The Good Catholica (2017) Online

Little Rock, Ark., Jun 30, 2017 / 05:51 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- When Moses smashed the stone tablets in Exodus 32, out of rage for the sins of his people, he used his. Giovanni Battista Montini was born in the village of Concesio, in the province of Brescia, Lombardy, Italy, in 1897. His father Giorgio Montini was a lawyer. Gmail is email that's intuitive, efficient, and useful. 15 GB of storage, less spam, and mobile access. Un libro è un insieme di fogli, stampati oppure manoscritti, delle stesse dimensioni, rilegati insieme in un certo ordine e racchiusi da una copertina.

• Expat and visitor portal with latest news, forum and events calendar.
• A provider of animal research models, as well as a range of biomedical products and outsourcing services, for use in the discovery, development and testing of new.

Society of St John Chrysostom. Like many Ukrainian Greco- Catholics, I am pleased that Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill finally met in Havana February 1. After all, for the last three decades such an encounter was always described as impossible because of the very existence of the Ukrainian Greco- Catholic Church. I note that Pope Francis praised Patriarch Kirill’s humility, but the latter did not return the favor. After all, it was clearly the Pope who humbly agreed to the time and place for the meeting, in order for it to finally happen after decades of stalling on the part of Moscow.

When the two met, Pope Francis tellingly said, “Finally . This should have been routine a long time ago. Moscow’s approach of seeking strength through aloofness really does not work in a world of instant communication. They have finally seen the light. Pope Francis favors frank dialogue over confrontation and posturing. But to dialogue, one needs a partner to come to the table.

Finally, it has happened. One can only hope that the Patriarch of Moscow will also be open to a meeting with the head of the Ukrainian Greco- Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, who has repeatedly called for such an encounter. At least now the Pope and the Patriarch of Moscow have broken the ice and will be able to communicate directly about these and many other matters. Now, it remains to be seen what kind of spin Moscow and its admirers in the media and blogosphere will put on the meeting and the Joint declaration the two signed.

Endless references to the thousand- year estrangement between Rome and Moscow display ignorance of the fact that 1,0. Patriarchate of Moscow did not exist. It was created in 1. Even the position of Metropolitan of Moscow goes back only to 1. The creation of the Moscow Metropolitanate was a direct reaction to the fact that the Church of Kyiv (Kiev) had re- established full communion with Rome at the Council of Florence through Metropolitan Isidore. The Metropolitan of Kyiv, Petro Akerovych, had attended the First Council of Lyons in 1. Moscow cannot claim the history of the Kyivan Church as its own and simultaneously ignore such momentous moments in that history.

The earliest Latin commentary on the Gospels, lost for more than 1,500 years, has been rediscovered and made available in English for the first time. Far too often these days liturgical discussions pertaining to the Roman Rite start with the popular myth that the Traditional Latin Mass only dates back to the.

Furthermore, the Kyivan Church re- established full communion with Rome in 1. Union of Brest, an explicit revival of Florentine models of unity, only to be beaten back by rivals who did not accept this Union. Even so, the Orthodox Metropolitan of Kiev, Petro Mohyla in the 1. Rome and was the author of yet another proposal for renewing communion with Rome, on what he considered slightly better terms. Hi-Def Quality My Little Pony The Movie (2017). Now, either the history of the Church of Kiev is a separate reality from that of Moscow, or it is part and parcel of Russian Orthodox identity. Moscow cannot have it both ways.

Alas, Moscow does do its best to obfuscate matters. The Moscow Patriarchate (founded 1. Mother Church for the Church of Kiev (founded 9. George Orwell would smile at this sort of Double- speak.

That is why Moscow does not correct commentators who talk about the thousand- year estrangement. It all makes Moscow look more exotic, more like a great prize to be wooed at all costs. Pope Francis’s ecumenical advisors paid an exorbitant cost to get the Patriarch of Moscow to meet. Again, commentators seem to fail to take notice of the fact that Moscow and Rome have had high- level contacts for decades. How quickly we forget that the head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate died in the arms of Pope John Paul I. The Moscow Patriarchate already had official observers at Vatican II in the 1.

But because modern efforts at Christian unity are often heavy on symbolism rather than substance (the harder thing to achieve), a meeting between the Patriarch of Moscow and the Pope of Rome was held out as a tantalizing prize for Catholic ecumenists, one that could be used to extract concessions at some necessary moment. That moment has come, as Russia faces international isolation and sanctions due to its adventures in invading Ukraine and reckless bombing of Syria that adds to the suffering of Christians there. Vladimir Putin desperately needed something—anything—to make Russia look good. So he sent the chief ideologue of the “Russkiy mir” (Russian world) to this summit. The Patriarch also had good reason to seek enhancement of his position as he jockeys for influence at the upcoming Great and Holy Synod of the Orthodox Churches in June. For Pope Francis, who is devoted to dialogue as process in every area of his papacy, the goal was clearly to open the door to direct contact and frank conversation. And as Papal Nuncio to Ukraine, Archbishop Claudio Guggerotti has emphasized, most people will quickly forget the document the two Church leaders signed.

What will be remembered, he says, is the embrace. Let’s take a look at the Joint Declaration, because it is sure to be a point of reference in Church relations, even if most people will either fail to read it, or will forget its contents in short order. It is a beautiful document, with much to reflect upon in prayer, and it sets a clear agenda for Christian cooperation in the fields of defense of traditional morality, religious liberty in the face of aggressive secularism and life issues. A common front on these issues is incredibly important. It includes an inspiring call to young people. The declaration speaks eloquently and adamantly about the defense of Christians who are persecuted for their faith.

All Christians should band together on this last issue, and exercise whatever influence we still have in the various countries in which we live, in order for the governments of this world to mobilize against this genocide. As a Ukrainian Greco- Catholic, I can confidently assert my total agreement with all of these points. The three paragraphs in question are strategically positioned near the end of the document, but not at its conclusion. By the time most readers get to paragraph 2. That’s why it is easy not to notice the insidious elements of paragraphs 2. Let’s examine them in some detail. Relations between Greek Catholics and Orthodox.

Paragraph 2. 5 reads as follows. It is our hope that our meeting may also contribute to reconciliation wherever tensions exist between Greek Catholics and Orthodox.

It is today clear that the past method of “uniatism,” understood as the union of one community to the other, separating it from its Church, is not the way to re–establish unity. Nonetheless, the ecclesial communities which emerged in these historical circumstances have the right to exist and to undertake all that is necessary to meet the spiritual needs of their faithful, while seeking to live in peace with their neighbours. Orthodox and Greek Catholics are in need of reconciliation and of mutually acceptable forms of co–existence. Twenty three years later, all of the Eastern Catholic Churches can breathe a sigh of relief that the Church that co- operated in the destruction of Eastern Catholic Churches under the Czars and under Stalin, has finally come into line with world Orthodoxy and no longer denies their very right to live. Interestingly, this paragraph does not mention Eastern Catholic Churches, but only “ecclesial communities.” Anyone versed in Catholic ecclesiological and ecumenical vocabulary will be alarmed at this, since this signals something less than full stature as a Church. There is no doubt at all that Rome views the largest of the Eastern Catholic Churches precisely as a Church.

In fact Rome refers to 2. Eastern Catholic Churches sui iuris, a term that means “of their own law” or self- governing. How, then, did this anomalous terminology creep into the document? There is only one answer, I believe. It was inserted by Moscow and Vatican ecumenists either missed it or knowingly made a concession in order to please Moscow. While this is unfortunate, it will not fundamentally change anything, except, perhaps, realign the rhetoric coming from Moscow, and especially the head of its Department of External Relations.