www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall New/Returning Parish Members

I am a Latin who previously was a member of a local BCC parish and was even married there. I still often attend Liturgy at this parish. Several years ago I wound up following the traditionalist Latin movement but have been loosing interest for a variety of reasons which are not relevant to this post. I am serously considering re-registering in the BCC parish but have some reservations.

Part of what motivates me to do this is the consistant cries for help in the bulletin. I am immensely glad that the BCC parish is there, but not being a member I obviously do nothing to support it. I would hate to see something happen to this parish and then later think that I could have done something to help keep it going.

I realize that some in the BCC have reservations about traditionalist Latins brining baggage with them, although in my situation I have no intention to do so. In fact, the BCC can de-latinize to the point where it becomes indistinguishable from the Orthodox, other than the Popes name being inserted in the Liturgy, as far as I am concerned.

In any event, it seems obvious to me that unless there is a new wave of immigration from eatern Europe, which is unlikely, that any new members of the BCC are going to come from non-byzantine sources. New members will most likely be Latins or Protestants drawn to the east for one reason or another. Given the shrinking numbers in the BCC parishes it looks like these types of people may become necessary to the BCC parishes to help them through these tough times.

With all that was said above in mind, I do have some things I am curious about. I realize that some of my concerns might be "hot button issues", but PLEASE understand that it is not my intention to irriate anybody on this Forum. I just think it would be better to bring these things up on a discussion list before they would become a problem in a parish setting.

1. Although I can tolerate it, I am concerned about the language in the RDL and the possibility that there is a greater agenda of change at work in the BCC.

2. I am also concerned that the feminization of the Liturgy is a step toward "altar girls", which I could never tolerate.

3. I am concerned with lay people acting as "eucharistic ministers" at the Liturgy.

4. I am concerned with the lack of vocations in the BCC. Deacons certainly fulfill a necessary liturgical role, but I wonder about a potential trend to use them in the capicity to run a parish in the absense of a priest. In other words, a pre-sancitied typica as the normal form of Sunday worship.

I would appreciate the thoughts of anybody who would care to comment.

I'll try to answer but my knowledge concerning your questions is very limited.

1. I should think that the changes in the liturgy are minuscule compared with the disruptive changes in the Latin liturgy. I pray that not only do further changes come but that much that have come are reversed. In either event I don't consider them to be major.

2. I don't like the feminization either but think it fairly minor. It would be quite a surprise to me to see alter girls, but I don't know if that is in someones confused mind or not.

3. (See #2)

4. I'm confused by our hierarchs lack of concern by this issue and find it to be a major issue among your concerns. I don't know what to make of it.

CDL

Simple suggestion for avoiding the RDL version of the Novus Ordo:

Find a Melkite parish or a Romanian parish or a Ukrainian parish with Divine Liturgy sung in English. Any of those are fairly safe. I would gladly suggest a Russian parish, but they are few and far between and the nearest one to you is Saint Michael's, New York - which has an excellent web site.

Best of luck - do keep us posted!

Fr. Serge

Dear Athanasius,

We would love to have you return to our BCC, but not because you feel"guilty" of not supporting it. You should feel comfortable there and be able to call it your spiritual home.

With regard to your questions, I offer these opinions:

1. It has been charged that there is an "agenda" to feminize the BCC. I have not seen any evidence of this. The purpose of the RDL was to shed Latinizations; with such a major effort my opinion is that the Hierarchy and appointed committees (logically) felt that it would be a time to standardize the music so that there wouldn't be such a variance from parish-to-parish. It also was an opportunity to put to music many hymns for which music wasn't (readily) available. I think generally these objectives were achieved; in hindsight maybe they would have done things different, including the specific language of the promulgation (authorization.) The gender-neutral language was a result of our former archbishop's feeling that women's feeling of "exclusion" should be addressed. I don't know any other facts other than this. The language is not "feminist" but gender neutral. That's all I'll say about that.

2. See above. I don't think that you will see altar girls, unless we have a renegade priest.

3. Unless you attend a large parish you won't see extraordinary ministers. However, they are authorized, with proper training, if justified.

4.Regarding the lack of vocation, your attending and supporting a BCC parish through donations of time, talent, resources and prayers will help to increase in vocations.

Christ is among us!

Fr. Deacon Paul

Fr. Serge, Deacon Paul and CDL, thank you for taking the time to respond to my questions. You have all given me some things to think about.

Athanasius,

The Byzantine Catholic Church is in communion with the Church of Rome. As a tiny Byzantine Rite island in the vast ocean of American Roman Catholicism, it is inevitable that many of our children will choose to worship in the Latin Rite and it is equally inevitable that the tiny percentage of Latin Rite Catholics who are attracted to the Byzantine Rite will have a huge impact on the BCC. I doubt my parish would exist today if it were not for the active involvement of Latin Rite Catholics.

By all means, support this BCC parish you remain attached to and don't be shy about becoming involved. As a Latin Rite member of a BCC parish I simply keep my mouth shut about latinizations - whatever I think about them. My behavior at services falls within the limits of the parish's customs. I have never felt unwelcome. I will say that the parish is small and there is a group of cradle Byzantines that dominates the informal power structure. That's ok with me. This is like any small town environment - it takes decades to become an insider.

By the standards of the Latin Rite, pre- and post- Vatican 2, the changes incorporated in the RDL are minor and well within the authority of our hierarchs. By the standards of the Eastern Churches the changes are radical. The "gender neutral" translations are inaccurate. I hope they are improved. Mandating that the priest's prayers be taken out loud and suppressing the minor litanies is a mistake. Someday, I hope, they will be corrected.

The very phrase "gender neutral English" implies that standard English is somehow unfair to women. As the product of 1300+ years of Christian culture it most assuredly is not. When for pastoral reasons the hierarchs adopt an inferior "gender neutral" translation, they appear to be conceding a point to the feminist enemies of the Christian faith rather than engaging them. Well, they have the authority to pick the cultural battles they will engage and the battles they will take a pass on. Lead by the Pope, "gender neutral" English has been rejected for the Novus Ordo translations. I imagine our hierarchs will get with the program eventually.

I do not imagine we will ever see altar girls behind the iconostas. The liturgical conservatism of the Byzantine Rite will protect us from this.

Regarding the shortage of priests. I think some consolidation of parishes is inevitable. But the roots of the shortage of vocations in the BCC lie in the sad history of Greek Catholics in the United States and the loss of the tradition of a married clergy.

One does not recover a tradition by simply changing the rules. Talented married priests can be recruited from Eastern Europe where vocations are plentiful. We will have to learn to support their families fairly. This means we need to view the wives and children of married priests as an asset to the parish and understand the huge personal sacrifices they must make so that these men can serve us.

Thank you for taking the time to reply, CRW. You make some good points which I will think about.