Byzantine, Texas

I took the family down to Houston for the ordination of Subdeacon Andrew Veres to the diaconate. As is often the case in areas where one's liturgy is not the dominant one, the event was full of people who had no idea what they were doing. The divine liturgy and ordination went smoothly as did the celebration at a local hotel ballroom afterwards. A picture taken by my wife who snuck outside while the congregation sat waiting for the entrance. Midway through the liturgy Subdeacon Andrew processed up to the altar. During the ordination. You also see Fr. Bogda (director of vocations for the archeparchy). The new deacon vested with the orarion . The clergy, the deacon's family, and those that served the altar. And a final, closing picture of my youngest daughter in what I hope will be an outfit she'll find wearable in her later years!

All of the Eparchies of the U.S. were invited to produce a 90 second welcome video for the Apostolic Visit of His Holiness, Pope Benedict to the United States this April.

"Valentina Hasan from Bulgaria's Music Idol - Valentina has become an International YouTube star for her glorious version of "Ken Lee." They brought her back to perform the song on the show. "Ken Lee" is a version of the song "Without You," but sung in fake English." Fake English has always been an interesting phenomenon to me. From the days when I devoured naval novels depicting life around the Napoleonic era where sailing ships were filled with hands from the farthest reaches of the globe to pidgin English of the Pacific to the modern day variety. This is just another example of videos I have seen from Vietnam, Korea, Japan, and all of Europe. It continues to amuse.

I amused myself with the above unrelated promotional video for the Ukrainian army. Kyiv ( RISU ) — Union of Officers of Ukraine (UOU) has requested that each military unit have permanent priests to meet the religious needs of officers. Supporters of this proposition state that military chaplaincy has existed in the armies of the United States, Germany, and Poland for many years. “Member states of NATO – an organization Ukraine wants to join – have institutionalized military chaplains,” stressed UOU head Viacheslav Bilous. “This increases military morale and discipline by allowing believers of particular confessions to exercise their right to prayer.” The question of confessional affiliation is a point of opposition to such innovations, as it is still unclear what criteria will be used to determine the confession of priests to be assigned to particular units. The very question that came to my mind. In order for such innovations to be legally accepted, alterations must be made to laws pr...

I was going to leave this story alone because it has little to do with the Eastern Church until I pondered the Turkish Orthodox and Catholics and rethought my position. Rome, Mar. 25, 2008 ( CWNews.com ) - The conversion of a prominent Egyptian-born journalist, who was baptized by Pope Benedict XVI at the Easter Vigil, has stirred strong reactions across the Islamic world. Magdi Allam, a deputy editor of the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, said that his reception into the Catholic Church marked "the most beautiful day of my life." But his embrace of the Catholic faith outraged many Muslim leaders. Islam teaches that apostasy is punishable by death. This is sort of true. Some interpretations say so, but not all. Allam had already been a target of Muslim anger because of his outspoken criticism of Islamic extremism. He lived in seclusion in Italy, accompanied by bodyguards during his public appearances, even before his conversion. "I know what I am facing," Allam s...

Moscow— Respective members of the Union the Orthodox Brotherhoods of Ukraine and the synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate gathered at the residence of Patriarch Alexis II on 17 March 2008 to discuss the autocephaly. According to the Portal Credo news agency, The Ukrainian delegation consisted of a few dozen representatives from eight regions and was led by UOBU deputy head V. Lukiianyk. The delegates expressed their concern over the “threat” of autocephaly and requested that the Patriarch come to Ukraine to promote administrative unity among UOC-MP churches and monasteries. “We promote unity and will not allow division to take place,” assured Patriarch Alexis, before agreeing to a visit. “We will not leave our flock in Ukraine in trouble and will certainly come to Ukraine.” Which begged the question for me of what a "Union the Orthodox Brotherhoods of Ukraine" is. From the Encyclopedia of Ukraine : The origins of brotherhoods can be traced back to the ...

We arrived some 30 minutes early; enough to be there for most of the Matins of the Resurrection, which follows the priest removing the burial shroud from the tomb and placing it on the altar. If you have not experienced the procession here is how that icon of orthopraxis St. Elias Church in Ontario does it. Even as early as we were for the Divine Liturgy, we found the last open concatenated seats in the nave. Very quickly the doors to the narthex were opened and seats were put down. Regardless, many were left standing. As with Christmas I am both happy to see these people and saddened that they choose to spend their time with us so infrequently. The reading (below) was chanted in English, Greek, Slavonic, French, and Spanish. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the...

Picture from the funeral of His Eminence Metropolitan Laurus of the Russian Orthodox Outside Russia to be found here . May his memory be eternal!

My father, before he became Orthodox, went to a "church" fashioned from this very cloth - complete with Hawaiian shirt and beach shorts. Just down the road a "church" just expanded to include a larger coffee bar, an expanded auditorium, and more room for "the band." Wife update: They just brought out the bounce house for a church clean-up. Wow. H/T: American Papist

As most would expect the parishioner and visitor numbers have swelled as the week progresses. I'd say between a third and a fourth more people each day. We have run out of books two days in a row. The response to this is for the big families to share books and redistribute to "new people" as they come in. We were lucky in that 2 of our children fell asleep, so while it made for creative seating postures having to mould our bodies around recumbent youths we had a smaller disciplinary role and a greater ability to share a book. As veterans of large families know parents have to choose who sits next to whom with great care. It's equivalent to seating charts at the White House. After the divine liturgy we had a compline service. Even fewer books were available for this. So in my best Oliver Twist 'Please, sir, I want some more.'-like theatric approximation I walked around with a slumbering child in my arms looking forlorn at my lack of a reference text. A book was...

I imported the archeparchy's liturgical calendar script and after parsing through its code I noticed that it didn't properly close itself. So after removing all the rendering hacks my fonts are happy once again. Joy!

Lviv ( RISU ) — On 19 March 2008, The Ukrainian Catholic University held a press conference in Lviv in which Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Archbishop Ihor Vozniak assured the public that the beatification of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytskyi is approaching finalization. The archbishop disclosed that during the recent visit of UGCC bishops to the Vatican, representatives of the Congregation for Beatification informed them that the metropolitan’s beatification is virtually complete and requires only prayers. However, Oksana Haiova, head of Religious Studies at the Lviv Central State Historical Archives, disavowed the idea that the factors influencing beatification are solely spiritual. In this light, she stressed the importance of the Lviv Gazette’s “Send a letter to the Pope” initiative in promoting active public interest to attracting attention to the metropolitan. At the same time, she assured the public that the Apostolic See does “not question [Sheptytski’s] sainthood.”

Neven Pesa, a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville and seminarian hopeful, is trying to reduce his debt so that he can go to Saint Basil Seminary in Methuen, MA. Please consider lending him a financial hand and go to his website: http://www.helpmebecomeapriest.com/ . " Fasting is better than prayer, but almsgiving better than both. " - 2 Clement 16:4

A disease? A philosophy? Close... a heresy. Aphthartodocetism sometimes shortened to "aphthartist" when referring to an adherent of the heresy ( Dictionary of the Orient ): In Christianity, a sectarian doctrine promoting Monophysitism, belonging to the 6th century. With Aphthartodocetism, the concept and implications of Monophysitism were brought to their extremes. The claimed that the body of Christ was divine, therefore incorruptible and imperishable. Still, Christ had the freedom to chose his sufferings and death, which is also what he did. The doctrines were launched by Bishop Julian of Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum, Turkey). They were strongly opposed by Patriarch Severus of Antioch, who also was a Monophysite. Their two parties emerged into a schism that would last until the 7th century. His doctrine found acceptance in the Armenian Church. HISTORY Around 520: Bishop Julian promotes the teachings of Aphthartodocetism. 564: Aphthartodocetism is declared a here...

On doing some light reading I came across "antidikomarianitai." This word meaning "opponents of Mary" refers to a heretical group that denied the perpetual virginity of Mary. What is great (in one sense anyway) is that you can still use this word when talking to many heterodox today. I would recommend practicing saying it in front of a mirror first much as one would before attempting disestablishmentarianism or supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (oddly the former word was not in my computer's dictionary while the latter was) in public. Swinging to the other extremes the Collyridians took their devotion to Mary too far and worshipped her as a goddess. You will find them mentioned on occasion as some interpret the Koran as stating that Christians belief Mary to be part of the Trinity.

The American idea of India is that the country is populated with flower wearing, nose pierced, pacifists who dance around a lot and play all their vocal tracks run through an Alvin and the Chipmunks filter. India is not at all that monolithic. Hinduism is diverse enough that two sects can be as far apart as veritable Jainists on the on side and cannibals on the other. That said, this story is still quite striking in its brutality. Mumbai, Mar 18, 2008 / 05:14 am ( CNA ).- A Hindu radical group on Saturday attacked two Catholic nuns and three teenage girls in a western Indian village as they prepared to hold a women’s educational program, UCA News reports. Sister Merciana Tuscano, one of the Carmelite nuns attacked, told UCA News that radical Hindu men and women attacked the nuns and girls in the village of Sanghoti in the state of Maharashtra. The mob shouted at the nuns, accusing them of “converting tribal people to Christianity.” According to Sister Tuscano, the mob “told us to lea...

An excellent collection of images and letters on Fr. Whiteford's blog on the passing of (ROCOR) Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York. Memory Eternal!

I post this with a strong sense of pride for the Synod. A clear, unequivocal statement against the government's attempt to "give the people what they want" as it were at the expense of their welfare and dare I say it salvation. Falling in line with popular opinion does not make one more relevant it makes one an impotent and ever spinning weathervane. This is not to say that Archbishop Ieronymos should be lambasted as he has only been enthroned for a short time. ( Directions to Orthodoxy ) - In the most emphatic fashion, the Church of Greece’s Holy Synod yesterday declared its opposition to the government’s bid to give unmarried couples greater rights by stating that any form of relationship other than a couple married in an Orthodox Church is tantamount to “prostitution.” The Synod’s reaction signals an about-turn for Archbishop Ieronymos, who last week appeared to accept that changing the bill was beyond the Church’s sphere of influence. However, this was completely over...

Sumy ( RISU ) — Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) members protested the construction of a Greek Catholic church in Sumy. According to the UNIAN news agency, a procession celebrating the Day of Triumph of Orthodoxy started from the UOC-MP Savior-Transfiguration Cathedral in the center of Sumy and proceeded to Railway Station Square – previously a cemetery and the planned site of the new Catholic church – and was attended by approximately 2000 people expressing dissatisfaction with the notion of building a Greek Catholic church “on Orthodox bones. ” Ouch!

I found this wording very interesting. Kyiv ( RISU ) — The rector of the Kyivan Orthodox Theological Academy, Archbishop Dymytrii (Rudiuk), participated in a live broadcast of the international news service of Radio Ukraine on 13 March 2008 in which he was asked about the Kyiv Patriarchate’s position on possible participation of Patriarch Alexis II of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in the celebration of the 1020th anniversary of the baptism of Rus in Kyiv. Bishop Dymytrii noted: “ We will recognize this visit if it is conducive to Church unity. We know that President Yushchenko agrees with this rationale as is evident in his proposal, but we don’t yet know if the Moscow Patriarch is going to come, as there has been no official response. If the Head of the Russian Church comes, we expect constructive dialogue between the Churches of the Kyivan and Moscow Patriarchates in order to quash hostility between our Churches. ” Ukrainian Orthodoxy reports that Archbishop Dymytrii concedes th...

Hong Kong ( ENI ). The new Orthodox metropolitan of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia says his priorities include dealing with the Chinese government to bring about the recognition of Orthodox Christians in mainland China. "There are many Orthodox in the port cities in South China. Greeks are working on the ships and they want a place of worship," Metropolitan Nektarios told Ecumenical News International on 29 February, the day before his enthronement. "The pastoral activities are first for the [Orthodox] Greeks, then for the Chinese. There are only a few Orthodox Chinese there." At present, the Chinese government recognises only Daoism, Buddhism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism as "official" religions , even though other religious group operate in China. The new metropolitan, or archbishop, also said that promoting Christian unity was a priority. "I want to work together, very closely and with more collaboration, with some other Christian churches he...

Quick story for all my homeschooling brethren. Sacramento, Mar 13, 2008 / 04:20 am ( CNA ).- A California legislator has responded to a state superior court decision ruling that non-credentialed parents may not home school their children by introducing a bill asking the California Supreme Court to overturn the decision, the California Catholic Daily reports. However, it is important to note that the resolution will not change the standing law. On February 28, the California Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles ruled that enrollment and attendance in a public full-time day school is required by law unless the child is enrolled in and attends a private full-time day school, is tutored by someone holding a state teaching credential, or meets one of a few statutory exemptions. Homeschooling families and advocates across the country have protested the appellate court’s decision. On Friday Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called the court decision “outrageous” and one that “must be o...

My immediate emotional response is one of Rambo-style vengeful anger. Eternal memory, Servant of God Paulos Faraj Raho! In blessed repose, grant, O Lord, eternal rest to the soul of Your servant, and remember him forever. Eternal memory; eternal memory, grant, O Lord, to Your servant blessed repose and eternal memory. Mosul, Mar. 13, 2008 ( CWNews.com ) - Archbishop Bishop Paulos Faraj Raho of Mosul, the Iraqi prelate who was kidnapped by gunmen on February 29, is dead. The kidnappers of the Chaldean Catholic archbishop, who had been demanding a heavy ransom, told Church officials that the archbishop was dead, AsiaNews reports. The kidnappers reportedly gave instructions on how Church officials could recover the archbishop's body. Archbishop Raho was seized outside the Holy Spirit cathedral in Mosul after conducting a Stations of the Cross service on Friday, February 29. His driver and two bodyguards were killed by the gunmen who abducted the archbishop. In the days since the kidna...

London, Mar. 12, 2008 ( CWNews.com ) - An English bishop appeared today before a parliamentary committee, to answer questions about allegations of "fundamentalism" in Catholic schools. Bishop Patrick O'Donohue of Lancaster was summoned to appear before an education committee for the House of Commons, on the prodding of Barry Sheerman, a Labor party member who had questioned the bishop's influence over parochial schools. Sheerman objected when Bishop O'Donohue ruled against the use of a sex-education curriculum in his diocese. Bishop O'Donohue said that he was looking forward to the opportunity to address the parliamentary committee, because he hoped to explode some "urban myths" about education in Catholic schools. "One such myth," the bishop said, "is that faith education works all right as long as people are not that serious about their faith." Take that you pommy wanker. The bishop was unmistakably referring to a statement by B...

Disciples of Eastern Christian Outreach (DECO) has a new newsletter with the below events announced:

( CWNews.com ) - The mayor of Presov, Slovakia, Pavol Hagyari, wants to build Europe’s largest statue of Jesus Christ. The statue would be nearly 110 feet in height: about 15 feet taller than Lisbon, Portugal’s statue of Christ the King, but still 15 feet short of the world’s tallest statue of Christ overlooking Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The mayor of Slovakia’s third-largest city says the statue, expected to cost $660,000, will serve as a “symbol of faith and Christianity." Hagyari expects donors to support the project and hopes that the Christ statue will promote “religious tourism."

I just completed the initial mock-up of the [wait for it] Byzantine Archeparchy of Pittsburgh Catholic Committee on Scouting . That is indeed a mouthful. Until the creation of this committee scouts in the archeparchy either relied on their local Latin resources or contacted someone from the National website. Anyway, more to do, but at least up now.

Repossession brings to mind images of men in jumpsuits driving tow trucks. A rare story in a field of positive stories from recent months covering church ownership problems. Normally the worst thing they have to say is that "the process is going slowly." Lviv ( RISU ) — Approximately twenty Ukrainian Greek Catholics from the village of Nahachiv in the Yavoriv District of the Lviv Region gathered in front of the Lviv Regional Council with their parish priest to protest the repossession of their village church, reports the Western Information Corporation. RISU’s Ukrainian-language webpage posted this story on 11 March 2008. The UGCC parishioners maintain that their church was “seized” by members of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, who did not allow Greek Catholic liturgies despite the Ukrainian Supreme Court’s decision about honoring alternate services as early as 10 years ago. The people demanded that Lviv Regional Council deputies respond by assisting the Greek Ca...

Moscow, March 11, ( Interfax ) – The Russian Orthodox Church has refuted that a cleric of the self-proclaimed Kiev Patriarchate conducted the divine service in a Jerusalem Orthodox church. Earlier, the web-site of the "Kiev Patriarchate" Volyn Diocese claimed that Jerusalem Orthodox hierarchs permitted schismatic "Bishop" Mikhail of Lutsk and Volyn to celebrate the divine liturgy in their church during his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. "The press-service of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations is authorized to deny the truth of the publication," a statement on the Moscow Patriarchate official website reads. The document mentioned that secretary general of the Jerusalem Patriarchate's Holy Synod Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantine said "Bishop" Mikhail didn't ask him for a permission to celebrate a divine service in Orthodox churches. "The reported schismatic liturgy is falsification. Even if they did some...

They seem to keep pulling the same story out every other month with Russia responding with the same primary parade raining statements with a few change-ups thrown in. Even if it occurred, would it have the same joyous camaraderie of the the Papal / Patriarchal meetings of His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch? Rome, Mar. 10, 2008 ( CWNews.com ) - Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone (bio - news), the Vatican Secretary of State, told Italy's ANSA news service that he believes the time "is drawing near" when Pope Benedict XVI might be able to meet with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II. Cardinal Bertone spoke with ANSA after returning from a trip to Azerbaijan, where he visited the Russian Orthodox cathedral in Baku. The cardinal conceded that "difficulties" remain in the relationship between the Holy See and the Moscow patriarchate, but indicated that progress is being made to overcome these difficulties. The Vatican made several efforts to arrange a "summit...

Go see Philadelphia Roamin's post on the continued silence concerning by many Western governments to the kidnapped Chaldean archbishop pulled from a car after everyone else in the vehicle was shot to death.

At our parish we often have Latin visitors (at least a couple a week) for Sunday's Divine Liturgy. It is so common in fact that we have people assigned who sit with them throughout the liturgy to help them through it (prop them up with a crude Y-shaped stick after an hour of standing and the like). Afterwards we all go to the fellowship hall and they often come for the food and to ask questions. Sometimes (often) my own answers aren't sufficient. Even as a teenager I felt compelled to go to the source for answers. I've called authors, news people. priests, and other religious for answers in the past so when asked about the use of "Lord have mercy." I again went to the source... the Greeks! Here is the answer I received from a Greek Orthodox priest: Historically the Church has always used Lord Have Mercy. One approach to this topic is to see how it comes out of Scripture, in particular the Gospels. Before we do that though, let's take a quick look at the word...

( Directions to Orthodoxy ) The ecumenical patriarch delivers a masterful inaugural lecture for the 90th anniversary of the Pontifical Oriental Institute. Metropolitan of Pergamon Ioannis Zizioulas talks about the isolation of the Russian Orthodox Church who, in name of tradition, finds itself unable to face the modern world. Rome (AsiaNews) – A great love for Catholic-Orthodox unity as the only way to face the challenges of the modern world and a profound sadness for the self-imposed isolation of the Russian Orthodox Church are the main points Ecumenical Greek-Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I raised in his address to the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. Wow. And I thought he would just make some vanilla speech on the size of the Institute's library or the history of ecumenical fruit borne of its works or somesuch. They are also the main thrust in Metropolitan of Pergamon Ioannis Zizioulas’ comments to AsiaNews about the patriarch’s speech. For the latter the attitude of the...

Vatican City ( AsiaNews ) - Benedict XVI has invited ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew to take part in the upcoming synod of bishops, scheduled for October, and to give an address to the assembly, together with the pope himself. The news of the invitation, not yet released by Vatican sources, comes at the conclusion of Bartholomew's visit to Rome for the 90th anniversary of the Pontifical Oriental Institute, during which he met with the pope. The invitation to attend the synod came during lunch yesterday. In itself, the presence of representatives of other Christian Churches and confessions is a normal practice for synod assemblies, ever since Vatican Council II invited the "fraternal delegations". What makes this event significant is the personal invitation extended to Bartholomew, the solemnity reserved for this, and the atmosphere in which it took place. In regard to the meeting between Benedict XVI in Bartholomew, there has in fact been talk of the "spirit of R...

Compare these stories: Vatican, Mar. 6, 2008 ( CWNews.com ) - Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) and Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople met and prayed together at the Vatican on March 6. After a brief conversation, the Pope and the Ecumenical Patriarch went to the Urban VII chapel of the apostolic palace for a time of prayer, saying the Lord's Prayer together in Latin. The Orthodox patriarch was in Rome to join in ceremonies marking the 90th anniversary of the Pontifical Oriental Institute. Patriarch Bartholomew was a student there in the 1960s, earning a doctorate before his ordination to the Orthodox priesthood in 1969. Pope Benedict and Patriarch Bartholomew, who have pledged their joint efforts toward the restoration of full Christian unity , were meeting for the 3rd time since the Pope was elected to Peter's throne in 2005. Their first meeting was in November 2006 when the Pope traveled to Istanbul to join with the Orthodox leader in celebrating the feast of St...

Last night the family participated in the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete . As a family we have been doing the version written to fit into the space of forty days of prayer. If you are unfamiliar with the Canon it takes many hours to complete and is filled with prostrations (bowing to the ground) in answer to about 250 verses as well as the inclusion of the story of St. Mary of Egypt as it is the 5th week of our Lent. It's written so that you experience each Biblical subject in a personal way. Said a better way: You pray as Moses, as those who turned from Christ, and others in a way that makes the penitential act very personal. Did I say it was very long? It is. We steadily lost children to the horizontal position known as sleep as the hours (yes, hours) passed. Afterwards I thought it might be meritorious to list some alternate uses for the Great Canon. Is your forehead overly pronounced or irregularly shaped? I suggest pressing your head against the ground hundreds of time mi...

As many articles have pointed out in the past, the oppression of both the Greek Catholics and Orthodox under the Soviets sewed the seeds for a very faithful and vibrant return of piety. The Byzantine seminary in that area is overflowing with priests and a waiting list exists to get in. As His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and others have commented, the Orthodox also have a great awakening with numerous monasteries opening in recent years. ( RISU ) Trans-Carpathian Region— Head of the Trans-Carpathian Greek Catholic Diocese, Bishop Milan (Shashik) celebrated on 14 February 2008 a thanksgiving hierarchical liturgy in the Church of Assumption of the town of Tiachiv, which was returned to Greek Catholics after many years of court proceedings, reports Orthodoxy in Ukraine internet edition in reference to a story by the Mukachevo.net agency. In order to regain their church built by their forefathers, the Greek Catholics agreed to pay 500 000 UAH (100,000 USD) to the Orthodox. The money wa...

Jerusalem, Jan. 29, 2008 ( CWNews.com ) - The Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem has accorded the title of " Righteous among the Nations " to Blessed Pavol Gojdic , A Byzantine bishop who served in Slovakia from 1926 to 1960. The rabbi of Kosice, Slovakia, Jossi Steiner, and a Jewish woman whose life was saved by Bishop Gojdic initiated the process to grant the honorary title to the Catholic prelate, who was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2001. The honor granted to Bishop Gojdic, who suffered imprisonment under the Communist regime, has special significance as Jewish people have sometimes accused Catholics in Slovakia of actively assisting the Holocaust.

His talk and GREAT pictures are available here . Highly recommended sensory inputs.

The Orthodork Cafe , while posting is infrequent, is an enjoyable read. The most recent example is the author's recounting of how she hired local African help for her home, is trying to bring the faith to him at his request, and at the same time working to develop a catechism that is aligned to the regional mindset. It should be remembered that regional differences are more than just "local flare." Before the Roman Church developed the Catechism of the Catholic Church (the catechism states specifically that the Eastern Churches could and should develop their own. Moreover the UGCC in Australia is developing one now.) it was thought by many that no one document could encapsulate the faith while at the same time be accessible to the worldwide faithful. Cardinal Schönborn made that point just last night in an interview on EWTN's 'The World Over'. Regional differences matter and the blogger Stacy's flying all the way to live in Uganda should be both applaude...

The Christians in Iraq are leaving by the thousands. Priests have been beheaded, blown up, and are regularly "asked" to leave. I pray that he be released unharmed after they get either the money or attention they are after. VATICAN CITY, 1 MAR 2008 ( VIS ) - The Holy See Press Office released the following communique late yesterday afternoon: " The Holy Father Benedict XVI was immediately informed of the kidnapping of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of Mossul of the Chaldeans, Iraq, which took place yesterday afternoon during an attack in which the prelate's two bodyguards and his driver were killed. Archbishop Rahho had just completed the Way of the Cross , a religious rite which the faithful in Iraq hold very dear. This suggests that the criminal action was premeditated. "Saddened by this latest deplorable act, which is a powerful blow to the whole Church in the country and especially the Chaldean Church, the Pope feels close to Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, pa...