The Light of Eastern Catholicism

[Perun]

http://thirdpositionreview.blogspot....tholicism.html

The Light of Eastern Catholicism



The latest edition of Crisis Magazine features a very nice article titled "The Other Catholics: A Short Guide to the Eastern Catholic Churches", which as the title suggests is an introduction to the world of Eastern Catholicism. Most Catholics in the world do not realize the Roman Catholic Church is but one of several rites within the universal church. I myself belong to the Ukrainian Catholic Church, which as the article explains is the largest Eastern-rite church in the world.

Several issues plague the Eastern Churches. One in particular is our relationship with our fellow Christian brethren within the Orthodox Church, with whom we share our Eastern Christian heritage. To the Orthodox, we're seen as traitors who sold out to the Papacy and often refer to us by the insulting term "uniate". Unity with our Orthodox brethren has long been a goal and hope for us Eastern Catholics, yet sadly several issues prevent that from happening soon.

Yet our traditions have not fully been appreciated by our Roman Catholic brethren either. For several generations, the Eastern Churches had to endure the policy of "latinization" which meant forcing Latin practices into our faith. Although thankfully this practice has ceased since Vatican II, but the damage had been done. The disrespect(and ignorance) found for the Eastern churches found among many Roman Catholics has convinced many to convert to the Orthodox church.

Yet there have been many attempts to address the concerns of the Eastern Churches in modern times. As stated before, Vatican II helped bring an end to the policy of latinization and from then on the Church leadership has encouraged the Eastern Churches to reclaim their lost heritage. John Paul II even wrote in his apostolic letter "Light of the East" about the important role that Eastern Catholicism has in enlightening the entire universal church.

Lubomyr Husar, who is now currently head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, gave a very interesting speech concerning the role of Eastern Catholicism back in 2000 which should shed light on this rich heritage. Another great article dealing with the Eastern heritage and its place within the Catholic world is Anthony T. Dragani's "The importance of understanding Eastern Christianity". EWTN itself features an interesting series on the topic named after John Paul's apostolic letter.

May the light of the East shine down and illuminate the world!

posted by Perun | 2:17 PM

[marius]

The Greek-Catholic Church has suffered a lot in Eastern Europe during communism. Their churches have been confiscated and given to Orthodoxs and the rite has been forbidden. The only reason was to cut as much as possible the connection Eastern Europeans had with the "Western world" and to try a brainwashing action. This succeeded partially, since even today many of the churches have not been returned, even if the Greek-Catholic rite is free to develop.

There is some information, in English concerning the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church. http://198.62.75.1/www2/greek-catholic/menu_e.html