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On Monday May 22nd at 10 PM, EST, EWTN will have Fr. Michael Sopoliga of Sts.Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Catholic Church in Ft. Pierce, Fl., as guest to discuss the Byzantine Catholic Church with Johnnette Benkovic. It will be rerun at 2 PM on the 23rd, 10 AM on the 25th and 4 PM on the 26th.

Joe Prokopchak
archsinner

Slava Isusu Christu! Thanks for the post,JP. I know Father Michael but haven't been in touch with him since 1988.He took a sabbatical; people move and lose touch. His mother, when she visited his parish, would play this wonderful Hungarian and Rusyn music that I loved and could listen to for hours. I would attend the liturgy just to listen to the music and sing and sing and sing....! The Russian Orthodox music is very stately, powerful, almost regal. But the Rusyn music is my favorite since it is pristine and unpretentious...pure. Well, so much for nostalgia and idealism, back to the real world of schism and hate. (But thanks for the post.) PS-They had a slavic kitchen that was heavenly!

Joe,

Do they still think we are going to have a 'showdown' with Rome?

Elias

Dear Servant of God, Elias

Christ is Risen !

You have to consider the source. Their (EWTN) news reporting agency that used that expression ( showdown with Rome ), in the same news article said that Orientale Lumen was a papal encyclical ( it is actually an apostolic letter) and that the Archdiocese of Pittsburgh covered all 50 states. So much for accuracy from their news department.

Personally I think the people who will benefit most from this broadcast will actually be the people at EWTN.

Joe Prokopchak
archsinner

Joe,

But the Byzantine Catholic bishops DID back down from pushing married priests the first time, thus giving credence to liars. If what our heirarchs were doing was canonically OK, then why didn't they procede accordingly without giving an iota of confidence in such poor media coverage?

Elias

Don't forget. Tonight is the night. See the first post at the top of this thread.

This week's Byzantine Catholic World had an article about this show. It stated that the producers of the show were so impressed with the tapeing of the show on May 6th. and 7th. that they decided that they are going to do a series on the Byzantine Catholic Church. Don't miss the show tonight !!!

Joe Prokopchak
archsinner

EWTN? Personally, I can't stand the programming or the network, but I am glad to see that there is going to be a little information FROM an Eastern Catholic priest. Always good to go to the source, huh? Why didn't they do THAT before?

EWTN is soooo triumphalist & Rome centric that is makes me sick. That is the only chruch, right?

Remember years ago? Mother Angelica and her brood had fairly modern habits. Now they are going back into the dark ages--the old habits, Latin and all.

Excuse my French, but I don't know what the hell their prostrations are during the consecrations either. Mother Angelica can make changes to their Mass, but God forbid a Latin parish priest has someone hold hands during the Lord's Prayrer. Remember, Mother angelica IS EWTN.

I think the whole network should take a vow of silence.

Sorry-have been wanting to get this off my chest for quite some time. :-)

The repentant and long-suffering sinner Al.

I sincerely hope for the best on tonight's broadcast--I've seen this series before and they seem to be on top of the topics they cover. I would love to see a series on EWTN on the Byzantine Catholic Church, however, I'm still a little hesitant. See Marcus Grodi's response on the attached link from the message regarding his show featuring Father Philip from the Roswell, GA parish in 1998: https://www.byzcath.org/bboard/Forum1/HTML/000013.html If we have to be portrayed in a "diplomatic" way on EWTN, it might be better if we're not portrayed at all. I am looking forward to tonight's show! Christ is risen! John.

Regarding tonight's show on EWTN-
I hope that it will be done very nicely and with respect for our traditions. Knowing personally some people on EWTN, I know that Mother Angelica is very much in favor of having a series on the Byzantine Church (at least that's what I understand) and also there is to be a taped Byzantine Liturgy shown at some point. This information is from the latest edition of Eastern Catholic Life.

In Christ,
Feodosij, rab' Bozhij.

Regarding last nights EWTN broadcast on the Byzantine Catholic Church. As an Orthodox Christian I was very disturbed with the presentation. Since I'm a two fingered typist here is a copy of an email I sent to a Roman Catholic friend who asked for my opinion -

I watched too and almost shut it off after the first five minutes I was so infuriated. When she asked him the history of his church and he went to 1054 and the schism. And the statement was made that when it occurred those in the East had to make a decision whether they WOULD REMAIN UNDER THE POPE or go with the Orthodox who a minute or two later were referenced as 'the schismatics'. The indication being that his church (the Byzantine Catholic Church) chose to remain under the authority of the Pope. The whole thing was a total disregard for truth and Roman Catholic propaganda and pure BS! Excuse me if my words offend but truth is truth. And I know what I speak about because my own grandparents came to this country as Byzantine Catholics because where they came from was under Polish Roman Catholic rule and they were'nt allowed to be Orthodox. The area they came from they were pressured into union with Rome and treated as second class citizens. They were married in the Byzantine Catholic Church here and soon after returned to the Orthodox Church when they were convinced they could do so without any reprisals against them.
The slavic Uniates (Greek Catholics, Byzantine Catholics, Ukainian Catholics, etc.) DID NOT come into existence in 1054 but in the latter part of the 16th (1596 Union of Brest/Litovsk) for those in Galicia & Ukraine or 1646 for those in the Carpathian regions. From the history of the Carpatho Rusyn people -

[In the wake of the Protestant Reformation (which affected neighboring Magyars and Slovaks) and the Catholic Counter Reformation, the governments
and local aristocracy began in the late sixteenth century to try to bring the Orthodox Carpatho-Rusyns closer to the official Roman Catholic state religion
of the two states in which they lived at the time - The Hungarian Kingdom and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The result was the creation between
1596 and 1646 of a Uniate Church, that is an Eastern Christian Church in union with Rome. The Uniates were allowed to retain their Eastern Rite and
traditions, but they had to recognize the Pope in Rome, not the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople as the ultimate head of their church. Hence from
the seventeenth century, Carpatho-Rusyns were either Orthodox or Uniates. In 1772, the Uniates were renamed Greek Catholics. Eventually, in the United
States they became known as Byzantine Catholics.]

I'm sure that both the priest and the Croation interviewer were well aware of the above facts but chose to rewrite history and distort the facts which are -

1) Their Byzantine Catholic Church was not a result of the schism and created in 1054.
2) Their church was created in the later part of the 16th or mid part of the 17th century.
3) Up until that point they were Orthodox Christians under the authority of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople, NOT THE ROMAN POPE whose authority they were never under until the union!
4) Their church was not created because of any loyality to the Roman See. Their church was created under pressure and duress from the Polish & Austro-Hungarian Roman Catholic overlords who conquered their lands and made them serfs and 2nd class citizens in their own lands as long as they remained Orthodox. As Orthodox they weren't even allowed to bring the sacraments to the dying, ring the bells, hold processions, etc. Their churches were confiscated and turned over to Jews who required them to pay rent to hold services. Read the 33 articles of the 'Union of Brest/Litovsk'.

Sorry for the tirade both truth is truth. I hate to see when the RCC distorts it or rewrites it to serve their own needs.

Bob

I thought it was a great program. It was well presented, interesting, and I learned a lot about the Byzantine Ruthenian Rite and practices.
P.S. I think that lady was American not Croation.

>>>Regarding last nights EWTN broadcast on the Byzantine Catholic Church. As an Orthodox Christian I was very
disturbed with the presentation. Since I'm a two fingered typist here is a copy of an email I sent to a Roman Catholic
friend who asked for my opinion -<<<

As a Byzantine Catholic, I was deeply disturbed, too. First, Fr. Michael mangled Church history beyond belief. Second, he gave a very distorted picture of Byzantine belief and praxis. Third, when all was said and done, it boiled down to "Oh, what quaint and colorful customs you Byzantines have. Isn't the Catholic Church wonderful for allowing you to continue them".

There wasn't anything in that program that I would dare show my ECF class. I know of at least a dozen priests (and an equal number of laymen) who could have done a much better job, and who wouldn't have pussyfooted around the hard issues. I would have preferred more substance and less Eastern basket--some actual footage of the Divine Liturgy would have been nice. And how can you talk about the Byzantine rite and NOT explain the iconostasis? I mean, really! Why couldn't we send one of our best if we are going to try to explain ourselves?

>>>I thought it was a great program. It was well presented, interesting, and I learned a lot about the Byzantine
Ruthenian Rite and practices.<<<

Believe me, Jim, you didn't learn ANYTHING. Just forget everything your heard or saw, and start from scratch. It was a lot like being Charley Brown listening to Lucy tell Linus where snow comes from (it comes up from the ground, like grass, then the wind blows it around so it looks like its falling from the sky).

I enjoyed the show last night.

There are a couple of things we must remember. The show was only one hour long. In reality it was shorter than that due to the commercials and reflection at the end by their chaplain. Also the Byzantine Church would not be here if it wasn't for the schism in 1054. This show was made for those catholics that do not know anything about the Byzantine Rite. It was not made for the people of the Byzantine Rite and I am 100% sure it wasn't made for the Orthodox, after all EWTN is a Catholic Television Station and Living His Life Abundantly is a catholic apostolate.

No where did I hear "Oh, what quaint and colorful customs you Byzantines have. Isn't the Catholic Church wonderful for allowing you to continue them" said. My impression was "There are many more customs than just what we Roman Rite have, isn't the diversity of the Catholic Church great".

Also it was said that there are many other priests out there that could of done a better job than Fr. Michael did. Well if you paid attention Fr. Michael contacted LHLA and offered to do this with them. If one of the other priests would of taken the initiative to do this then good but I do not think it is good to critize Fr. Michael for actually getting out there and doing something. Maybe this will cause others to try to do better in the future.

Your little brother in Christ,
David

>>> Also the Byzantine Church would not be here if it
wasn't for the schism in 1054.<<<

Explain yourself. Leaving aside the fact that 1054 isn't all that significant a date, the Byzantine Church would still be present in the world, as it IS the Orthodox Church.

>>>This show was made for those catholics that do not know anything about the Byzantine Rite.<<<

Their status didn't change as a result of the show. They now know that there IS something called a Byzantine rite, that there are a people called the Ruthenians, that they have really cool vestments and fancy altar furnishings and neat easter baskets, and that they use icons instead of statues and that they cross themselves backwards. They still know nothing of Byzantine Church history (the account given was confusing, if not outright fallacious), nothing of our liturgy worth knowing, nothing of our theology, and nothing of our relationship either to the Chruch of Rome or to the Orthodox Churches.

>>>It was not
made for the people of the Byzantine Rite and I am 100% sure it wasn't made for the Orthodox, after all EWTN is a Catholic
Television Station and Living His Life Abundantly is a catholic apostolate.<<<

Even a Roman Catholic apostolate has an obligation to be accurate. And a Byzantine Catholic priest should be able to express his Tradition better. And a talk show hostess should know better than to constantly try to lead her guest to the answers she wants to hear.

>>>No where did I hear "Oh, what quaint and colorful customs you Byzantines have. Isn't the Catholic Church wonderful for
allowing you to continue them" said. My impression was "There are many more customs than just what we Roman Rite have,
isn't the diversity of the Catholic Church great".<<<

The condescension just dripped from every word. Perhaps when you are on the receiving end of it a little more, you will learn to recognize it. You even do it yourself: we aren't talking about "customs" here, but an integrated Tradition of liturgy, theology, spirituality, doctrine and ecclesiastical discipline. Custom is stuff like Easter baskets and Christos voskrese. When you recognize that we have a Tradition, and not just customs, we can make some progress.

>>>Well if you
paid attention Fr. Michael contacted LHLA and offered to do this with them. If one of the other priests would of taken the
initiative to do this then good but I do not think it is good to critize Fr. Michael for actually getting out there and doing
something. Maybe this will cause others to try to do better in the future.<<<

Let us hope so. We are supposed to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Fr. Michael let himself get led around by the nose.