Discussions of Eastern Christianity, often with a Byzantine flavor. Posts on the Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholic, and even the occasional church of the West.
Romanian ecumenism
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The always readable Anastasis Dialogue has a post on a bright moment in the ecumenical sphere. The Romanian Orthodox and Greek Catholics had a shared procession on Theophany (Epiphany). Read about it here.
You remind me that I have been remiss. My father was Chrismated last month under the name Athanasius. I say, possibly with the special selfishness a son has for his father's long life, God grant him many years!
This was sent to me and deserves a read. You can read the Calivas article here . We can all agree that we are living in unusual times. However, the nature and extent of the illness that we face, and the proper response of the Church, is a matter of much disagreement. We have seen various responses to the COVID-19 epidemic: calls to close our Churches as infectious vectors, and demands to open them as places of spiritual healing. Directives a) ordering the cessation of sacramental life as part of an effort to “flatten the curve,” and cries for access to the divine grace that flows forth from those very mysteries; b) calling for the restriction of “at-risk persons,” and serious questions about the validity of such controls, c) instructions to liturgists to wear personal protective equipment during the celebration of the divine services and the distribution of the holy Mysteries, and uncertainty about the fitness of such practices. Who has been championing what and on behalf of whom? The ...
Is the male-only priesthood a discipline or essential to the nature of being a priest? Sr. Vassa (again unflinchingly taking up a contentious topic by climbing up the ladder to the highest platform and then jumping into the deep end head first) dives right in and says there is no reason beyond personal preference to not have female clergy. You know, when people ask me about women in priesthood, they say, 'Sister, why can't women be priests?' And I say, 'Women CAN be priests. We don't WANT them to be priests.' Because you see, God can do anything, and the Church, by divine authority, uh, can do anything, but, the Church doesn't want to - and that's a legitimate reason. What I don't like is when we TRY to pretend that there are other reasons for this, because it's legitimate not to want something, and there are reasons not to want this - right? - but, we shouldn't pretent that there's some... reason, that, for example, the maleness...
And hopefully some day there will be no Greek Catholic or Romanian Orthodox, just the Christian Church. God willing...
ReplyDeleteMy first and last prayer every day!
ReplyDeleteYou remind me that I have been remiss. My father was Chrismated last month under the name Athanasius. I say, possibly with the special selfishness a son has for his father's long life, God grant him many years!