VATICAN CITY, OCT. 11, 2010 (Zenit.org) - The Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops will see for the first time almost all the ordinaries of the region gathered around the Bishop of Rome.
This is one of the historical elements of the assembly presented at a press conference today by the secretary-general of the synod, Archbishop Nikola Eterović.
Another novelty is that this will be the briefest synod, lasting only 14 days. (It began Sunday and ends Oct. 24). The brevity is due to three principal motives: the smaller number of participants, a simplification of the methodology, and concern for the Catholics of the Middle East (minorities in most of the region) who will be without their pastors.
There are 185 synod fathers, 159 of whom are taking part ex officio. Among them are 101 ordained in the ecclesiastical circumscriptions of the Middle East and 23 in the diaspora, who lead the faithful of the Eastern Catholic Churches who have emigrated from the Middle East to other countries.
There are also 19 bishops of neighboring North and East African nations and European and American countries with Christian communities from the Middle East.
Fourteen leaders of dicasteries of the Roman Curia are participating.
The synod fathers include nine patriarchs, 19 cardinals, 65 archbishops, 10 titular archbishops, 53 bishops, 21 auxiliary bishops and 87 religious.
There are nine heads of synods of bishops of the Catholic Eastern Churches sui iuris, and five representatives of international meetings of episcopal conferences.
There are six presidents of episcopal conferences, one coadjutor archbishop, and four retired archbishops, two of whom are cardinals. Also present is the retired Latin patriarch of Jerusalem and the patriarchal vicar.
Thirty-six experts and 34 auditors, women and men, are participating.
Counting the members of the general secretariat, the translators and assistants, as well as those working in the technical services, close to 330 individuals are participating in the assembly.
There are also representatives from six other Easter Catholic Churches: the Ethiopian, the Greek, the Romanian, the Syro-Malabar, the Syro-Malankara and the Ukrainian.
Of the 185 synod fathers, the majority -- 140 -- belong to Eastern Catholic traditions; there are 45 bishops of Latin traditions, 14 of whom are from the Middle East.
In an atmosphere of prayer, reflection and dialogue, the synod should "serve to further the bonds of communion within each of these Churches," said Archbishop Eterović. "Obviously the bonds of communion should also be reinforced between the particular Churches of different traditions."
Monday, October 11, 2010
Makeup of the Middle East Synod
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It seems that they have more bishops than they have people. In my own travels in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and Egypt, it seemed that the Roman Church was eager to ordain and consecrate a priest or a bishop of a community even if that community was tiny and dwindling. In Syria for example the Uniates are always trying to be more visible because they are a minority compared to the very visible Orthodox. Rome should leave the Middle East alone -it is Orthodox and always will be. This make-believe scenario of having Uniate "Patriarchs" over "Patriarchates" containing a matter of a few thousand people is a joke (the Syriac Catholic Patriarch comes to mind... and I'm not sure but there might even be an "Armenian Catholic Patriarch" set over a tiny amount of Armenian Catholics).
ReplyDeleteSome years back Rome attempted to make inroads into the Republic of Georgia, and even tried to create "Uniate Georgian" parishes. Thank God the attempt was an utter failure... but had they succeeded in making even 28 converts the Vatican would have proclaimed someone "Uniate Patriarch of Georgia." Rome would have funded some multi-million dollar cathedral in the heart of Georgia to create prestige or something.
I exaggerate of course... but the sad thing is I've seen this kind of thing happen in Syria.
I believe what you are talking about is the parity principle. The idea was that for each Orthodox (Oriental/Eastern) body there should be a Catholic counterpart. In recent years this has been (through dialogues, official statements, ecumenical agreements) frowned upon in as much as there was an acknowledgement of proselytism. So, while the idea lives on, the Eastern Catholic-Orthodox "poaching" on both sides has been toned down. As for the Middle Eastern Greek Catholics... they're endemic to the area. The Melkites/Maronites have been there and they will continue to be there.
ReplyDeleteLets' get the perspective of women in the Mid-East church...
ReplyDeleteWill someone interview from the "Thirty-six experts and 34 auditors, women and men, participating."