Yesterday afternoon, Metropolitan Kallistos, along with those of us from the Orientale Lumen Foundation, met with Pope Francis. It was an extremely heart warming and successful experience. Earlier that day, His Holiness gave a homily on the Unity in the Christian Community despite diversity. This makes it seem as though he had had our visit on his mind throughout the course of his day.
Please check out some of the links for official Vatican Coverage of the audience:
Here is a copy of what he said in his address to us:
Quote
Dear brothers in Christ,
I greet with affection all the participants in the Ecumenical pilgrimage promoted by the Orientale Lumen Foundation headed by Metropolitan Kàllistos of Diokleia, whom I thank for his words. You stop in Rome during these days. Thank you for your presence.
Every Christian pilgrimage is not only a geographical route, but above all the opportunity for a path of inner renewal to go increasingly toward Christ the Lord "he that gives rise to the faith and brings to fruition" (Heb. 12.2). These dimensions are absolutely essential to proceed along the road to reconciliation and full communion among all believers in Christ. There is no true ecumenical dialogue without the availability of an interior renewal and looking for higher fidelity to Christ and to his will.
I am pleased to learn that in your pilgrimage you have chosen to honor the memory of Pope John XXIII and John Paul II, who were canonized last April. This underlines their great contribution to the development of increasingly close relations between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches. The example of these two saints is certainly enlightening for all of us, because they have always shown an ardent passion for Christian Unity, stemming from heeding the will of the Lord, that at the last supper he asked his father that his disciples "be one" (Jn 17.21). At this time, I remember only, among the many things one could mention that Saint John XXIII did, when he announced the convocation of the Second Vatican Council, indicated among the main purposes was the unity of Christians, and that Saint John Paul II gave considerable impetus to the ecumenical commitment of the Catholic Church in his Encyclical Letter Ut Unum Sint. During your pilgrimage to Rome, dear brothers, I would like to ask you to pray for me, so that, through the intercession of these two saints, my predecessors, to carry out my ministry as Bishop of Rome at the service of communion and unity of the Church, following in all things, the will of the Lord.
In the coming days, your pilgrimage will tour the Fanar, where you will meet the Ecumenical Patriarch his All Holiness Bartholomew I. Please send my warmest fraternal greetings and together with assurance of my affection and my respect. As you know, I am preparing a visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate next November on the occasion of the feast of the Apostle Saint Andrew, in response to the kind invitation of his All Holiness Bartholomew I. The visit of the Bishop of Rome to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the new encounter between Patriarch Bartholomew and myself are signs of the deep bond that unites the seats of Rome and Constantinople and the desire to overcome, in love and in truth, the obstacles that still separate us.
Wishing you a joyful continuation of your pilgrimage, with abundant spiritual gifts, I ask you to please pray for me and cordially impart my blessing!
I hope this post finds you well! God bless and Slava Isusu Christu!
Jack Figel: Can you please ask Pope Francis to rescind the Revised Divine Liturgy and its attendant music and mandate the Byzantine Divine Liturgy? Maybe you can get both Bishop Ware and Father Loya to support you in this?
But, Michael, how is it that we complain about Rome's meddling in our EC affairs only to turn around and call on Rome to meddle directly in them?
Unless there is heresy or misunderstanding arising out of a charge of heresy or some sort of ecclesial injustice etc., Rome will stay clear of any of this.
But, Michael, how is it that we complain about Rome's meddling in our EC affairs only to turn around and call on Rome to meddle directly in them?
Unless there is heresy or misunderstanding arising out of a charge of heresy or some sort of ecclesial injustice etc., Rome will stay clear of any of this.
Alex
We are told that the Vatican approved and mandated the Revised Divine Liturgy and its attendant music. It says so in the teal terror pew books. ISTM that the Vatican must also be the one to rescind the mandate and give a blessing to celebrate the Byzantine Liturgy once again.
As an Orthodox Rusyn American, I am confused by MichaelO's post. By "Byzantine Liturgy" does he refer to the compilation and translation of the old Father Levkulic books?
It's not for me to criticise or comment much on BCC practices. But, as a term of art "Byzantine Liturgy" refers to the Constantinopolitan liturgies used historically by the various Eastern Orthodox churches and their Eastern Cathoic counterparts. Is the RDL viewed as not being Constantinopolitan?
As one trained in the Orthodox church as a Cantor in prostopenije, I've always had a problem with Thompson's overreliance on Slavonic musicology (as found in Bokshai's "Prostopenije"). When Thompson was in the ACROD before joining the BCC, we tended to overlook his notations. But as to the form of your RDL itself (not the music), it does not on its face appear dissimilar to current ACROD practice and actually more closely mirrors modern OCA usage and rubrics than anything rather than the traditional pre Vatican Two usage of the Ruthenians/Rusyns. Is that the bone of contention?
A return to the Byzantine Liturgy of the Msgr. Levkulic's books would be a start. I've only been to one ACROD Divine Liturgy and it was close to the Levkulic book. A lot of us want something more. Like the old Slavonic and English prayer books from the 1930. All the litanies. Everything. I don't know how to describe it any better. Maybe identical to the books from Rome in the 1940s except in good English without the politics? The RDL is nothing like the Levkulic Liturgy.
Yeah, the Thompson music and everything coming from that seminary is pretty awful. Even Bishop Kudrick criticizes it openly. But no one is going to do anything about it. At the eparchial gathering a few weeks ago everyone was still complaining. But we've lost half our people in the last 5-10 years. Probably no hope now.
Everyone, please keep your comments on the topic of this thread.
Rather than start a new thread, here is the link to the OLTV YouTube channel where you can view a 7 minute highlight of the private audience that our pilgrimage had with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on October 29th in Constantinople.
The Byzantine Forum provides
message boards for discussions focusing on Eastern Christianity (though
discussions of other topics are welcome). The views expressed herein are
those of the participants and may or may not reflect the teachings of the
Byzantine Catholic or any other Church. The Byzantine Forum and the
www.byzcath.org site exist to help build up the Church but are unofficial,
have no connection with any Church entity, and should not be looked to as
a source for official information for any Church. All posts become
property of byzcath.org. Contents copyright - 1996-2024 (Forum 1998-2024). All rights
reserved.
