Tag: Eastern Churches

Proposals for Discussion

That Pope Benedict XVI change the discipline of the Catholic church regarding the calculation of the date of the celebration of the Resurrection.

There is no common agreement among Christians concerning the date for the celebration of the feast of the Resurrection. Most Orthodox churches calculate the date taking into consideration the date of the Jewish celebration of the Passover; also some follow the Julian rather than the Gregorian calendar.
It is impossible for the Orthodox churches to change their calculation, since they have no central authority; on the other hand it is very easy for the Catholic churches to change, since they do.
Further, it would have no practical impact on the life of the Catholic faithful, since the feast of the Resurrection is a movable feast occurring at a different time every year. Accordingly, it would help to promote Christian unity and relieve tension and frustration among the Christian faithful if:

1. The general discipline of the Catholic church would be to celebrate the feast of the Resurrection on the first Sunday after the celebration of the Jewish Passover (which means the first Sunday after the first full moon of the spring equinox, providing it does not occur before the Passover).
2. In countries where the majority of the Orthodox churches follow another calculation, the national conference of Catholic bishops would have the faculty to choose to follow that calculation, providing there is unanimity to do so.


That Pope Benedict XVI remove restrictions on the exercise of their jurisdiction by the patriarchs and major archbishops of the sui iuris Catholic churches

According to the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, the jurisdiction of Eastern patriarchs and major archbishops is limited to their historical homelands. First, this presumes a territorial and geographical model of a sui iuris church, and, further, there is no clear definition of their historical homelands (territorium proprium). If anything, it is no more than a snapshot of their existing exercise of jurisdiction at one or another particular moment of history.
It is more helpful to view a sui iuris church (any sui iuris Catholic church, including the Latin) primarily as a personal network; the definition of geographical boundaries is needed to distinguish the exercise of jurisdiction of ordinaries of the same sui iuris church, one from the other; it is not needed nor are is it appropriate to distinguish the exercise of jurisdiction of ordinaries of different sui iuris churches, one from the other.


That the jurisdiction of Congregation for the Eastern Churches be extended to include shared jurisdiction with the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples over the Arabian Peninsula

For the purpose of the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops, the definition of “Middle East” has included the countries of the Arabian Peninsula.  Until now the life of Christians and the presence of the Catholic Church in that region has been left to interventions of the Secretariat of State and to the normal jurisdiction of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
However the Arabian Peninsula and its countries are the heartland of the Arab world and, in the case of Saudi Arabia, the heartland of Islam; except for the Arabian Peninsula, the Middle East is a region otherwise under the jurisdiction of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches.
Further, the countries of the Arabian Peninsula have an enormous Catholic population, not indigenous, equal in dimension to the Catholic population of the rest of the Middle East and consisting of both Latin and Eastern Catholics.
Provision should be made for a sharing of jurisdiction between the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Congregation for the Eastern Churches to ensure that the Eastern churches and their faithful are not subordinated to the Latin church, nor vice-versa.


That the mission, scope of action, and authority of the dicasteries of the Holy See be better clarified and delineated

There are multiple dimensions to the role of the Holy Father; they include his roles as bishop of Rome, father and head of the Latin (Roman) Catholic Church, and successor of Peter with a ministry and service of unity to the entire Church of Christ. The Holy Father utilizes a variety of dicasteries and structures to assist him in these multiple responsibilities; however, there are often “grey areas” concerning the scope of action and authority among these dicasteries.
It would be helpful to distinguish those dicasteries concerned exclusively with the governance and life of the Latin (Roman) Catholic Church from those concerned with governance and life of the non-Latin Catholic churches, from those concerned with the governance and life of all the sui iuris Catholic churches (both Latin and Eastern), and from those concerned with the entire Church of Christ.
In particular, so that the work of the Catholic Church and its relations among Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and Evangelical churches and ecclesial communities may be better advanced and coordinated, it is recommended that the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples share competence and jurisdiction with the Congregation for the Eastern Churches not only in the Arabian Peninsula [as above] but also in Ethiopia and India.


That the equal dignity and status of all sui iuris Catholic churches be respected not only in Canon Law but also in administrative structures and practice

Historically, some communities of most Eastern Orthodox churches have sought communion with the church of Rome and the Successor of Peter. Although the joint Orthodox-Catholic Balamand Declaration recognized the historic legitimacy and value of these “uniate” churches, it advocated a different ecclesiological model of unity. However, the Orthodox churches in particular are carefully observing the status and treatment of the Eastern Catholic churches in the Catholic church family, seeing this as a possible paradigm for the future of church unity.
Regrettably, the Eastern Catholic churches are frequently little understood and often undervalued by many sectors of the Latin (Roman) Catholic Church. Although very small and substantially more ethnic in comparison to the huge, world-wide Latin Church, they have radically equal status and value. In practice, the Latin Church is frequently favored over the Eastern churches and is often considered as the “default” Catholic church. To put it another way, the Eastern Catholic churches, in many countries, are considered as “exceptions to the rule” of the Latin.
In particular, any sui iuris Catholic church should have the right to fully exercise its own discipline and follow its own customs wherever it is established; some of the restrictions placed on its practice in some parts of the world — e.g., the ordination of married men to the priesthood — although understandable because of historical factors as well as prejudice and misunderstanding, are inappropriate.
Further, any person anywhere seeking to become a member of the Catholic church has the right to affiliate with and to be received by any sui iuris Catholic church anywhere; the work of evangelization and the Catholic Church’s missionary outreach and its support should not be considered as primarily the activity and prerogative of the Latin Church.


That appropriate permanent consultative ecclesial structures be created to assist the Holy Father in his role as Successor of Peter with the special ministry of unity

Occasionally, the Holy Father meets with and consults the patriarchs and major archbishops of the Catholic Eastern churches; some of them are also named cardinals of the Roman church. If a cardinal is perceived as a member of the Latin (Roman) Catholic Church, this is very awkward; if a cardinal is perceived as a counselor to the Successor of Peter in the exercise of his ministry for the union of the Church of Christ, it is very appropriate.
In this latter sense, it would be good if all the heads of sui iuris Eastern Catholic churches were to be named members of the College of Cardinals, all in the first category of cardinal patriarchs, with precedence over the other ranks. Otherwise, no heads of churches should be cardinals and all should have precedence over cardinals; in this case, it would be good to have a special council of patriarchs and major archbishops that would regularly meet with the Pope.

The Brotherhood of the Orthodox

When the Christian community — the church — began to grow from its origins in Jerusalem, it spread throughout the Roman Empire and beyond. The westward expansion of the church in the Roman Empire is better known through the New Testament writings.
Christianity also thrived in the empire’s three great urban centers: Alexandria, Antioch, and Rome. After the foundation of a new Christian capital, Constantinople, it took a prominent place among them.
The four Christian centers or patriarchates of the Eastern Roman Empire, and the daughter churches that sprang or separated from, them are usually described as Orthodox churches — although the title reflects a later period of history when these churches sought to distinguish themselves from Rome.
Many of them share the same liturgy, customs, and traditions; others, different but similar ones.

The ancient Eastern patriarchates. Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem are “autocephalous” or independent churches, each headed by a patriarch.

Daughter churches of Constantinople. Over the centuries, the Patriarchate of Constantinople constituted or recognized the independence of other churches.
Five are headed by a patriarch: the Russian, Serbian, Romanian, Bulgarian, and Georgian churches. Five others are headed by an archbishop or metropolitan: the Cypriot, Greek, Polish, Albanian, and Czech-Slovak churches.
The churches of Finland and Estonia are autonomous but not independent.
Five other churches in North America and one in Europe are under Constantinople.

Daughter church of Jerusalem. The monastery of Mount Sinai is autonomous.

Daughter churches of Moscow. The Patriarchate of Moscow constituted the Orthodox Church in America as autocephalous and granted autonomy to churches in Japan and China.

Oriental churches. At the 451 Council of Chalcedon, three churches separated from communion with the others while retaining it among themselves. They and their descendants constitute the Oriental Orthodox churches.
Ancient Armenia was a nation situated on the fringe of the Roman Empire. Its autonomous church was until Chalcedon in communion with the others.
The Coptic (Egyptian) church gradually departed from the usages of ancient Alexandria finally becoming autonomous under its own patriarch. A similar process was repeated in modern times when the Ethiopian church separated from the Coptic and the Eritrean from the Ethiopian.
The Syriac church similarly separated from the Antiochian and, in turn, part of the Malankara (Indian) from the Syriac.

Other churches. Four or five small churches, mostly in Eastern Europe, are in varying degrees of separation from the rest of the Orthodox world.

All these churches take pride in their “orthodoxy” — their fidelity to authentic doctrine. Their faithful witness is part of the precious patrimony of the one Church of Christ.


(Published as “Classifying Orthodox” in
one, 33:2, May 2007)

Catholic Varieties

The Catholic Church is actually a family of churches united not by discipline, customs, nor rites, but by their common faith and common understanding and acceptance of the primacy of the bishop of Rome.
This creates confusion in terminology: all Catholic churches are linked to the bishop of Rome, but every Catholic Church is not Roman Catholic.

The Roman Catholic Church. The largest Catholic Church by far and the most international is the Roman Catholic Church. Sometimes called the Western or Latin Church, it refers to all those peoples, places, and churches that trace their evangelization directly or indirectly to the Church of Rome.
The Roman Catholic Church is loosely organized into ecclesiastical provinces headed by the bishop of the metropolitan diocese (archdiocese) — who may use the title of metropolitan archbishop or simply archbishop. Also, in most countries there is a mechanism for collaboration among bishops called an episcopal conference or conference of Catholic bishops.
Strictly speaking each diocesan bishop in the Roman Catholic Church is not bound by these structures; his immediate superior is the pope, the bishop of Rome.

Patriarchal churches. From ancient times, the bishops of certain major cities like Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, and Jerusalem have been known as patriarchs. They have a special role of authority and preside over other dioceses and even over other metropolitan dioceses.
These patriarchal churches have their distinctive rituals, use particular languages in their liturgy, and have their own internal discipline, with a special emphasis on the role and authority of the synod of bishops.

The six Catholic patriarchal churches are the Armenian, Chaldean, Coptic, Maronite, Melkite, and Syriac.

Major archiepiscopal churches. Similar to the patriarchal churches are those headed by a major archbishop, with authority a little less than that of a patriarch.
The four Catholic major archiepiscopal churches are the Romanian, Syro-Malabar, Syro-Malankara and Ukrainian.

Metropolitan churches. Some smaller Eastern Catholic churches not yet canonically organized into major archiepiscopal churches are called metropolitan churches. Presently there are two: the Ethiopic and Ruthenian.

Bishops under Rome. In several countries, bishops have been appointed by the Holy See for Catholics who are not members of patriarchal, major archiepiscopal, or metropolitan churches. Such eparchies and exarchates exist in Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.

Other Eastern Catholics. In Albania, Belarus, Georgia and Russia, there are some Catholics of the Byzantine tradition without a bishop of their own.

This rich variety of traditions, practices, and disciplines is the precious patrimony of the whole Catholic Church. What an impoverishment it would be if there were no other Catholics than the Roman kind.


(Published as “Classifying Catholics” in
one, 32:3, May 2006)

Full Circle

In his book, The Phenomenon of Man, Father Teilhard de Chardin, S.J., observed that “Nothing is so delicate and fugitive by its very nature as a beginning . . . Beginnings have an irritating but essential fragility, and one that should be taken to heart by all who occupy themselves with history.”
As much as we would like to know more about the beginnings of the ancient Church of India, we have only the immemorial tradition that it was founded by St. Thomas the Apostle
Although early historical references are few, it seems clear that the descendants of the converts of St. Thomas were joined over the centuries by various groups of Christian immigrants from the lands of the old Persian Empire.
When the Portuguese arrived in India at the end of the 15th century, they found this ancient Church of India undivided, though not without its internal differences. By then it was thoroughly integrated into the fabric of South Indian society and Chaldean in its religious life and traditions.
Whether due to misunderstanding or indifference, the regulations and demands of the Portuguese authorities, both civil and religious, provoked a deep polarization and, ultimately, a division of this Indian Christian community.
The fragmentation of the Indian Church continued through the beginning of the 20th century until, providentially, a new movement seeking reunion arose.
Its founder was a priest of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Father P.T. Geevargheese. In 1919, he had started a religious community, the Bethany congregation, seeking to combine Oriental monastic traditions with Indian spirituality.

The new community flourished and was a great spiritual leaven within the Orthodox Christian community.
In 1925, Father Geevargheese was consecrated a bishop with the new name of Mar Ivanios. He still dreamed and worked for the unity of the Thomas Christians of India.
In 1926, he and four other bishops of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church began to explore the possibility of reconciliation with the Church of Rome.
On 20 September 1930, Mar Ivanios and his suffragan bishop, Mar Theophilos, entered into full communion with the Holy See. Two years later Pope Pius XI appointed him as Archbishop of Trivandrum and a new Eastern Catholic Church was born, the Syro-Malankara.
By the time of the death of Mar Ivanios in 1953, the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church had grown rapidly and consisted of two dioceses, Trivandrum and Tiruvalla
His successor, Mar Gregorios, provided dynamic and creative guidance to the Malankara Church for the next 40 years.
In 1978, a third Malankara diocese was created, Battery. Its founding bishop, Cyril Mar Baselios, just promoted to Archbishop of Trivandrum, assumes the mantle of leadership of this youngest, yet ancient, Eastern Catholic Church.
May God grant him much success in continuing the great work of reuniting all of Thomas’s children!


(Published in
Catholic Near East, 22:1, January 1996)

Indian Polyphony

One of my most vivid and haunting memories of Kerala is being awakened in Mananthavady just before dawn by the mixed sounds of prayer echoing across the dark, tropical hills — the tinkling bells of the Hindu temple, the muezzin’s call to the faithful of Islam, and the Christian morning Angelus.
Somehow the chants and music were neither clashing nor competitive, but formed a beautiful harmony of praise of the one Lord of all.
This harmony amid diversity is characteristic of India’s ancient culture at its best, and it is the heritage of the Church of India as well.
India’s Christianity is a blend of the ways of the West — first brought by the Portuguese in 1498 and later by the British — with the ancient traditions of the churches of eastern and western Syria, all grafted onto the planting of St. Thomas the Apostle.
The part of the Indian Christian community in full union with the universal Church since apostolic times is the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. Its unique and special identity long suppressed, only during the last century has it begun to flourish with its restored autonomy.
Now it offers a marvelous diversity of theological ideas, pastoral actions, liturgical practices, and developmental initiatives. Its hierarchy is constituted by a wonderful collection of talented and spiritual bishops, each with his own special gifts and charisms.
A few months ago the Holy Father created two more Syro-Malabar archdioceses. The now four archbishops typify the diverse gifts of that Church:

Mar George Valiamattam of Tellicherry, 57, the youngest and bishop for only seven years, quietly and competently leads Kerala’s northernmost diocese.
Mar Joseph Kundukulam, 88, Trichur’s bishop for 25 years, is famed for his loving concern for the poorest and neediest.
Mar Joseph Powathil of Changanacherry, 65, spearheads the liturgical renewal of the Syro-Malabar Church with a mixture of scholarly expertise and pastoral zeal.
Cardinal Antony Padiyara, 74, Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly, gently guides his metropolitan diocese and the entire Syro-Malabar Church.
Some bishops head missionary dioceses in India’s heartland and northern states. With ingenuity and creativity they find ways of translating the Gospel message to the languages and cultures of people who have never heard of Jesus.
Others tackle the challenge of pastoral care of migrant Syro-Malabar Christians who live far from home and sometimes lost in great urban centers like Mumbai (Bombay).
Their church offers a dazzling diversity of ways of evangelizing, educating, training leaders, praying, organizing communities, and acting in society.
Some misconstrue this almost competition of enthusiasms and pastoral creativities to be conflict. Really, like the soft sounds of Mananthavady’s dawn, at its best it is a beautiful harmony amid diversity in praise of the one Lord of all.


(Published in
Catholic Near East, 21:5, September 1995)

Byzantine Catholics in Italy

Walking along the rocky, wooded hillside you can see the soaring ruins of the temple in the distance. The Greek gods are long gone, but the soft chant and incense of the Byzantine Liturgy wafts down the valley.
Where in the Mediterranean are you? Why in Sicily, of course.
For so many of the centuries of its long history and culture, the island of Sicily — and even much of southern Italy — has been Greek.
In classical times it was part of Magna Graecia. Even late in the Christian period Greek was still spoken. In fact, for about three hundred years before the Norman invasion in the 11th century the whole area was under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople, not the Pope, the Patriarch of the West.
Today the last remnant of that ancient Italo-Greek church is the ancient monastery of Santa Maria di Grottaferrata, just outside Rome. The abbot, often a bishop, has jurisdiction over the Basilian monks of the monastery and local faithful.
Once there were hundreds of these Byzantine Catholic monasteries throughout southern Italy. Gradually, after the Norman conquest, the monasteries, monks, and people became absorbed into the Latin or Roman Church.
It was one of those curious accidents of history that led to a revival of Byzantine Catholicism in Italy. As the Ottoman Turks spread their empire throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, many Christians choose to migrate instead of living under an Islamic regime.
In the 15th century two large groups of Christian Albanians crossed the Adriatic and Ionian Seas to Italy.

Since the northern Albanians were Latin Catholics, they felt very much at home and quickly blended with the local Latin Catholic population.
The southern Albanians were Orthodox and kept apart from the Italian Catholics. They built their own churches and for several decades had even their own Orthodox bishop.
In 1596 these Orthodox Albanians came into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church, and Pope Clement VIII constituted them as a separate Eastern Rite or Eastern Catholic Church, as we would say today.
Presently there are two dioceses belonging to this Italo-Albanian Catholic Church in addition to the monastery of Santa Maria di Grottaferrata. Although they are of fairly recent foundation, the roots of their Italo-Albanian communities go back centuries.
The diocese of Lungro near Cosenza in Calabria was established in 1919. It has 27 parishes and 33,500 people and as served by the bishop and 31 priests.
The diocese of Piana degli Albanesi near Palermo in Sicily was founded in 1937. It has 15 parishes and 30,000 people and is served by the bishop and 29 priests.
Grecian ruins are scattered about the Sicilian countryside, vestiges of a glory long past. But, the faith of Byzantium still flourishes in Sicily and Calabria in the living Italo-Albanian Catholic Church.


(Published in
Catholic Near East, 20:3, May 1994)

Sons of Eagles

Here’s what St. Paul says about the qualifications of a bishop:

. . . a bishop must be irreproachable, married only once, temperate, self-controlled, decent, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not aggressive, but gentle, not contentious, not a lover of money . . . He must also have a good reputation among outsiders . . .

Here are the men whom Pope John Paul II recently chose as bishops for Albania:
— Franco Illia, 74, spent 20 years in prison, accused of being a Vatican spy.
— Robert Ashta, 74, was forced to give up ministry as a priest and employed for 11 years as a construction worker.
— Zef Simoni, 64, spent 12 years in jail.
— Rrok Mirdita, 53, for 20 years provided pastoral care to Albanian immigrants in New York City.
In a dramatic and moving ceremony in the cathedral of the city of Shkodër on 25 April, the pope himself ordained these four priests as bishops and, by so doing, restored a Catholic hierarchy to Albania.
Until the collapse of its hard-line communist government, Albania was the most totalitarian nation state in the world.
Immediately upon assuming power in 1944, the Marxists began to persecute all religious groups. Clergy and laity were arrested and often sentenced to death.
In 1967 religions and religious activity were forbidden by law; all churches, monasteries, mosques, and other religious institutions were closed. The Albanian government proudly proclaimed that, having eliminated all religion, it was the first totally atheist state in the world.

Christianity probably arrived early in Illyria (ancient Albania), after its conquest by Rome in 168, and flourished there for centuries. However, since the Ottoman Turkish conquest of the Balkans in the 15th century, the majority of Albanians have been Muslim.
By the end of World War II, probably one third of the Albanian population was Christian, and about one third of the Christian population was Roman Catholic. Today Catholics in Albania may number as many as 360,000.
Historically, the Orthodox Christians were under the jurisdiction of the patriarch of Constantinople, but once Albania became an independent nation in 1912 there was a movement to create an independent, national Orthodox church. In 1929, an autocephalous Albanian Orthodox Church was declared, and in 1937 it was recognized by Constantinople.
Curiously, the Albanian Catholic (Byzantine) Church is in Italy! When many Orthodox from southern Albania fled the Turks in the 15th century, they sought refuge in southern Italy. In 1596 they entered into full communion with Rome and became the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church.
Today they have two dioceses, one in Lungro in Calabria and the other in Piana degli Albanesi in Sicily, and the territorial abbey of Santa Maria di Grottaferrata near Rome. They number somewhat over 60,000.


(Published in
Catholic Near East, 19:3, May 1993)

Getting Ahead

An ecclesiastical Cinderella story just came to its happy ending on 29 January. On that day, the good news was published that the Holy Father had raised the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church to the rank of a major archiepiscopal church.
“To a what?,” you may be thinking, “What’s so significant about that?”
According to the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, an Eastern Catholic church is headed by a patriarch or a major archbishop. However when the code went into effect on 1 October 1991, of all the apostolic Eastern churches, only the Syro-Malabar Church did not have a head.
Of course, the situation was not always like that, and therein hangs the tale:
In 52 A.D. the apostle Thomas came to Kodungallur on the Malabar (Kerala) coast. After 20 years of preaching the gospel in southern India, he was martyred at Mailapur, near Madras.
The families converted by Thomas in Kerala formed seven churches or villages. For centuries their descendants were in full communion with the Eastern Syrian patriarch, who named a “Metropolitan of All India” for their pastoral care.
This metropolitan and other bishops visited Kerala from time to time, but the permanent administrative head of the church in Kerala, proxy for the metropolitan, was an archdeacon.
The Portuguese came in 1498 and found this ancient Christian community, isolated from Rome for centuries but never out of communion with it.
Misunderstanding its legitimacy, the Portuguese bishops began to “Latinize” this venerable church, changing its liturgy, vesture, customs, and laws.

By 1587, when the last Eastern Syrian metropolitan died, the Malabar church was totally ruled by Portuguese bishops.
The growing frustration and discontent of priests and people with the bishops culminated in the rejection of their authority in 1653. The pope sent Carmelite friars to seek a reconciliation.
Most of the Malabar Christians returned to full communion with Rome under Latin-rite Carmelite bishops. Others broke away and later became affiliated with the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch.
Not until 1887 were special Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdictions created for the Syro-Malabar faithful, as they were now called, under their own Syro-Malabar bishops.
In 1923 Pope Pius XI instituted a Syro-Malabar hierarchy with an archdiocese and three suffragan dioceses. The church continued to grow, and in 1956 a second archdiocese was created.
Now this ancient and apostolic Indian church is finally recognized for what it is and restored to its full dignity. Its new head is Antony Cardinal Padiyara, Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly.
Temporarily, the Holy Father has reserved its pastoral governance to himself, appointing a special Pontifical Delegate, Archbishop Abraham Kattumana, to exercise his authority.
“I invite you to join us in giving thanks to Almighty God for his great mercies for this Church,” writes Cardinal Padiyara. Amen!


(Published in
Catholic Near East, 19:2, March 1993)