and venomous antichristian views.

     The Archdiocese of the Catholic Church of Philadelphia recently released a document entitled “Pastoral Guidelines for Implementing Amoris Laetitia.” The Apostolic Exhortation issued by Pope Francis on March 19, 2016, Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), concluded the Church’s reflection on the family which was studied by the Synods of 2014 and 2015.   After reading Amoris Laetitia, I was still confused about the conclusions Pope Francis intended to convey concerning the Eucharist, in general, and homosexual marriage in particular.  The guidelines for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (the city of “Brotherly Love”) have quelled most of my bewilderment.  These guidelines become effective on July 1, 2016 in the Archdiocese.  The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops can strengthen the entire Church if they would adopt these guidelines. So could the Pope.
     What of marriage according to the guidelines?  Of course, these guidelines apply to baptized members of the Catholic Church.  So if you are not a Catholic or a Catholic, but have fallen away, these rules do not apply to you and you have absolutely no grounds to criticize, condemn or complain.  Marriage is only between one man and one woman.  Marriage is indissoluble, meaning it lasts forever in the eyes of the Church, unless of course, a couple has grounds for dissolubility, such as annulment. If a marriage is dissoluble, it means it is as if it never existed. Marriage, during the lives of the spouses, can only end at the death of one spouse.
     Sex outside of a properly confected and intact Catholic marriage is absolutely forbidden.  Divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, who are sexually active, are committing sin.  They are also committing sin for having divorced and their second marriage is a nullity in the eyes of the Church. They must pledge an act of chastity. Teenagers, young adults, and everyone else who are not married, but who are sexually active, are committing sin.
     What of Communion? Every Catholic before receiving the Eucharist, not only the divorced and civilly-remarried, must repent, sacramentally confess all serious sin with a contrite heart and firmly resolve to abstain from all future sin.  “With divorced and civilly-remarried persons (those who are divorced but who have not dissolved their prior marriage within the Church), Church teaching requires them to refrain from sexual intimacy. This applies even if they must (for the care of their children) continue to live under one roof.  Undertaking to live as brother and sister (meaning no sex) is necessary for the divorced and civilly-remarried to receive reconciliation in the Sacrament of Penance, which could then open the way to the Eucharist. Such individuals are encouraged to approach the Sacrament of Penance regularly, having recourse to God’s great mercy in that sacrament, if they fail in chastity.  Even where, for the sake of their children, they live under one roof in chaste continence and have received absolution (so that they are free from personal sin), the unhappy fact remains that, objectively speaking, their public state and condition of life in the new relationship is contrary to Christ’s teaching against divorce. Concretely speaking, therefore, where pastors give Communion to divorced and remarried persons trying to live chastely, they should do so in a manner that will avoid giving scandal or implying that Christ’s teaching can be set aside.  In other contexts, also, care must be taken to avoid the unintended appearance of an endorsement of divorce and civil remarriage; thus, divorced and civilly remarried persons should not hold positions of responsibility in a parish (e.g. on a parish council), nor should they carry out liturgical ministries or functions (e.g., lector, extraordinary minister of Holy Communion).”                Sexually active persons outside of a validly confected Catholic marriage cannot receive the Eucharist unless they repent, sacramentally confess all sin with a contrite heart and firmly resolve to abstain from all future sin.  Of course, all persons, whether married or unmarried, who are in a state of mortal sin (i.e., adultery, covetness or theft) cannot receive the Eucharist unless they undergo Reconciliation.
     These objective truths discriminate against no one, including the homosexual. “When two persons of the same sex present themselves openly in a parish as a same-sex couple (including those who may have entered into a same-sex union under civil law), pastors must judge prudently how best to address the situation, both for the sake of the authentic spiritual good of the persons involved, and the common good of the believing community.  It’s important to remember that some same-sex couples do live together in chaste friendship and without sexual intimacy, and many pastors have had the experience of counseling such couples.  The Church welcomes all men and women who honestly seek to encounter the Lord, whatever their circumstances.  But two persons in an active, public same-sex relationship, no matter how sincere, offer a serious counter-witness to Catholic belief, which can only produce moral confusion in the community.  Such a relationship cannot be accepted into the life of the parish without undermining the faith of the community, most notably the children.   Finally, those living openly same-sex lifestyles (even those who are unmarried) should not hold positions of responsibility in a parish, nor should they carry out any liturgical ministry or function.”
     These guidelines still do not resolve all of the questions left unanswered by the Pope.  What of the unmarried homosexuals and the civilly married homosexuals with regard to the Eucharist, Reconciliation and the other sacraments? The rules stated above would apply. Unmarried homosexuals, who are sexually active, are committing sin and must repent, sacramentally confess all serious sin with a contrite heart and firmly resolve to abstain from all future sin, before receiving the Eucharist. Their treatment is equal to the treatment of unmarried, sexually active heterosexuals. However these sexually active homosexuals are violating another express prohibition in the Bible, sex between the same genders.  Must they be forever excluded from the Eucharist? How about openly active and publicly and civilly married homosexuals?  Must they be excluded from the Church altogether?

     Besides all the political disharmony in the news today about republicans and democrats, Brexit and the Muslim Sunni-Shia rebellions, I read with sadness the religious disharmony making news in the Eastern Orthodox Church.  I am quite sure the evil one is celebrating in hell tonight.  An ecumenical council is taking place in the east this month, June 2016, after a long break of inaction. The Holy and Great Council of Orthodox Patriarchs is meeting for the first time in 1,139 years.  They are meeting in Crete and not Constantinople, so as to pretend that Bartholomew is not the head of the Orthodox Church. But schisms have developed.  It seems that the gathering lacks the congealing presence of the Holy Spirit and the mindset of Christ.  If only Saint Paul were still around.  I am quite certain that Paul would set these men straight. One last comment about discord.  I must apologize to my Protestant brothers and sisters for previously condemning them as heretics.  I read in the news that some in the Orthodox Church consider Catholics as heretics.  I was shocked that members of a church under the Vicar of Christ, Bishop of Rome, the Pope, could be considered heretics.  Why, I have such pride in my Catholic religion.
     Well here goes a very brief history on religion.  Christ named twelve. One bolted then Matthias was added and finally Paul.  Paul and the remaining twelve were dispersed around the world and for nearly 300 years, the church grew as one under God.  Besides Jerusalem and Rome, many Christian Churches in the East claim to have been founded by the apostles: Antioch by Peter and Paul, Alexandria by Mark, Constantinople by Andrew, Cyprus by Barnabas, Ethiopia by Matthew, India by Thomas, Edessa in eastern Syria by Thaddeus, Armenia by Bartholomew, Georgia by Simon the Zealot. After much persecution by the Romans, along came Constantine in 325 A.D.  Roman Emperor Constantine, while ruling the empire from Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) convened the council of Nicaea. Three hundred and eighteen bishops were present from around the world as well as priests, deacons, and acolytes in great numbers. Hosius, Bishop of Cordova, attended as legate of Pope Sylvester. The Emperor Constantine was also present. To this council we owe the Nicene Creed. 
     One canon stands out, Canon 16: All clerics were forbidden to leave their church. Bishops, priests, and deacons were not to pass from one church to another. Bishops were forbidden to ordain for their diocese a cleric belonging to another diocese. Unity existed in God’s newly established Church albeit under the supreme authority of the Roman Emperor.  And the council tended to quell disharmony by restricting the powers of the respective bishops to within their dioceses. The church grew slowly but breaches in the relationships between human leaders soon began.
In 476 A.D., Rome fell to various Germanic tribes.  The new separation of the Greek East from the Latin West created a strain between the Greek and the Latin Christians. The dominant language of the West was Latin, while that of the East was Greek.  The number of individuals who spoke both languages dwindled, and communication between East and West grew difficult.  The two halves of the Catholic Church were naturally divided along these lines. The eastern Roman Empire, also called the Byzantine Empire, flourished and expanded its reach.     The Byzantine Empire was a theocracy. The Emperor was the supreme authority in both church and state. Byzantium was distinguished from ancient Rome in that it was centered around Constantinople, oriented towards Greek rather than Latin culture, and characterized by Orthodox Christianity. Authority of the bishop of Rome waned.
     By 661, Muslim Arabs had taken over the territories assigned to the patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem.  Only two rival power centers of ecclesiastical authority existed, Constantinople and Rome. The church effectively lost one third of its sphere of influence when Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem fell to the Arabs.
     The physical and theological separation of power between the eastern and western church developed over time but the official date of the schism is 1054 A.D. The primary causes of the schism were disputes over conflicting claims of jurisdiction, in particular over papal authority. Pope Leo IX claimed he held authority over the four Eastern patriarchs.  The East–West Schism, also called the Great Schism of 1054, caused the break of communion between the Eastern Orthodox (Byzantine) and the Roman Catholic churches.  The Bishop of Rome's claim to universal jurisdiction over the See of Constantinople was unbearable.
     Byzantine fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. The Turks invaded Constantinople and gradually converted the entire region to Islam. The Christian center of authority was removed from Constantinople and moved north to Moscow. The Russian Church, a part of the Church of Constantinople until the mid-15th century, was granted full independence and elevated to the rank of Patriarchate in 1589. The Russian political and ecclesiastical elite came to view Moscow as the Third Rome, a legitimate heir to Constantinople and Byzantium. The orthodox church lost another third of its center of influence to the Muslims.  The only remaining Christian Kingdom was located from Greece, northward and westward.
     The doctrine of papal primacy was further developed at the First Vatican Council (1870), which declared that "in the disposition of God the Roman church holds the preeminence of ordinary power over all the other churches". This council also affirmed the dogma of papal infallibility, declaring that the infallibility of the Christian community extends to the pope himself, when he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole Church. This new dogma, as well as the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, was rejected by the Eastern Church as heretical.
A major event of the Second Vatican Council, known as Vatican II, was the issuance of the Catholic–Orthodox Joint Declaration of 1965 by Pope Paul and Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople . At the same time, they lifted the mutual excommunications created from the 11th century schism. The joint declaration did not result in restoration of communion. The two churches are just as separated today as they were in the 11th century.
     This schism within the Catholic Church created the Orthodox Church.  Unfortunately the Orthodox Church created a schism within a schism.  Thats what happens to churches when schisms develop.  Just look at the Protestants for evidence.  Today the Protestants have over 30,000 different denominations that preach different things.  Getting back to the Orthodox church, it is now composed of 14 different churches within a church.  Most of the 14 autocephalous (self-governing) churches are defined by national jurisdictions — the Orthodox Churches of (1) Albania, (2) Bulgaria, (3) Czech and Slovakia, (4) Georgia, (5) Greece, (6) Poland, (7) Romania, (8) Russia and (9) Serbia — while another five trace histories back to ancient communities: (10) Alexandria, (11) Antioch, (12) Constantinople, (13) Cyprus and (14) Jerusalem.
     With authority flowing from the ancient seat of the Byzantine Empire, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople is considered “first among equals” in relation to other Orthodox leaders, or so he thought.  The Orthodox Churches have been planning this Great Council for 100 years, literally.  Then right at the last minute, days before the scheduled opening of the council in June 2016, five churches began to disagree about the issues to be discussed.
      The Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox, Patriarchate of Antioch, Serbian Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church of Georgia and the Russian Orthodox Church all back out at last minute.  The Russian church is largest of the churches.  They are larger than all of the remaining churches combined. There are 100 million members of the Russian Orthodox Church.  The Romanian Orthodox Church is the second largest with 21 million member.
     The documents produced from the meager council espouse views that no closer bring the orthodox churches together than before the council.  The orthodox churches cannot seem to unify.  In fact they produced a document (THE ORTHODOX DIASPORA and Autonomy and the Means by Which it is Proclaimed) which seems to allow independent churches within each autonomous church to break away and create smaller churches.  They are proliferating ideas of Protestantism. They are creating a schism within a schism.  Their schism has created a situation where any thought of communion with the Roman Catholic Church is hundreds of years away if ever. Read the documents produced by the council here:  https://www.holycouncil.org/home.
     Another great schism within the Roman Catholic Church was the reformation begun by two protesting, catholic priests named Martin Luther and John Calvin in early 1500s. Look how that turned out - hundreds of protesting churches. We are also undergoing a Muslim schism between the Sunni and Shia, and now an eastern orthodox schism. The only unified church still standing is the Roman Catholic Church or rather what’s left of it. Oh, how the Lord must hate all of these schisms.  But He did foretell them, didn’t He. When will all these schisms cease?