A highly
unusual act. FWIW there is not a shadow of a doubt in my mind that these are true martyrs. I have long believed that 95% of what was thought to divide the non-Chalcedonian Orthodox from us was basically a failure of communication. Alas, there does remain the small matter of four (+?) ecumenical councils. That said, in many parishes here in N. America it has become accepted practice to allow properly disposed OOs to commune, though of course concelebration between clergy is not yet here.
Indeed unusual, however, agree regarding their martyrdom.
ReplyDeleteThough he persecutes his own flock, thinking specifically of adherents of the Traditional Latin Mass (arguably, one of the few things that works well within the Western RC) he has been generous to the Eastern Churches as well friendly towards the Orthodox. While I don't think he understands well the East and its mindset (thinking he can broker peace regarding Ukraine), his papacy has been harmless to us. He eschews perceived "rigidity" particularly as it pertains to divine worship, yet, with the East, particularly the Ruthenian Church, we have both rediscovered and reclaimed our liturgical patrimony after the imposition of latinizations decades prior. A true dichotomy of a papacy.
Francis has been tolerating, and to some degree encouraging all kinds of heretical nonsense. See what's been going on in Germany. As for the liturgical question, the problem is a pope who believes he has the authority to suppress the entire liturgical patrimony of his own church. If he can do it to the Latin/Roman Rite, what prevents hm from doing it to the Eastern churches? The fact that he has, for the most part chosen to leave the oriental rites alone, is neither here nor there. He is claiming a breathtaking level of power than no pope before has ever claimed.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, John. What's been permitted in the German Church, among others, is a disgrace. It has been a very long "reign" - these last 10+ years.
ReplyDeleteI have privately discussed the very point you raised regarding the situation with the TLM adherents several times over - it could easily happen to us. What to say except, so far, so good.
Without question he rules in a despotic manner such that after we're past this era, I hope the powers that be rethink the authoritarian nature of that ministry. A shepherd is needed, not a dictator.
If something catastrophic were to happen to the Eastern Churches, I can't speak for others, but it is highly likely I'll journey back to the Orthodoxy from which we came. I don't see there being a choice at that point but to do so.
In and of itself this is not totally unheard of. For example, the Anglicans who were martyred along with St. Charles Lwonga. There are others. But still, Francis is a gigantic problem for Catholics.
ReplyDeleteAlso worth remembering was the special permission granted by Pius XII in 1940 for uniate Catholics of the Russian Rite to venerate some post-schism Russian Orthodox saints.
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