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East Beats West in Sense of Sacred, Says Cardinal Ouellet
Canadian Evaluates Synod

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 21, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Despite increased popularity in Eucharistic adoration, the West still has a ways to go in rediscovering the sacredness of the liturgy, says the archbishop of Quebec.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, president of the Synod of Bishops' commission for writing the final message, made these and other comments in an interview with Inside the Vatican, in which he assessed the synod on the Eucharist.

"My feeling at this point, and we are close to the end, is that the synod has been successful," he said.

The cardinal said a key to its success has been the presence of the Pope: "His personal interventions have really given a sort of rhythm or a depth to our synod. He has been very attentive, very receptive and respectful, of great cordiality.

"He is a man who has a deep conviction and security in his doctrine, so he can listen very much and very carefully to any other position because he doesn't fear to be shaken up in his own convictions because he has also the charism of Peter, the gift of the Holy Spirit, to support his brother bishops in the faith."

Another key aspect, according to Cardinal Oulett, was the participation of the Eastern Churches.

There is "something very enriching was the experience of the Eastern Churches," he said. "They have different liturgies and they have a different sense of the liturgy and so to hear them speak about the holy Eucharist was very defining for us."

Eastern faith

"The Eastern Christians exploit the architecture of their churches to be respectful of the Church herself and of the holy Eucharist, which is the heart of the temple," said Cardinal Ouellet, 61. "They have a deep sense of the sacredness, and so to hear them speak about the holy Eucharist was very edifying for me."

"In the West," he continued, "we need to recover the sacredness of the liturgy."

On the positive side, he said: "Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is awakening and developing all over the world, and this will help to restore the sacredness of the liturgical celebration of the Mass."

Cardinal Ouellet said "the renewal of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament � is a sign of the times, and a great sign of encouragement."

"At the same time," he continued, "I think that the synod has a message of encouragement for the priest. They are in many parts of the world asked to cover long distances and celebrate many Masses on Sundays, so it is a hard job.

"They need encouragement; they need to be sustained by the people of God, by their prayer and sacrifices."

I believe that it is time for all of us to prayerfully look at our architecture. Is it Eastern or isn't it? I'm glad the the Synod has recognized the vital role of architecture in reclaiming and renewing our patrimony. It is time to form a new group to help us do that.

CDL

This is why I attend Mass at a neo-Gothic church. It's a Western design, but it is explicitely about bringing the Sacred into architecture. It's a palpable difference, most definately.

Hopefully the East can encourage the West to renew this heritage; the abandonment of it in favor of the "lunch-box churches" has been disasterous, IMO.

"East Beats West"? I am not aware there was a contest; reminds me of newspaper accounts of Catholic high school sports competitions. You know: "St Ignatius whips Sacred Heart", or "St Joseph slaughters Queen of Heaven"...
-D

Hmmmm...Daniel/Iconophile has a point...

Do we seperate into teams, and wear different colors?

Do we get cheerleaders too?

What a funny scenario that would be to see!

Amused,
Alice

Buy a book on the Council of Florence...

*sighs*

...sorry Auntie Alice its not you that my words are directed against. Had to do an essay on that topic today for my 'History and Theology of the Church in the Byzantine Empire' module and everything you just said reminded me of it . Opposing sides, different colours, even dancers in the pagent the Medici organised when the Council came from Ferrara to Florence. It was all there...together with the palatable air of mutual distrust...

...will it never end...

Actually I saw an awesome mural painted in the (it was either the Uffizi Museo or the Pitti Palace in Florence--I really can't remember) depicting the Emperor of Byzantium hunting (like the modern day golf course schmoozing I guess!) with his hosts in Florence for the reunification of the Church.

I would love for you to e-mail me your paper. Though the end result was negative (I don't know if the time was right, as Latinization of the whole Byzantine rite would probably have happened then), the tidbits you have given me have certainly sparked my historical curiousity.

Private message me if you would like to share your paper, and I will give you my e-mail.

Thanks!

Love in Christ,
Alice

Dear CDL,

Yes, definitely, RCC architects overeacted to V2 by removing pretty much everything sacred in the church building. The churches built in the 70's, 80's, and 90's reflect this.

The good news is that is (at least in NM) the pendulum is swinging back toward the sacred both in new churches and in restorations of historic churches.

Our bishop must approve every new church design and church restoration before the project begins. He is a good man and has a good sense for the sacred.

Best regards,
Paul

Paul,

While I do agree that the pendulum is swinging back, as you say, in favor of sacred architecture in churches, there are still bishops out there who wish to rape beautiful churches of their treasured beauties.

Two examples of which I've read in the past week alone include the beautiful church (cathedral?) in Cobh, Ireland, which the bishops wants to basically gut so as to better conform to the changes made by Vatican II, and St. Brigid's Church in San Francisco in which the parishioners had to physically block the moving men from toting away statues of the Theotokos and St. Joseph.

In the case of the church in Cobh, the people as well as the national government have blocked the bishop's maneuvers because the government sees the church as it now stands as having great historical value. Sad when the secular government has to protect churches from the destructive hand of the bishop.

Logos Teen

Logos Teen,

It is sad to see Christ's church subject to secular fads.

Please pray for the bishop. Fr Benedict Groeshel says, "bishops are beaten men." I find a convenient time to pray for my bishop is at holy Mass, when the pope, bishops and clergy are prayed for during the sacred liturgy.

Best regards,

Paul

Dear Myles,

Alice said that had unity occurred in the Council of Florence, we Orthodox would have had to adopt the Latin rite...or at least that's the way I understood her. Is this true or not? I'm quite curious.

I know that the Greeks in Constantinople would not enter Aghia Sophia for six months because it was 'cataminated' by a Latin Mass. They entered right before the Turks took the city...too late me thinks!

Zenovia

Dear Zenovia

Union did occur after Florence it wasnt decisively repudiated until 6 years after the Turks had conquered Constantinople. Whether or not Latinisation would've occured is questionable. Pope Eugenius IV, the reigning pontiff at the time of Florence, was satisfied enough that Basileus John VIII allowed the Pope's name to head the signatures of the Florentine decrees. Thereafter he simply stated 'we need not ask anything more of the Greeks'. If you know the background to the period and the 14th century frationing of the Papacy as well as the Council of Constance you'll know how key it was for Eugenius to secure the support of the East. Many Bishops were in revolt against the Papacy and the Kings of Europe were again making inroads into ecclesiatical organisation (this would pre-empt the nationalisation of churches particularly in Germany in the century after Florence at the time of the Protestant Reformation). To have the Roman Emperor and the Patriarch of Constantinople recognise Papal Supremacy was more than Eugenius could dream for as it shattered Western resistance to the Papacy. He assumed he had the power to make episcopal appointments but for the most part Pope Eugenius was pretty happy to let the Greeks do as they wished. Maybe too happy...

Eugenius, in my opinion, did not make much of an effort to promulgate the decrees of Florence. Having heard Mark of Ephesus' refusal to sign the decree he said 'then we have achieved nothing' and perhaps from then onwards he only considered the political import of silencing dissident elements of the Latin Church via Constantinople's affirmation of his privelleges. Rather than send popular preachers to 'Romania' to encourage the union and get the Eastern peoples on his side Eugenius sorta just left the East to its own. Eugenius did try to organise a Crusade but apart from sending the Papal Fleet to defend Constantinople at the battle of Varna in the 1440's little was achieved on that front--in part because the Kings of Europe were fighting each other, protesting against the Papacy, and the Roman coffers were empty. On the whole even his positive acts towards the East can be described as political in nature. Very little was done religiously by Eugenius to support and uphold the Florentine Union.

Latinisation doesn't seem like it was one of Eugenius' aims, as I said, on the whole he seems to have been more interested in the political side of things. I'm not trying to paint him as a villian, indeed, I can understand his preoccupation with the Western Church after all for awhile they'd had 3 Popes and there was a lot of popular anti-Roman sentiment amongst the Basel faction of Bishops--these Germans, eh? Always causing Rome trouble :p Perhaps a more stable Papacy would've tried to Latinise the East *shrugs* I dunno. But the 15th century Papacy was more interested in pulling the Western Church back together again than playing with the Greek Church.

Sincerely
Myles

PS) I've not heard the story of a Latin Mass being celebrated in Sancta Sophia during the time between Florence and fall of New Rome. How did that happen in that climate?

I find the 'problems' between East and West to be - an invention of scholars, theologians. and historians.

Indeed - a sanctioned - myth.

A psycho-somatic illness.

One that students are required to contract and believe in or they can not become scholars, theologians, or historians - themselves.

Very interesting - the inventions of scholars.

-ray

Ray,

I'm sorry, Dear Brother in Christ, but what is the basis of your feeling that: We have historical documents from those times, including the actual debates at Florence, which show that there really were problems, or at least misunderstandings, taking place. I'm afraid I don't quite follow what you're suggesting, or at least I don't see the support for it. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding.

Thanks, and God bless,
Jason