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#341916 - 01/23/10 02:00 PM Who we are
theophan Moderator Member Registered: 11/27/02 Posts: 5319 Loc: Hollidaysburg, PA	Brothers and Sisters: Christ is Born!! Christ is in our midst!! Neil has posted the statements below so eloquently on a number of occasions and just posted it again in East and West. I thought I'd bring it to Town Hall and make it sticky since it seems to me it needs to be read and reread. BOB Quote: Originally Posted By: Irish Melkite This Forum is about constructive dialogue among and between its members. (Another) ... web-based Eastern Catholic forum ... was on the verge of self-disintegration, due in large measure to the virulent, venomous, and triumphalistic postings that routinely grace(d) its board. When a member there, frustrated with the lack of charity among the Eastern Catholic members to one another's views - let alone those of Orthodox members, asked if there was an alternative, I unhesitatingly recommended this Forum: Quote: I said: Try The Byzantine Forum. We aren't perfect, but I think that, overall, we're less contentious. Be prepared, we are a very diverse group - our membership is no longer accurately described by the board's name. There is a free exchange of ideas and disagreement, but the basic rule is one of charity and respect for each other and each other's Churches; the tolerance level for bashing - whether it be of Catholics or Orthodox - is low to non-existent. Still, we do have some highly opinionated posters. Our membership is a mix. Byzantine Catholics are the largest group overall, with Ruthenians and Ukrainians predominating, but we also have Croats, Hungarians, Italo-Greeks, Melkites, Romanians, Russians, and Slovaks. Non-Byzantine Catholics include Armenians, Chaldeans, and Maronites. There's a fairly sizeable active Eastern Orthodox membership - including Albanians, Antiochians, Bulgarians, Greeks, Carpatho-Rusyns, Romanians, Russians, Serbs, and Ukrainians. Our Oriental Orthodox members include Armenians, Copts, Ethiopians, and Syriacs. We also have a contingent of Latin Catholics, whose views range across the spectrum. There are several active Protestant posters ... Geographically, we're pretty diverse. Besides all of North America, there are folks posting routinely from Scotland, the Philippines, Poland, Maylasia, Brazil, England, and Spain, with other places represented on a less-regular basis. The beauty of this Forum is who we are and what we bring to it. Pedantic, argumentative posts that seek to overwhelm the reader and aggressively impugn the sincerity of our Eastern Catholic and Orthodox brothers and sisters who have the temerity to believe and hope that, by communing intellectually here, they may somehow be contributing to the day when we can all stand together and worship in the fullness of communion that today is denied us, are an unwelcome intrusion into what is truly its own community of faith. We know we have differences of belief between and among us and that the baggage of history comes with a heavy price. But, I for one, and I suspect many others here - if not most, cherish the faith, the sincerity, the forthrightness, and the honesty of our brothers and sisters, and the opportunity to dialogue with them, even when we disagree. One must not allow oneself to see only black and white and have no appreciation for the fact that gray is within the spectrum. The Churches that I referenced in describing this Forum's membership are, in fact, persons - an Episcopalian who offers his prayers, during his Maundy Thursday vigil, for our intentions; a Ruthenian who is geographically separated from her Church and worships with Melkites; a Russian Catholic who chants Holy Week services in an Orthodox Church in Malaysia; a Greek Orthodox who fervantly prays to see union between our Churches; a Latin who crafts beautifully written prayers on subjects of import to all of us and posts them for our edification; an Orthodox Archimandrite who does likewise; an Albanian Orthodox who spoke on behalf of the Italo-Greek-Albanians, when they had no member here; a Latin whom we watched as he converted from Protestantism and decided whether to go to the East or West; and, I could go on. My point: we are people here and, for most of us, that is as or more important than rabid ideology - (which is not the same as faith). To disagree or post an opposing view is one thing; to deluge the Forum with massive amounts of material and to harangue is another. We aren't a venue for (rhetoric) - Catholic or Orthodox; there are plenty of those.
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#342022 - 01/25/10 09:25 AM Re: Who we are [Re: theophan]
Kathleen Elsie Member Registered: 09/12/08 Posts: 208 Loc: Herminie	Thank you well said.
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#347424 - 04/30/10 05:10 PM Re: Who we are [Re: Kathleen Elsie]
amberpep Member Registered: 04/16/09 Posts: 139 Loc: Maryland, USA	Thank you for posting this Bob .... it's good information for me to have. abby
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#355976 - 11/16/10 01:42 AM Re: Who we are [Re: theophan]
Irish Melkite Global Moderator Member Registered: 10/27/03 Posts: 8894 Loc: Massachusetts	Bumping this to the top, as there appears to be frequent need to point to/consult it of late. _________________________ "One day all our ethnic traits ... will have disappeared. Time itself is seeing to this. And so we can not think of our communities as ethnic parishes, ... unless we wish to assure the death of our community."
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#357700 - 12/30/10 09:21 AM Re: Who we are [Re: Irish Melkite]
theophan Moderator Member Registered: 11/27/02 Posts: 5319 Loc: Hollidaysburg, PA	Christ is Born!! Glorify Him!! Just a reminder. We have committed to have a positive atmosphere here where we can learn from each other. There are lots of fora on the internet where you can wallow in polemics. I know that there are lots of obstacles to full communion among all of the Churches of Apostolic origin. But, as I've stated many times, there are polite ways of disagreeing and stating disagreements. Lately we seem to have slipped in a direction this forum is dedicated to avoiding. Let's remember our brethren who suffered together in the Soviet gulag. When you're facing the firing squad in the morning, somehow all of the things that divide us don't seem to have the monumental importance that we sometimes attach to them. In Christ, Bob
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#376787 - 03/04/12 09:48 AM Re: Who we are [Re: theophan]
Anathema Sit Junior Member Registered: 03/03/12 Posts: 18 Loc: Italy	Greetings Theophan, I am very heartned to read that this is a forum that is striving to be peaceful and a place where charitable dialogue is taking place. I feel better about being here already knowing that this is what is expected of ALL the members. I am very glad to see a wide reprsentation of the Apostolic Churches and ecclessial communities. I am also heartned by the fact that I am not the only Latin here, hee hee glad to see more Latins open to the riches of the Eastern Catholic Churchs and the Orthodox Churches. [Is there some term I can write other than having to type out "Eastern Catholic Churches and the Orthodox Churches which is not offensive?] I am looking forward to dialouging with my brothers and sisters of the East. So from the West, I send a hearty hello and greetings. God Bless, Anathema Sit
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#376797 - 03/04/12 11:29 AM Re: Who we are [Re: theophan]
Irish Melkite Global Moderator Member Registered: 10/27/03 Posts: 8894 Loc: Massachusetts	Welcome A.S., In answer to your question about an acceptable term that minimizes the need to constantly retype "Eastern ..." I often use EC/EO (Eastern Catholic/Eastern Orthodox) and OC/OO (Oriental Catholic/Oriental Orthodox), when speaking of Churches belonging to the Oriental Communions (and EC/EO/OC/OO, when talking about the lot of them). Unless there is a need to distinguish between Orthodox and Catholic - Eastern Churches, Eastern Christianity, and Eastern Christians, are other common usages. Many years, Neil _________________________ "One day all our ethnic traits ... will have disappeared. Time itself is seeing to this. And so we can not think of our communities as ethnic parishes, ... unless we wish to assure the death of our community."
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