Rob,

I'm sorry. My comment to Alex had nothing to do with your position, at least not intentionally. What I perceive as the cultures of East and West are what I perceive. I don't blame anyone for those cultures. They just are the way they are.

The problem with both West and East is our disunity. We have failed to respect and learn from each other.

I believe that the model the Eastern Catholics have, at least one of them, is the model to rectify the situation. I realize that there are several models but "Orthodox in Communion with Rome" is the one model I hope prevails. "Under Rome" will not work. "In communion with Rome" will.

Dan Lauffer

Thomas,

Yes. I apologize for not mentioning some heroic individuals in Russia would worked hard. France also had its share (Frederick Ozman [sp?] for example).

But the Wesley brothers, to their credit, create a movement that resulting in their work touching the entire new industrial class. Russia, with all due respect to particular individuals, had no such religious movement.

I don't think we can underestimate what an unprecedented pastoral situation we had of a mass movement of people leaving the village which they and generations of ancestors had led, to the new urban lower classes. Uprooted, in a new place, a new job, a new life, new family situations.

They were, let us be honest, for the most part DENIED by the church and resultingly turned to Communism.

The wonderful reverse example was, of course, the Catholics of Germany. Kolping, Von Kettler, the Rheinischen Volksblattes, etc.

K.