Every January for over a century now, Christians have set aside a special week to pray for unity. This week, my friend the Orthodox priest and historian Oliver Herbel posted an excellent reflection in which he upbraided his fellow Orthodox for, as he powerfully put it, “spitting in the eye of Rome” every time she makes advances towards East-West unity. Father Oliver then went on to note some changes that he and his fellow Orthodox should make to respond better to Rome’s invitations.Read the rest here.
Let me return the favor of my gracious friend. Speaking as an Eastern Catholic who tries to help East and West understand each other, let me offer a few reflections on the kind of changes Eastern Catholics and, perforce, Eastern Orthodox, want to see in very practical ways for unity to become a closer and more realistic possibility. However, I do not want to be thought querulous, so let me dwell briefly on areas where I think Roman practice is right and needs to be encouraged:
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As a Roman Catholic, I think you Orthodox should stand firm in your faith and not give any concessions whatsoever to the Roman Church.
ReplyDeleteAt the risk of "disrespecting my Mother," I think the RCC is arrogant, short-sighted, and self-absorbed. Case in point, my mom dated a young man once who professed a faith other than Roman Catholic, and she called him (without meaning any malice) a "non-Catholic." He said to her once that the term did not affirm what he was, but what he was not, and that such a term, well meaning as it is, belittled him. It's something to think about.
Look at what has happened, and what is happening, to the RCC over the last 50+ years. Why would any Eastern Orthodox person in their right mind want to reunite with that?
Too, while I am striving very hard not to disrespect my ecclesial Mother (a Mother which I do very much love), I don't think everything was perfect before Vatican 2. What erupted in the wake of this council was brewing decades and perhaps centuries before "Free to be you and me" Catholicism was the name of the game.
Dear Orthodox, I hope to God you keep your Faith in dialogue with us RCC's. Please don't sell your patrimony down the river in the name of "can't we all just get along?" Please don't make the same mistake we did.