I stumbled across the following item in Bishop John Elya's itinerary on the Melkite Web Site:
Sunday, September 24, 7:00 pm. � Reception in honor of the new Deacon Ephrem (Ihsan) Handal, STD, Assistant Professor of Theology and Spirituality, at Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College, Front Royal, VA
Now this is an interesting development. Christendom College is one of the handful of
"traditional" or "alternative" Catholic colleges (Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio being the most prominent). They strive to be faithful to the Magesterium, and are labelled by their detractors as ultra-conservative and "more Catholic than the Pope". From what I know, their Catholic emphasis has been exclusively Roman, with a particular fondness for Aquinas.
It is a very good sign that they are taking notice of Eastern Christianity to the extent of recruiting faculty with that background. Perhaps their focus on restoring the core of Roman Catholicism has pushed them back beyond the Middle Ages to the first millenium where the East placed such a prominent role in Church life.
In Christ,
Steven
[This message has been edited by Steven Hotovy (edited 09-26-2000).]
