As predicted in a recent post, the pope has launched the next phase of his war on Catholic traditionalists. Among the new rules are draconian restrictions on the traditional rites for baptism, confession, marriage, and holy unction. The traditional rites for confirmation and ordination to holy orders are now prohibited entirely. Cleary Francis wants to drive these people out of the Catholic Church. This is a man without charity and who believes that he is the absolute master of the liturgy and the rites of his church. That is a dangerous combination.
How could anyone who is Orthodox contemplate entering into any kind of communion with a church that holds such beliefs and wages war on its own faithful?
ANAXIOS!
10 comments:
I mean, he IS the pope...of the Roman Catholic Church...
I am becoming more and more sympathetic to the Orthodox and the Sedevacantists each and every day this Pope lives.
To be fair, most of our bishops believe they are "the absolute master of the liturgy and the rites of [their] church," too. While there might be a certain degree of uniformity within each national church, the assumption is always that there is a "correct" way to do it - and that bishop or national church believes it represents the platonic ideal. In reality, rites have always changed and they have typically changed more often by episcopal or imperial fiat as by more organic means. One can choose to see the work in the Holy Spirit in this, or not. Cf. Nikonian Reforms and Old Ritualism in Russia.
Our bishops are the guardian of the liturgy and the sacraments, not master. It is inconceivable that an Orthodox bishop would attempt to suppress the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. And if one were mad enough to try it, I have a high degree of confidence they would quickly find themselves unemployed... or baking bread in a monastery.
Or shoveling out in the back forty.
A Russian would notice a host of suppressions i. the traditional modern Typikon of the Greek church (and not just that of the GOA). And ROCOR could give you chapter and verse on the modernism in the liturgical practices of the OCA, Antiochian, Finns, etc. Also, a host of other liturgies and practices were replaced by the Byzantine recension of the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom after the fall of Constantinople. Finally, there’s no one to enforce imprisonment in a monastery anymore, which is how the Old Calendarist movement formed (along with encouragement later by the Soviets).
I would acknowledge, though, that contemporary changes in Orthodox liturgy are minor compared to the post-V2 changes in the RCC to its rite and practices. Not sure the Orthodox of old would see it as minor, however, cf. Old Believers.
To be fair about the Nikonian changes, the patriarch, after seeing the evil handling on the part of authorities, attempted to allow for the old ritual to be used, much as Benedict had with the old rite. Unfortunately, the Tsar had him arrested and then at his death abolished the Patriarchate, and turned the Church into a department under a civilian.
"Unfortunately, the Tsar had him arrested and then at his death abolished the Patriarchate, and turned the Church into a department under a civilian."
This comments conflates the deposition of Patriarch Nikon in 1667 under Czar Alexei I (by a synod summoned by the czar) after nearly ten years of conflict with the suspension (1700) and then abolition of the patriarchate (1721) by Czar Peter the Great, Alexei's son.
Correct.
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