www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Good bye all, it's been real.

I am so tired of coming onto a Byzantine Catholic forum as a Byzantine Catholic and being flamed for my belief in the primacy of the Pope, Papal infallibility, my faith in the hierarchs of my church, and my support for the updated Liturgy. If you want to be Orthodox, or if you want to be eastern Catholic without the "Catholic" part, good for you, go, have fun, feel high and mighty, just don't come into the Byz. Cath. house and tell us what you feel is better, because it isn't. I am leaving the forum, you can all feel superior in your nit-picking with the rubrics. I will be on my knees in prayer!

Oh - I see - you want us to make sure we have seen this diatribe .

Theologos,

Thanks for your post.

First, this is not and never has been a Byzantine Catholic forum. When you registered you read and agreed that: �This forum is mainly a community of Byzantine and other Eastern Christians who share a common historical and theological heritage. As such, it is an Eastern Christian forum and not specifically a Catholic forum.� From its inception The Byzantine Forum has always been a forum with the intent that all opinions are welcome so long as they are expressed in charity. [Similarly, the website itself is generically Byzantine Catholic and not specifically Ruthenian Catholic.]

You might be correct that you have been flamed for your belief in the primacy of the pope and the other items you mention. But I don�t think so (and each reader will certainly make up his own mind and may agree with either of us!). More often than not the root of complaints like yours lies in not putting forth a convincing argument rather than uncharitableness by those who disagree with your position. Complaints such as yours are fairly infrequent. And the number of Catholics complaining that they are being treated unfairly is roughly equal to the number of Orthodox complaining that they are being treated unfairly. And the total number of posts from both camps is small. In recent months I have personally been excoriated for being a crypto-Orthodox (with a desire to get all Byzantine and Roman Catholics to become Orthodox) and for being a crypto-Catholic apologist (with the desire to convert the Orthodox who participate here to Catholicism). Since the complaints are few and come equally from both sides I conclude that overall we are doing a reasonable job. This Forum is provided as a service to the Church and the larger community. Participants do not contribute to support its upkeep. And I have provided those who disagree with me on the several issues I post on with far greater opportunity to make their case than they have anywhere else, not to mention the fact that people like me have no opportunity whatsoever to speak in official channels and have been openly told by some in our Church to leave.

If you were to say that the moderators make lots of mistakes I�d agree! They make almost as many mistakes as I do! Still, they are volunteers and the Forum is not their main interest in life (nor should it be). Consider this place to be the cyber coffee hour, much like that which goes on in the parish hall after Liturgy.

I pray that the Lord will bless you and your family abundantly.

I will leave this thread closed. If you wish to add to what you have said please PM me and I will reopen it for you.

Admin