Category: Eastern Orthodox Church

October 17, 2014 Eastern Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox Church

Viewing the Lines Accurately

Isidore_of_Kiev

In my earlier post, “Weekly Reading,” I made mention of Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev’s (Russian Orthodox Church (ROC)) recent comments to the ongoing to the Catholic Church’s “Extraordinary Synod on the Family.” Instead of staying on point concerning the need for Catholics and Orthodox to hold a common front against modern secular culture, the good bishop of Russia used his address to attack the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) — a common theme for Russian prelates these days (see, e.g., here and here). An Orthodox friend of mine humorously likened Hilarion’s words to “a drunken best man saying something wildly inappropriate during the toast.” The Catholic web-log The Rad Trad posted a facetious agreement with Hilarion’s call to abolish “Uniatism.”

Regrettably, however, there still exists an unfortunate number of traditional Catholics (and some neo-Catholics) who have no compunction about fawning over the ROC and “Neo-Holy Russia.” Granted, there are some wonderful things about the ROC, particularly its liturgical patrimony and iconographic tradition. I have known — and still know — a good number of fine folks who belong to either the ROC or one of its “relative churches.” They may not see eye-to-eye with me on ecclesiastical and theological matters, but they are far from being promoters of xenophobia and bigotry. That’s true of many Orthodox Christians I know. As such, I want to make clear that when I write of the missteps, nay, idiocy of the ROC, I do not intend it as a swipe against faithful Orthodox believers. At the same time, however, it is necessary to make clear that the ROC is not a friend of the Catholic Church and will not be a friend of the Catholic Church until such time as it ceases its mad assault against our brethren in Ukraine. While we should hope and pray for the day when East and West, including the separated Oriental churches, are one, that is not a license for false romanticism. The ROC has drawn its line in the sand. Catholics now know where it stands without question. Are we sure we know where we stand?

October 14, 2014 Church, Eastern Orthodox Church

Orthodox Glibness Toward the Synod

In certain corners of the Internet, along with the half-dozen geographic locales where they are still thought to exist, certain Orthodox Christians are smiling bright over the troubling “first fruits” of the Catholic Church’s ongoing “Extraordinary Synod on the Family.” (If you want to peek into the rotten basket, go here.) They’re smiling because right now it appears as if the Church is on the cusp of contradicting itself, of falling into the chasm which opened up at the First Vatican Council when the dogma of Papal Infallibility was solemnly defined. Nothing could be further from the truth — and they know it.

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October 9, 2014 Church, Eastern Orthodox Church

Thirsty Thursday

Somewhere in the world a Synod is taking place which has captured an uncomfortable amount of attention from the secular media. Since I promised not to comment on this Synod, I won’t. I will, however, express my extreme disappointment that this “event” is overshadowing the horror which is still unfolding for Christians in the Middle East. The Islamic State hasn’t called a ceasefire simply because a bunch old prelates in Rome are squabbling over how to circumvent settled dogma with specious reasoning. Some are still fretting that the Synod will lead to a rupture in the Catholic Church, maybe even a full-on schism. Would that be so bad? Yes, schism is always a tragedy, but it’s not without certain upsides. The departure of the Old Catholics in the 19th C., for instance, wounded the Church, but not deeply. Look at where the Old Catholics are today. But the Old Catholics were always an extreme minority; it’s not clear at this point who will go where and what their numbers shall be. That’s because it’s not clear yet who the Synod will shake out. Maybe, as some have predicted, it will just weaken the Church more, make her look even more unnecessary and foolish in the eyes of others, and limp onward toward further occasions for self-destruction in the name of “renewal.” Thankfully Catholic Answers and other neo-Catholic apologists will be on hand to explain it all away.

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October 6, 2014 Church, Eastern Orthodox Church

For Monday

Some years ago an online acquaintance of mine suggested that one of the attractions of Roman Catholicism for converts is that it provided something like “philosophical certainty” in a radically uncertain world. In short, if you can’t handle the soft nihilism of mass consumer culture or the more full-throated nihilism embedded in any number of mainline academic disciplines, then the Church is the place for you. I was Orthodox at the time he pitched this idea to me, but even then I thought he was probably onto something. I don’t think Eastern Orthodoxy enjoys such an “exalted” status. Without trying to pass over all of the genuinely good things Orthodoxy provides to those who enter her doorway, I think it’s safe to say that “philosophical certainty” isn’t one of them. In many respects, Orthodoxy, whether it intends to or not, merely reaffirms the popular fideism which runs through large currents of conservative American Christianity. The suspicion of reason which, if pressed far enough, becomes the denigration of thought, plays nicely into certain myths about what an “authentic Christianity” ought to look like. For more “sophisticated” types, intoxicated with the ways and means of postmodern thought and positively indignant toward the idea that unaided human reason can tell us much of anything, the “mysticism” of Orthodoxy provides something resembling stability. In other words, it makes one’s religious solipsism look grounded.

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August 23, 2014 Eastern Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox Church

Head of UGCC on Ukraine

His Beatitude Sviatoslav, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), has issued an open letter concerning the situation in Ukraine and the persecution of Greek and Roman Catholics, along with Protestants and non-Moscow Patriarchate Orthodox, in the so-called “separatist region” of the country. The letter also addresses the stream of invective which has been flowing out of the Moscow Patriarchate (MP) recently. Here is an excerpt:

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August 16, 2014 Eastern Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox Church

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Responds to Moscow

Once again, I wish I had more time to devote to this, but the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) has responded to Moscow Patriarch Kirill’s recent letter (discussed briefly here) which foists blame for alleged wrongdoings to Orthodox Christians on the UGCC and the independent Orthodox Kievan Patriarchate. I will leave it to you, dear readers, to compare the tone and contents of both epistles.

August 16, 2014 Eastern Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox Church

The Church of “It’s Everyone Else’s Fault”

The weekend is packed and I have an article to finish, but I couldn’t pass up drawing attention to the Russian Orthodox Church’s latest round of paranoid, hyperbolic criticism of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) and the independent Kievan Patriarchate (KP) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In a letter to the other local Orthodox churches which was posted on, and then later removed from, the Moscow Patriarchate’s official website, Patriarch Kirill offers up a litany of accusations against the UGCC and KP with nary a mention of his own Church’s activities in the recently (and probably illegally) annexed Crimea. Kirill is also silent on the fact his priests have actively supported separatist in east Ukraine and that Russian Orthodox churches have served as ammunition depots for the rebels. You can read the full hypocritical text here. 

As always, pray for peace in Ukraine and the UGCC. Ask the Blessed Virgin and St. Nicholas — the Patron Saint of Ukraine’s Greek Catholics — for their intercession so that the Church of Christ may continue to prosper and grow in the lands of the Christian East.