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Neil,

Actually, other than being mentioned and included in some generic material, the Georgians, the Albo-Italians and a couple of other Byzantine Churches will get short shrift simply becuase the book cannot go into the depth necessary to cover them. I suspect that the Ge'ez Church will also be mentioned, but little detail supplied.

On a more discouraging note, the lack of verifiable history (than you Protugal )for the Indian Catholic Churches will result in a paucity of information there, as well.

Edward, deacon and sinner

How come you use a spoon for communion? Isn't that unsanitary?

How come you use a spoon for communion? Isn't that unsanitary?

FrDeaconEd:

You might touch on the question that has been debated here on other threads: "outside the Church there is no salvation." So many believe that anything different than their own experience is outside the Church.

Or "if the Pope doesn't appoint their bishops, how can they be legitimate"?

In Christ,

BOB

That's a shame,I find the Ethiopian Churches (catholic and Orthodox) absolutely fascinating, I think their history and richness would deserve more than just a little detail, although I fully understand the problem of space.

By "Than you Protugal" I take it you mean "Thank you Portugal".
I can't speak for all of us, but on my behalf you are very welcome.

On a more helpfull note:
I think I can be useful to you as, being a latin catholic who has a great curiosity for the Eastern Churches I have asked most of the quesitons you need (and received the most interesting and informative replies) over the past few months. Many of the questions have been covered but I would also include:

- The origin of the different rites (Alexandrian, Byzantine, Latin and Antioquean) and a breakdown of Churches by Rites etc. with explanations.
- Celibacy for priests is, I think one of the main points of curiosity. It would be interesting to explain exactly which Churches do and do not allow married clergy.
- Explain why if a Married man can be ordained Priest, he cannot be ordained a Bishop? (actually I don't know the answer to that one myself)
- I know that one of the difficulties here in Portugal, when explaining the hierarchy of the Church and pointing out that many eastern churches are subject to a Patriarch (or exarch etc.) who in turn is "subject" to the pope many people find this confusing because of the existence of honorary Patriarchs such as the Patriarch of Lisbon or Venice. On more than one occasion I have come across people who believe that as there is a Patriarch of Lisbon there must be one of Madrid, Paris Berlin etc... This is something that would need to be explained briefly.
- The rules and regulations of changing rites or churches should be explained. I was surprised to learn for example that no matter what rite or church you are baptised in, you always "enter" the rite of your father. Details like these may seem insignificant to those of you who live and breathe eastern catholocism, but they are mind-boggling to many of "us"
- One of the most obvious points would be to point out the difference between the Eastern Catholic Churces and the Orthodox Churches, however I think it would be very important, whilst doing this, to point out the importance of the Eastern Catholic Churches in the struggle to achieve the eventual unity of the Church!
Good luck with your work, please keep us updated on progress!
Filipe

Filipe,

Thanks, your questions are excellent. And, yes, I meant "Portugal" (apparently I had a broken keyboard -- now replaced). The problem I was describing is that the Portugese Jesuits came to India and, over the course of years, heavily Latinized the St. Thomas Christians. In the process, much of the liturgical history of the two ritual Churches of India were lost. Even today they are struggling to recover their original identity. In a sense, the French did the same thing to the Maronite Christians, although they are able to recover more of their history, apparently.

Edward, deacon and sinner

As one who found himself answering many of the questions Filipe posed on another forum (before Anhelyna and I conspired to lure him here), I can readily attest to his skill at concocting questions

Many years,

Neil

Deacon Ed,

Curiousity, if you don't mind my asking. What's your timeframe for writing the book and who will the publisher be?

Many years,

Neil

Neil,

I'm currently negotiating a contract with Paulist Press. Once the contract is finalized I expect to take about three months to finish up the book and get it to them. They will then take three to four months to get it into production. Thus, we should see the book early next year (although I wanted to have it ready for Christmas).

Edward, deacon and sinner

Fr.DeaconEd,

I have been searching out information regarding the topic, "Life after Death." which is too broad for a general question, but from that topic perhaps any of these questions may be applicable.

What do the Eastern Churches believe regarding Original Sin? How does this differ from Roman Catholic belief?

What are intermediate states?

Do the Eastern Churches believe in purgatory?

What is the difference between purgatory as taught by the Western Church and the purifying fire as taught by the Eastern Church?

What does the "taxing of souls" mean in the Eastern Church? Is this the same as the Roman Catholic teaching about purgatory?

I have found satisfactory answers to these and many more questions, have been refreshed, enlightened, and inspired by what I found.

I wish you well on your book.

And grace and wisdom for the task. I hope these questions are useful.


Blessings to you,


Porter aka Mary Jo

How come you guys don't have as many married priests as we Latins do in the U.S.?

Which dicastery in Rome are you folks under? Do you like it there?

What exactly IS the Eastern approach to Christianity; and why do you all have to compare such Eastern ideas/notions/dogmas with parallel Latin ideas/notions/dogmas first before explaining yourselves? Can't Eastern Christianity explain itself on it's own two feet? Don't you think Eastern Christianity is a paradigm unto itself?

Is any importance attached to the Scriptures? Why are you all still only reading from 1/7th of the New Testament on Sundays? Will you someday proclaim the rest of the Gospels?

Joe

Why are you so ethnic?

Isn't there just one Church? Why do you say there are over 20?

Why is there so much singing in your "Mass"?

Why do you cross yourself (backwards, it seems) so much at "Mass"?

Why don't you say "and the Son" in the creed? Does the Pope know about this?

God bless you in your work! It is sorely needed!

I had to laugh at the one response -obviously by a RC that he should be able to go anywhere in the world and do things the same way - I have no access to a Byzantine Church so I go to an RC church. Over the last few years I've attended a number of different RC churches - none of them are the same - I never know what I'm going to encounter during the liturgy. In the few ocassions during the year when I am in PA I get the great honor and pleasure to actually join in a still sacred ritual - THe Divine Liturgy.

My questions for your book would include:

Are you Catholic or are you Orthodox?

Do you have Brothers and Sisters like the Catholic Church or monastics like the Orthodox?

Back in the early and mid 1990's didn't Pope John Paul II encourage or tell the Eastern Catholic Churches to restore their Eastern traditions? Are you folks doing that? How are you doing that?

What about Eastern monastic life? Do you have any Eastern monasteries for monks or nuns? Any hermits/hermitesses?

How do your people react to the restoration of Eastern traditions?

Um, I think most RCs know what ecumenical councils and archpriests are.

Logos Teen