The Catholic Churches of the Christian East (original) (raw)
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According to Second Vatican Council the recovery of the sources and the greatest fidelity to the ancient traditions are the hallmark of Catholic Eastern Churches, in view of their special task of fostering the unity of all Christians, especially of Eastern Christians (Cf. OE, 6, 24). The very existence of Catholic Eastern Churches has an ecumenical dimension. But to find themselves in this realm of responding to these issues, they need a stronger sense of their own identity; they need to establish their contact with their own deepest resources. Hence in the background of the vision of the Council and the task it entrusted to the Catholic Eastern Churches, as proposed in the Documents Unitatis Redintegratio and Orientalium Ecclesiarum, the following is a search into the reality of the Catholic Eastern Churches.
The Regime of the Synodality in the Eastern Church of the First Millennium and Its Canonical Basis
Ecumeny and Law, 2019
The synodal form of organisation — sought and established for His Church by Her Founder, that is, by Our Lord Jesus Christ, and affirmed by His Apostles — was also expressly reaffirmed by the canonical legislation of the Eastern Church of the first millennium. By adapting the form of administrative-territorial organisation of the Church to that of the Roman State — sanctioned by the canons of the Ecumenical Synods (cf. can. 4, 6 Sin. I Ec.; 2, 6 Sin. II Ec.; 9, 17, 28 Sin. IV Ec.; 36 Sin. VI Ec.) — in the life of the Eastern Church several types of synods appeared, starting with the eparchial (metropolitan) synod of a local Church and ending with the patriarchal synod, both still present in the autocephalous Churches of Eastern Orthodoxy.
Cum Illi Graeci Sint, Nos Latini: Western Rite Orthodoxy and the Eastern Orthodox Church
2010
In the era prior to the Great Schism of 1054, Christianity was one Church composed of two culturally distinct elements: the Greek East and Latin West. The Greek and Latin halves of the Church each possessed their own independent liturgical and cultural customs which were part of the dispute that lead to the Great Schism, effectively separating the Church into independent Greek and Latin sides. While the West had retained liturgical expressions that differed from the majority Western Rite (in the form of the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church, which remained in communion with Rome after the official break with Constantinople), the Christian East was exclusively composed of Churches celebrating the Byzantine Rite for approximately nine hundred years. This changed in the latter half of the nineteenth century with the conversion of Julius Joseph Overbeck to the Russian Orthodox Church in London. Since that time, there have been attempts and successes in establishing a Western Rite in the Eastern Church. This thesis approaches Western Rite Orthodoxy as an established phenomenon in Eastern Christianity, especially as a facet of Orthodoxy in countries where Orthodoxy constitutes a minority. While previous short studies have attempted to substantiate or discredit the legitimacy of Western Rite Orthodoxy as a movement, this thesis accepts the reality of the Western rite and seeks to understand Western Rite Orthodoxy by documenting its history thoroughly, the investigating peculiarities of the Orthodox Western rite compared to other Western liturgies, exposing potential problems (spiritual and canonical) of the current rite and devotions when compared to accepted Orthodox theology and spirituality, and by evaluating some of the criticisms which are often employed against Western Rite Orthodoxy. To complete this critical evaluation, there are some important areas of consideration. Though there have been some studies of Western Rite Orthodoxy, there has been little historical documentation of the movement since the middle part of the twentieth century. Part of Western Rite Orthodoxy’s development has been the alteration of liturgical texts to bring them into conformity with the theology and spirituality of the Eastern Church. There is some question, both in academic and ecclesiastical circles, about how thoroughly these changes were implemented, whether there are still elements requiring further correction, and even if the Western liturgies can be brought into conformity with Eastern theology and practice in any instance. Furthermore, there is are ecumenical implications to the presence of Western Rite Orthodoxy that have yet to be addressed, particularly in the Western Rite Orthodox rejection of post-Vatican II liturgies used by the majority of Western Christianity, and the effect this might have on a future reunion between a Western Church and Orthodoxy. With this critical framework established, there is a greater opportunity to fully understand Western Rite Orthodoxy in the twentieth century, both as it affects the Orthodox Church itself and as it affects external relationships between the Orthodox and other Christian churches. Secondarily, the thesis provides a more complete history in terms of documentation and contextualization of Western Rite Orthodoxy than is presently available through any other medium.
The Re‐Encounter Between the Eastern Church and the Western Church
The Ecumenical Review, 1965
Except where otherwise indicated the writers of the articles are alone responsible for the opinions expressed VOLUME XVII OCTOBER 1965 NUMBER 4 Augustin CARDINAL BEA, The Unity of Christians, Eng. Trans. Ed. Bernard Leeming, Geoffrey Chapman. Address of Cardinal Augustin Bea to the Ecumenical Patriarch, Archives of the Synodal Chancellery of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.