The Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs was a letter sent in May, 1848 by the patriarchs of the Orthodox Church in reply to Pope Pius IX's Epistle to the Easterns (1848). Rather than being a private letter to Pius IX, it is addressed to "All the Bishops Everywhere, Beloved in the Holy Ghost, Our Venerable, Most Dear Brethren; and to their Most Pious Clergy; and to All the Genuine Orthodox Sons of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church."

The encyclical explicitly denounces the Filioque clause added by Rome to the Nicene Creed as a heresy, censures the papacy for missionizing among

In the course of all this, it notably makes reference to the Eighth Ecumenical Council (879-880), in contrast with the opinion of many modern Eastern Orthodox Christians that there are only seven Ecumenical Councils accepted by the Orthodox Church.

Signatories

• Patriarch Anthimus VII of Constantinople
• Pope and Patriarch Hierotheus II of Alexandria
• Patriarch Methodius of Antioch
• Patriarch Cyrill II of Jerusalem

• The Holy Synod in Constantinople
• The Holy Synod in Antioch
• The Holy Synod in Jerusalem

See also

• Eastern Orthodoxy
• Encyclical
• Roman Catholicism

External link