www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall ROME SIDES WITH PARISHIONERS AGAINST BISHOP LACH CHURCH MERGERS

The Congregation for the Oriental Churches issued an edict earlier this month halting Bp. Milan Lach of the eparchy of Parma from closing two of his parishes in Parma. The congregation's edict, issued June 10, suspends Bp. Lach's March decree, which compressed three local parishes into one conglomerate.

The Congregation for the Eastern Churches, as it is also known, explained in its edict, "Irreparable loss may arise from the execution of [Lach's] decree."

FROM THE CHURCH MILITANT WEBSITE 6/25/21

Really?

So is Rome going to pay the mortgage and expenses of the dying parishes that the bishop wants to close?

I remember speaking with Fr. Thomas Loya many years ago at a conference we were attending. Somehow the conversation came to him making the following statement: "If the Byzantine Catholic Church in America doesn't learn how to evangelize, it will be gone in fifty years."

This is an example of it. Most of these parishes are nothing more than ethnic social clubs. And I'm not just saying this of my own accord. I've seen priests admit this. They don't go out and share the beauty of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom with those around them. My own UCC parish is a good example. I tried to get an interest in evangelization going and it fell flat on its face. When the last of the 25 or so faithful members die off, the bishop will close the parish and it will probably become a museum of sorts, being the first UCC parish in the United States and therefore having historical value.

I remember coming into St. Ann's a number (20) of years ago from Protestantism. One day, a fellow convert from the RCC told me he overheard us being described as "boat people."

Well, isn't that just charitable!!

I thought that I had found the Pearl of Great Price when I left Protestantism. In 20 years of watching the nonsense that passes as Christianity in the East, the insanity of the Roman Catholic Church, and the meltdown of Protestantism, if it weren't for having had a deep and profound conversion out of drug abuse and hedonism some 50 years ago, for which I am eternally thankful, I would have long ago chucked Christianity as a religion of misfits and fools. Honestly, I know we are all sinners, but I expect BETTER out of the hierarchy than the things I have seen and the way I was treated.

Yes, my whine is over now. Criticize all you want if you like, you cannot change what I have personally experienced and therefore, my feelings about it.

Christ is in our midst!!

The bishop is not without options. If he has a clergy shortage, he can assign the one he has to the parish he wants to be the center of this blocked merger. A parish without the Liturgy will slowly die. The Cure of Ars remarked that a parish without a priest soon becomes pagan. There is an example of a small Orthodox parish that closed in the last few years. It had a beautiful interior, but the congregation could no support a priest for the forty years I have lived in the area. They has the Proto Liturgy and DL once a month. It came down to about one active member. The building has been sold.

I understand that people can be attached to a parish church, but reality needs to set in when numbers dwindle. We are supposed to be a Pilgrim People which means we live and travel in tents, even when these tents are constructed of bricks and mortar. Permanent structures require constant upkeep or they fall into ruin.

I wonder what these people would do if they came under persecution. Would they attend the DL if it were held in someone's home so it could be secret or would they fall away?

This ability for a far away Congregation to over rule the local bishop is the reason that all the talk of a bishop being a bishop is so much noise. The man is little more than the local franchisee for a large corporation that dictates policy even when it may be economically a disaster.

I think the real problem is that the Ruthenian church is not under the jurisdiction of the UGCC, Metropolitan Boris and ultimately, Patriarch (Metro Arch) Sviatoslav. Rome is an easy end-run for those disgruntled parishioners.

"If the Byzantine Catholic Church in America doesn't learn how to evangelize, it will be gone in fifty years."

My Byzantine Catholic Church evangelizes.
We have food drives and we also cook dinner at a Protestant Church Food kitchen for the poor.
We have many Latin Rite Catholics who are now parishioners of our Church.

Define further evangelization for us that will increase our numbers.

Father Loya also said many years ago "if the Byzantine Rite Catholic Church doesn't allow married Priests
it will cease to exist eventually"
The Eparchy of Passaic now has at least 6 Churches that I know that have married Priests.
And more to come.
My Church is one of them.

You bring up a good pint about married priests. I wonder how many have gone to seminary and then found they simply could not live a life of celibacy. No shame in that. They are fine, practicing and married Catholics. That is a whole potential pool of instant deacons and priests. And that pool gets no attention at all. Pick up gun, aim at foot, pull trigger.

I get the loyalty to the Western tradition of clerical celibacy. And, in a certain time it may have been an outstanding idea. A desire for continuity can be a good thing. But it does not seem to be working out now. Everyone admits it is an issue of practice, not doctrine. Yet they keep trying to make it work no matter how bad the results they get. It's painful to watch Bishops both East and West banging their heads against the wall trying to get a different result.

Christ is in our midst!!

The idea that married priests is the answer is too simplistic. Our Orthodox brethren have places that are looking for a priest and there are none to be had. Some of my relatives who are Lutheran relate that they have had trouble finding, hiring, and retaining a minister. The problem does not necessarily revolve around celibacy. I believe it is a crisis of faith.

The priesthood demands sacrifice, regardless of one's marital status. And sacrifice is not something that is either popular or regularly talked about in our present Christian practice, no matter how we are practicing it. There is an very though provoking article on OrthoChristian.com entitled "The Folly of Comfortable Christianity." Another, similar, good read is "On Syrupy Christianity" on the same site.

Few clergy positions are comfortable. Whether one is married or single, one is always under a microscope. I remember a woman in my high school class who was what she called a "PK": preacher's kid. She gave a speech in our speech class revealing what life was like for her--under constant criticism by congregants. So there is no easy solution without a deep spiritual turning about by our people of whatfever stripe.

"The idea that married priests is the answer is too simplistic".
IT'S A GOOD START!

Almost all the Married Byzantine Catholic Priests that the the Diocese of Passaic has except 2 (8 so far) that I know of are from Slovakia.
These good and holy Catholic Priests are saving the Eparchy of Passaic.
I'm a personal friend of one of them.
The people love them and their families.

SLAVA ISUSU CHRISTU!

All Eastern Rite Catholic seminaries now have optional celibacy and allow married men to be Priests,
There are over 100 former Anglican married Priests with families who became Latin Rite over 15 years ago.
There has never been even a hint of scandal from them.

All sexual abuse scandals in both the Latin and Byzantine Catholic Rites have been from "celibate" Priests.

Where is this edict to be found? What exactly did it say?

This is the link from churchmilitant.com:

https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/byzantine-catholic-closure-suspended

It includes a link to the edict in Latin:

https://byzantine.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/20210617091228350.pdf

Interesting situation.
See The Eparchy is Under Seige! [byzantine.us].

I think it is worthy to note that the Congregation did not revoke Bishop Milan's decision, but suspended it; allowing the dissenting parishes to remain intact until the bishop's reasons for realigning the parishes involved can be carefully examined. Perhaps the Ruthenian Metropolitan Archbishop might have a bit to say about the issue, also. It's a question of hearing all sides. The cynicism expressed in the posts that I've read above serve nothing to foster church unity. Before all our rituals and rites, spoons and cups, we must be Christians first

Optional Celibacy brings in a more psychologically balanced group of men into Catholic Seminaries.
Optional Celibacy is now working well in the 26 Eastern Catholic Rites of the Catholic Church including
the Byzantine Rite which now has over 40% married clergy and more on the way both from Europe and the US
including my own Byzantine Catholic Church in Trumbull CT.
OPTIONAL CELIBACY WORKS.

Forced Celibacy does not work any longer.

There are 23 Eastern Catholic Churches.

2 of them, the Syro Malabar and Syro Malankar Churches, have mandatory celibacy and are brimming with vocations.