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Could Reunification Be Upon Us? |
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Growing up in South Texas I never had much exposure to the many different and beautiful rites of the Catholic Church. Living in an area so long a part of the Spanish Empire and so heavily populated by Hispanics it is the Roman rite that predominates in Texas. I was not able to experience first hand the Byzantine rite until the summer of 2005 when I went to Canada and was able to visit a local Ukranian Catholic Church on the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul. It was quite an enjoyable experience and gave me a better appreciation of the wonderful culture and traditions of the Eastern Christians. It also made me feel even more strongly that all Eastern Orthodox can and should become Eastern Catholics. Our Church would be so much the better with all of them included, and based on what I know of the Ukranian Catholics I doubt even the greatest cynics in the world could stand up against a Christian religion breathing with both lungs. Many people (with alot of justification) though, believe that reunification can never happen. The schism is too old and grudges too firmly set. That may be, but if anyone can get us started down the right path in that regard I am certain it is Pope Benedict XVI. Building on the immense work of John Paul the Great, he will accomplish miraculous things for the reunification of all Christians. |
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Seeing how committed our Holy Father is to this goal, I have started to rethink some of his earliest symbolic actions, such as restoring the ancient style of papal pallium and removing (at least somewhat) the triple-tiara from his personal coat of arms. Could these, and the increasing visibility of eastern style icons all be subtle efforts by the Pope to show friendship with Eastern Orthodox? The Papal Throne itself is, unfortunately, one of the major obstacles to reunification and perhaps Benedict XVI is trying to gently send the message to our eastern brothers and sisters that, despite what controversialists may have told them, the Pope is not some dictator issuing orders all day, but that all major decisions are taken by the bishops as a whole, united in council with the Pope and under the protection of the Holy Spirit. Eastern Catholics, naturally I would think, would also be best at assuming the first position in working to reconcile with the Orthodox.
Having seen the Byzantine rite first hand, I have seen how Eastern Christianity should look, and it is a beautiful picture. Moreover I think both the Greek and Roman traditions need each other equally as much. In general (and I know there are numerous exceptions on each side) I think that the Byzantine churches have a fidelity to their roots and tradition which the Roman Church has great need of; not that anything has been lost, but I think we have been softened up in that regard after so many centuries of struggling with Protestantism. Likewise, I think that the Byzantine churches would benefit greatly from the vitality seen in the Western Church; the strong youth movements and social involvement seen in the West is something I think would benefit the East. |
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I must also mention that I have seen a wonderful tradition in the east, which someone of my opinions can appreciate, of devout monarchism. In case my fellow westerners are worried, this of course should never degenerate into "ceasaropapism", Christ is always supreme and the Vicar of Christ must be as well. But, especially with the Protestant Revolt those of us in the West also had problems with monarchs taking or trying to take ultimate spiritual as well as temporal authority for themselves (Henry VIII?) so this too is something we have in common with the East. It seems clear to me that the East is full of examples of how beneficial, even necessary, it is to have the figure of the monarch defending the Church, just as we have also seen how, without united spiritual authority, which the Pope provides, how easily temporal power alone can be overcome by such enemies as the Muslims or the atheistic Communists which overran Eastern Christianity. It is only another example of how much we both need each other, how each half has something or things which the other lacks and all the more reason why we should pray for reconciliation, that old grudges will be forgotten and that Pope Benedict XVI will be successful in laying the foundation for the reunification of all Christians. |
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Emperor Basil II of Byzantium |
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Emperor Constantine the Great |
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