Dear Friends,
Some of the issues that got some of us into hot water of late ultimately had to do with questions concerning the Latin Church and the touchy matter of, even inadvertently, comparing "how Catholic" we Easterners really are.
The Administrator is a man who is deeply formed in Eastern Christian spirituality and I wish we had more like him in the UGCC - but we don't.
And his job here is not an enviable one, all kidding aside (for a moment
).
Eastern Christians, Catholic and Orthodox, don't appreciate and don't deserve to be placed on a "how Catholic are you" scale in terms of where they stand on Purgatory, the Immaculate Conception and other issues.
The usefulness of this forum to Latin Catholics and Latinized Eastern Catholics has to do with helping to see the real difference between what is a matter of divine faith - and the Particular theological tradition by which that faith is expressed and celebrated liturgically.
Latin Catholics and Latinized Eastern Catholics sometimes see the two as being one and they are not.
There are Orthodox Christians, often converts, who go the other way in terms of seeing Catholicism and Orthodoxy as being so mutually exclusive that the very idea of an "Orthodox in communion with Rome" is anathema and prefer to see EC's as Roman Catholics imitating Orthodox liturgical forms.
The idea that there is room in the Catholic Church for Orthodox theological traditions within Particular Churches of the East in communion with Rome is strictly verboten and it upsets them. But it shouldn't and, in the very least, respect should be shown to EC's and their traditions and especially their struggles to maintain their own sense of ecclesial identity.
So the Administrator has a difficult job here and his imposition of the internet version of "canonical penances" shouldn't be understood as a "punishment" but as "medicinal" (did we already have a thread on this topic?
).
I will admit that when I first crossed swords with our brother, Bob Orthoman, I was put-off and went directly to the Administrator with a "what do I do now?"
The Administrator encouraged me not to give up but to engage Bob and others in debate, even when the debate got heated.
Over time, I got used to some high temperatures . . .
But the Administrator's decision to allow some time for both Bob and LT to reflect on the issues I think I've properly summarized above (but if I haven't, hopefully you know what I mean) is to everyone's benefit. At the same time I hope that we can still have those heated debates - they are welcome, especially during the winter months . . .
(Enough smileys for you, Coalesco?).
The Administrator in his erudite wisdom gave these issues much more thought than myself or anyone.
This also affords us all an opportunity to reflect on how we speak to one another here.
We should all avoid passing judgement on one another in terms of how Catholic or how Orthodox we are. That is ultimately not what we are about here. We are about respect and open discussion within a courteous framework.
And we should definitely not try to be hypercritical of one another's posts, impute motive and the like.
I regret having spoken critically of Neil's posting style in response to Fr. Deacon Lance and I ask him to forgive me. I won't do that again and I wish I could erase that post.
I honestly did feel that to be the truth, but I should not have said so. I did it, in all sincerity, in response to what I perceived was Neil's unprovoked attack of me and my posting with Bob Orthoman on the Fatima issue that Neil was commenting on. I felt upset and angry as I perceived Neil "has it in" for me for some reason and so I responded the way I did.
Neil didn't need to be hyper-critical of me and I didn't need to return the favour.
I hope that we may all continue to converse in brotherly and sisterly fashion here.
What this Forum does and contributes is something no other really does.
Our humanity does show here sometimes, and I think it is a tribute to the democratic spirit that is truly this forum's mainstay that this does happen.
What we have to share with both Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians is a lived vision of what a reunited Church of Christ can be.
We EC's live a version of the future in the present.
We love both our Latin and Orthodox brothers and sisters and our vocation is ultimately to see the two of your become one once again.
Alex
