Uncreated Light

As a theological doctrine, the uncreated nature of the Light of Tabor was formulated in the 14th century by Gregory Palamas, an Athonite monk, defending the mystical practices of Hesychasm against accusations of heresy by Barlaam of Calabria.

[4] In particular, Pope John Paul II in 1996 spoke favourably of hesychast spirituality,[5][6] and in 2002 he named the Transfiguration as the fourth Luminous Mystery of the Holy Rosary.

"[14] Palamism, Gregory Palamas' theology of divine "operations", was never accepted by the Scholastic theologians of the Latin Catholic Church, who maintained a strong view of the simplicity of God, conceived as Actus purus.

[15] Pope Gregory the Great wrote of people by whom, "while still living in this corruptible flesh, yet growing in incalculable power by a certain piercingness of contemplation, the Eternal Brightness is able to be seen.

[17] Roman Catholic pro-ecumenism under John Paul II from the 1980s sought for common ground in questions of doctrinal division between the Eastern and the Western Church.

John Paul II repeatedly emphasized his respect for Eastern theology as an enrichment for the whole church, and spoke favourably of Hesychasm.