...will be 17 delegations from the "Eastern Churches." (Source: Rorate Caeli) At the risk of having my ecumenical dialogue license revoked, this is just wrong. Really. There comes a point where someone should have said, "thank you, but we have a previous engagement." This sort of nonsense makes me wonder if our Old Calendarist brothers and sisters don't have a point.
Dialogue with the non-Orthodox, with whom we have some things in common, on specific issues is fine. Showing up at a pan-theistic convention where equal billing is given to every weird cult on the face of the Earth is a different matter. I really like Pope Benedict XVI. In general I think he is the best thing to hit Rome in a very long time and he is trying to fix a lot of the problems that have infected the Western Church. But this is a mistake. It was a mistake when John Paul II did it (twice!). And it remains so today.
I think our participation in this violates both the letter and the spirit of the church canons which forbids joint prayer and services with those outside the Church. Frankly, this is scandalous.
I agree with you 100%! Unfortunately, here in Europe everything has to be touchy-feely, milquetoast, and multi-culty in order to be given a voice.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to find out who these 17 delegates are for the Eastern Churches and can't find it. Anyone else know?
ReplyDeleteA rough translation of the official bulletin from the Vatican indicates 17 delegations from the Churches of the East. They specifically mention Bartholomew will be leading one and there will be representatives from the Albanian Orthodox Church and Moscow. They also note representations from the non-Chalcedonian Churches including the Armenians the Assyrian Church and the Indian Orthodox. They can all hang out with Rowan Williams who will be representing the druids of Britain.
ReplyDeleteAnaxios!
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I was shocked to hear that Benedict XVI was participating in this multi-culti travesty. It seems to fly in the face of his otherwise courageous stand against relativism.
I am deeply saddened that Patriarch Bartholomew is participating. How can he not know that this will set the teeth of even "moderates" on edge? And Moscow?!?!?!? Is there any chance that they will all just be there as "observers" and not as active participants in supposed prayers or worship?
Very upsetting, indeed.
Repent, the end is near!
ReplyDeleteI really don't understand why this is happening either. Ratzinger was clear in his criticisms of some of JPII's initiatives, including Assisi I, so to repeat this, no matter how carefully he tries to pitch it, is not only a waste of time but indeed a scandal.
ReplyDeleteIn 1900, when Orthodox, Episcopalian and PNCC bishops got together in Wisconsin, the event was called "The Fond-du-Lac Circus", even though the meeting was attended by two canonized Orthodox saints as observers, and was strictly Christian in nature,which is not the case in Assisi,which is trying the impossible:to mix oil and water.
ReplyDeleteThere will be NO prayers in Assisi.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/Vatican.php?id=4138
Yes, it was announced some time ago there would be NO prayers. So what's the big deal? "Pantheist quasi-pagan love fest" Overreact much?
ReplyDeleteI like this comment:
ReplyDelete"This is not the voice of God. I recognize the voice of my Shepherd, and this is not He speaking.
Run!"
The commenter is right. Gatherings such as this can only serve to mock everybody present. The gathering is not granting all faiths equal dignity; rather, it is levelling them all to the same insignificance. The differences don't matter, because the differing faiths themselves ... don't matter.
Really, it's an atheistic event which is why no observant Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, etc., should be present.
I have to say, I think you're exaggerating.
ReplyDeleteIf the pope, the Ecumenical Patriarch, and the Dalai Lama go out to eat together, and somebody wants to say grace, and they all close their eyes, is that a sacralige? Would you object to prayers before football at a parochial school because Orthodox and Catholic and Protestant and Jew and Muslim and Buddhist were politely and quietly joining in in their own way?
I don't see the least bit wrong in these leaders letting us know that, for all their very important differences (and they are important for all of them), they can engage in a little of what is no more than parallel reverence, and be friends, and assure their followers that a deeply held religious faith doesn't preclude a simple respect for those of different religions.
let us pray that what will reaqlly happen is nothing more than hail fellow well met assembly of pleasantries and nothing more. assisi 2 was blasphemous in my opinion.
ReplyDelete