www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Co-Redemptrix

Alex, some sacerdotal company cultivates sympathy for the bezpopovtsy!!!

Bless me a sinner, Father Thomas,

Well, I believe that the insertion of the Filioque is completely wrong.

But I don't believe the theology behind it is wrong, if understood properly

I don't believe the Orthodox Church, as a whole, understands it as the RC Church understands it.

Ultimately, in today's day and age, that word should not be occasion to divide the Churches, and a review of it should affect both East and West in this regard (with the West removing it permanently).

I pray that it does happen in our lifetime, along with the inclusion in the Roman calendar of St Photios the Great.

I find RC theologians to be quite open-minded about these things.

What they say is sometimes at variance with what their bishops like to hear.

Surprising, but true . . .

But I'll stop continuing to tell you things you already know about, and have, for years . . .

Well, then, Father, I guess this REALLY does mean that the two of us aren't fully in communion with one another . . .

I'm going to go off and contemplate that hard reality for a while now . . .

Alex

Ah yes, I must always continue to remind myself that it is the bishops who lead the Church, not the theologians (much to the shagrin of many of our seminaries.)

Again, while I rejoice at the enlightened nature of your understanding, I think you'll need to go "on tour" to actually spread the good news because the RC Church takes the whole "triumph of the West" thing very seriously. Good luck and God bless!

PT

Bless me a sinner, Father Thomas,

You've raised a crucial point in this whole issue, as you are wont to do in general . . .

Many among the RC clergy and laity might oppose the removal of the Filioque as another "betrayal" of RC tradition etc.

One elderly Jesuit wrote in to EWTN's Raymond Arroyo to ask an RC bishop why the Pope allowed Prime Minister Tony Blair to receive Communion. "There are Anglican Churches in Rome, after all . . ." he concluded.

The bishop reiterated Catholic teaching in this respect and said it is up to the Eucharistic Minister to decide if the "conditions" in a given case met the criteria for intercommunion etc.

Since the Eucharistic Minister was the Pope himself, he "trusts him to properly have decided" in that case . . .

You are more than correct, as you are wont to be as well, that Catholic triumphalism is a serious roadblock to unity, despite what RC theologians and even the Pope himself would believe and feel.

The Orthodox Church has suffered much from it, as have Eastern Catholics.

Alex

I watched the same interview last night on EWTN with the Catholic bishop of somewhere in Illinois.

I also learned that two candles on the high altar are for low mass, four are for low mass with a bishop, six are for high mass, and seven are for high mass with a bishop.

It was enlightening because when I first came to St. Nicholas parish in McKees Rocks, there were curiously SIX candles on the prestol (the large seven branch vigil light is behind the altar). Of course, I'm itching to get rid of them, but now I know why they're there - were having high mass!

PT

Bless me a sinner, Father Thomas,

The things we have in common . . .

Our Ukie parish was first set up in a former RC church. The statues remained . . .

The parish priest was very into Eastern theology and he too was itching to get the statues out, but he didn't want to cause an uproar.

The cantor was someone my father helped get his job there and he too was very Eastern in orientation.

But he didn't want to upset the new pastor . . .

So, one day, the pastor asked the Cantor, "What do you think of those statues?"

"What do I think? I think I'm waiting for you, Father, to tell me to collect them all for a great donation to the Catholic nuns down the street . . ."

"God bless you and go right ahead!" came the reply with a beaming smile.

The two of them were as thick as thieves since that time.

An Orthodox bishop once remarked to me that if I wanted to see some "really Orthodox iconography," I should go to the Church on "Queen and Bellwoods."

After thinking about it, I realized he was referring me to St Nicholas Ukrainian CAtholic parish.

They've come a long way from those statues!

A good evening to you, Reverend Father, and I say this with a spiritual bow and reverential kiss on your right hand!

Alex