www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Episcopal Consecration of His Grace Alexis of Mexico City

Tony,

For those not familiar with Pittsburgh, Oakland is a fairly sizable academic and commercial neighborhood within the city of Pittsbugh. It is home to the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University among others and also is home to St. Paul's Cathedral(RC), St. Nicholas Cathedral(GOA), and St. George Antiochian Church which is now the St. George Antiochian Cathedral. All are within easy walking distance of each other.

Bill

Dear djs,

I tend to give the faithful the benefit of the doubt.

Bill

Yes Bill, I used to live in Pittsburgh. However, Oakland is not a city. That was the point.

Dear Tony,

I figured you already knew that from your post. I addressed my post to you but meant it for those who didn't know.

Bill

Mexican wrote:

Well, the Syrian-Antiochian Orthodox Church has a "Metropolitanate for Mexico and Central America", but it's still a foreign Church. Their priests and faithful are almost entirely descendents of Lebanese and Arab people.

The way I see it is that OCA is more "foreign" than Syrian-Antiochian Orthodox Church. It only depends of which is your point of reference.

Syrian-Antiochian Orthodox Church is composed mainly of Mexicans of Syrian and Lebanese ancestry (in this sense "foreigns"), but they have just followed their old liturgical and eclesiastical tradition and, in this sense, it is not "foreign" to them.

On the other way, OCA is composed not of Russian or Orthodox faithful, but of Mexicans who used to be Catholic. Therefore, although they are Mexicans, that tradition is "foreign" to the great majority of our country's population.

...OCA is composed not of Russian or Orthodox faithful, but of Mexicans who used to be Catholic. Therefore, although they are Mexicans, that tradition is "foreign" to the great majority of our country's population.

It depends. I don't think that the Byzantine rite is absolutely "foreign" to Mexicans (as it is in the case of the English speaking people). Hispanic devotion and tradition have a lot in common with Orthodox popular pity (we're very much into symbols, crosses, procesions, religious images, etc.)

I'm sorry to say so but the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico (not to mention the developped world) is failing to offer this to the faithful. I would say that even if the Exarchate tried to "imitate" Greek and Russia environment (which is not the case), it would still be less foreign than the 1960's USA liturgy and practice that has been imposed on Catholics thirty years ago.

I agree with you about the commonalities that Catholicism has with Orthodoxy in terms of pious devotions.

However, I thought the point about what tradition is more close (less foreign) to Mexicans, and I still think Russian Orthodoxy is more foreign to average Mexicans than Orthodoxy of Syriac tradition.

The reason for me is that we have traditionally had a great immigration of Sirians, Lebanese, and Palestinians. While after one, two or three generations many of them have become (Roman) Catholic, others have remained in their own tradition.

From this point of view, their tradition is not foreign to us. Russian Orthodoxy is a horse of a different color, mainly because we have not had the great immigration as in the case of Syriacs.

What amazes me is the fact that Russian Orthodoxy is making in Mexico what it has denounced in Russia.

Regarding your other comment, I do not know what is the 1960's American liturgy imposed on Mexican Catholics. I have lived in the States for some time and I can say that the "taste" of Catholic liturgy in America is different to what we are used here (not better, not worse, but different). While it seems more formal, IMHO it is less spontaneous than in Mexico. Therefore, my family and I used to attend a Latin people mass in Hoboken NJ.

By the way are you in Mexico City? I am in "provincia".