In Christ There is no East or West: How an Eastern Way of Thinking Helped to Heal Church Divisions at Vatican II and Beyond

Abstract

This paper argues that an “Eastern way of thinking”—holistic, experiential, paradox-friendly, and communional—helped Vatican II shift Catholic ecclesiology from a juridical model of unity toward a sacramental, Eucharistic communion, enabling new Catholic-Orthodox dialogue. Through seven examples, including ressourcement, pneumatology, liturgical theology, and religious freedom, it shows how the Council retrieved patristic and Eastern sources and calls for continued reception, broader cultural participation, and theologians to “speak so they can be heard.”