www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall The Byzantine Forum: truth in labeling?

Slava Isusu Christu!

There used to be a Byzantine Catholic Forum way back in the day on Byzantines.net

The Byzantines.net Forum was closed by Greg Bronson who Doxed and decided to close an important part of many peoples online experience. The reason for the closure was "abuses" but we all knew what the real reason was. Every forum has abuses; that is the nature of the internet and being connected to a world community.

Back then, Byzantine Forum was seen as more literate, if you will. This Forum was known to have many educated people on it that could articulate theology very well from an Eastern POV. When the Byzantines.net Forum closed we all came here and evened it out a bit

I look forward to the day when someone opens the old Byzantines.net Forum again, but this one is a second best. All the rest fail in comparison.
This place has been a comforting place for many years; may it be so for many more

Sincerely,


Robert Horvath

Ever consider having non-Catholic Eastern Christians as forum moderators? How about links to other non-Catholic Eastern churches or websites?

Joe

Thanks for the update on Greg. I didn't know that he Doxed. Once again, it goes to show how the Byzantine Catholic Church is only a prep-school for Orthodoxy. God bless Greg Bronson.

Joe

I am constantly on the lookout for non-Catholic Eastern Christians to be moderators. In the past we have had Father Kyrill, a Greek Orthodox priest, as a moderator. Currently we have Archimandrite Gregory, an Orthodox hieromonk, as a moderator on our prayer forum.

If you go to https://www.byzcath.org/links/Links-to-Sister-Churches.htm you will find an extensive but not exhaustive number of links for Eastern Christian Churches. That page is updated frequently and has been part of this website for over six years.

Chill out, Joe. You say stuff like that all the time and it makes me wonder if you're chronically depressed.

The Byzantine Catholic Church is a witness to the Orthodox on behalf of the Catholic Church, and an invitation to the Orthodox--hardly a mere prep school for those leaving Catholicism.

Dear LT:

We are a witness to political realities of the past. If you want us to be a witness to the Orthodox, get your Patriarch to start minding his own business and stop meddling in the internal affairs of the sui juris Churches that are (for the time being at least) in communion with him.

Yours,

hal

"the Byzantine Catholic Church is only a prep-school for Orthodoxy." Do tell. I remember the days when that was said about the Anglo-Catholics - they were a prep school for Roman Catholicism. Nowadays in terms of absolute numbers there are more US Catholics becoming Anglicans than vice versa.
Incognitus

All,

To start off, I'd like to say how truly glad I am that a forum like this exists. The Byzantine Forum is really open to all types of discussions pertaining to Eastern spirituality and practice.

I am a long time member of this forum and have learned a lot from many of the posters here throughout the years. I have even had the pleasure of making some friends here too.

When I first began posting here I was well aware that this was in fact an Eastern Christian forum. Though I, like many it seems, assumed it was particularly Byzantine Catholic. Either way
I continued to post and share my opinions.

There have been many times I was offended by posters and though never my intent I may have offended others here at times.

In fact I was so offended once, as a result of several personal incidents (some involving this forum) that I was left feeling that the Byzantine Catholic Church had no place within Catholicism and ought to be integrated with the Orthodox. Of course this is not my feeling today partly because of the many other charitable people I met here.

As a Roman Catholic I have learned that the Byzantine Catholics and Eastern Catholics in general have suffered because of actions of my Church. Those actions were unexcusable. Today though I feel that my Church is really trying to correct any errors and help our Eastern "lung" regain her rightful traditions.

Back to the forum. When I first came to the forum I certainly felt most welcome by the moderators and felt that my beliefs were respected. It was very balanced. I was taught many things about Eastern Catholicism and I got a well balanced picture.

It is my opinion that nowadays this forum is just a tiny bit less balanced. From my experience it seems that Eastern Orthodoxy is put on a sort of pedestal. For example I am left feeling that a Roman Catholic who really doesnt understand Eastern practice but comes as a seeker will be "jumped on" for saying anything misconstrued as a criticism of anything Orthodox. But Catholicism can be criticized in a more open and direct manner and no one [moderators especially] will not say anything unless the remarks are truly offensive.

I think that I have a clearer view of Eastern Catholicism now than I have ever had before. I see the Byzantine Catholic Church in particular as our great Sister. At times I feel that many of her members, though not all, see their past Orthodox roots more strongly than their unity with Peter. In other words some make it seems that their intercommunion Church, Roman Catholicism is somehow less than their previous Eastern Orthodox affilations.

The Roman Catholic Church really does love Eastern Catholicism and Orthodoxy as well. We are trying to repair any damage we may have caused.

I have no agenda here. I am niether a "traditionalist" or a "modernist". I simply want to see the BCC and all Eastern Catholic Churches and their members happy, prosperous, and enjoying all of the traditions that they want.

As a Roman Catholic I see my Church trying its best to return to you that which you seek, that which we wrongly took away. I wish some, because not all of you are like this, stopped and actually considered what we are doing and begin to take actve roles in helping us to help you.

As Romans we have a long way to go in helping you but its hard when some Eastern Catholics blatantly criticize the Pope and their communion with him. Its fine for the Orthodox to do this because they are not in intercommunion with us. Sure we can all lament somethings but I am talking about a lot worse comments here.

The Eastern Catholic Churches need to stand on their own. Have their own Patriarchs and laws and customs. But we need to be together in this. Not wishing we were in some other religion.

I hope this hasnt offened anyone but I neeeded to let this all out. I love this Forum and the BCC and Orthodoxy, because we are all witnesses together of the Love of Christ.

God Bless

ProCatholico

PS: Please excuse the typos

The point has been made any number of times here that the trickle from the BCC to Orthodoxy is very modest compared to the stream towards the RCC. Joe likes to make this prep school comment, but he knows better.

Dear Incognitus- where did you get the numbers for the assertion that more Roman Catholics are becoming Anglican than vice versa? Could this result from the fact that there are way more RCs to begin with?
While I agree with the Administrator that Western Christians are "woefully ignorant" about Eastern Churches I find that they are rarely of ill will [perhaps the hostile emails he has received have skewed his perception]. What I have seen in my relatively short time on the Forum is well meaning Latin Catholics trying to harmonize Eastern thought with what they have been taught, sometimes without subtlety, about Catholic teaching . Often they unintentionally offend and are treated harshly. The ignorant are to be taught, not thrashed, though I admit this may be a more difficult task when the ignorant think they know it all!
Further, we ought to realize that Roman Catholics in this age are naturally suspicious of anyone claiming to be Catholic who is hostile to the Pope and we ought to respect this. Loyalty to the Holy Father is a sort of touchstone of [Catholic] orthodoxy in the modern world. If they lack sympathy toward our Orthodox brethren there are better ways to instill it than kicking them off the Forum.
And we ought not underestimate the centrality of Papal teaching on contraception and the like to modern [faithful] Roman Catholics. The fact that mainstream Orthodox are hazy on sexual ethics raises all sorts of suspicion.
Anyway, ought it not be clearer to the casual browser that this is not a specifically Catholic site? I must admit that I did not read the fine print when I registered. How many of you did?

Iconophile You asked Where the figures come from that show more leaving the RC church to the Episcopal Church.. At the end of the paragraph you gave a list of the reasons why. About 10 years ago, my sister in louisville, KY told me on the phone that the Epiccpoal bishop had witten a letter to the Roman Catholic bishop stating that the Catholic Church must be doing something wrong. He stated that, while his church was overjoyed to see its churches filled with new converts, he could not help noting the the names were Irish, Czech, Polish, German and central European. I also noted that in my city of Cleveland, Ohio one RC parish was kind of designated as a safety valve. One could be a member of the church as a "Christian" and ;not a Roman Catholic. You must realize that RC Catholics that are divorced, use birth control -- excluded for the RC church are accepted into the Episcopal church. Remember Henry VIII had a jproblem like that which got the whole Church of England started as a seperate church. Also note that over the last 50 years, Gay RV who ;have been kicked out of thier church have also been finding a home in the Episcopal Church. So that means todays current swing back toward th RC by some whoi don'st like ;the elevation of the bishop in NH, there are those who approve. I hope thai adds to your understanding of how the shift could be taking place. As Catholics,. we lide to throw peaple born to the church out to ;the wolves. It shouls not suprise us to find that our discards are accepted ;by other ;churches. I question our policcy of actively kicking peoople out to mini;mize the jproblem of the priest shortage, though. I gues thais shows that i still have some ties to the RC church. yours in Christ Clifford

The Romanian Byzantine Catholic bishop stated at a St. John Chrysostom Society conference that the "mission of the Eastern Catholic church was to disappear." My use of the term "prep school" was learned from our own clergy. I shouldn't be quoting them, huh?

Joe

Dear Hal:

The Pope's "meddling" in the internal affairs(?) of sui juris Churches (I think you should be forthcoming enough to cite the UGCC as a prime example) flows from his authority as the Supreme Pontiff and not as the Patriarch of the West.

The duties and responsibilities of the Supreme Pontiff in relation to the Eastern Catholic Churches, and vice versa, are clearly spelled out in the Eastern Code of Canons and its amendments and in other special Church laws governing the East. If you do not want his meddling, make a move for the amendment of the Eastern Code, or its total abrogation.

I think the Catholic Communion is a non-coercive union of disparate and diverse Churches and any sui juris Church can opt out at any time. For instance, your chief hierarch, Major Archbishop Husar, has the power, with the backing of the UGCC Holy Synod, to tell the Pope that his Church wants out of the Catholic Communion and nobody but nobody, but God, can stop him from doing that. (Of course, the repercussions could be heard worldwide!)

Before calling the Holy Father to task, take a moment and consider how he or the Catholic Communion could solve the UGCC "patriarchate" problem with the current jurisdictional chaos in the Ukrainian Church?

Who needs who? I simply do not want to speculate.

Thanks for this Forum and to the Administrator(s) and Moderators, we could air our "own" grievances.

AmdG

Joe,

You have criticized statments of clerics often enough that it is funny for you to offers the clerical origin of your remark as support for it. The prep school remark is not a thoughtful one. It presents a totally distorted picture of our faithful and faithfulness - both presently and over history. It is thuis confusing to people who cannot be experted to know that it is cynical hyperbole. It could also be construed as presupposing an lack of orthodoxy that is undefined and thus again prone to misinterpretation.

You ain't kidding, partner.

I'll shut up now.