www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Eastern Catholic Mission work

One issue that bothers me about our Church, and not too many do, has to do with mission work. Apparently from my investigation we have no mission work opportunities. In fact, it is my understanding from several conversations including some here, we have been discouraged from having any. The thread on Western people becoming Eastern Christians once again prompts this inquiry.

If my perception that we have no mission work I conclude that we are or at least are in danger of becoming extremely insular, self centered, and to some degree "backward". We are or could become overly dependent upon others (the Latin Church) for our existence. It sort of flies in the face of our claims to be "sui iuris". It limits the vision of our young people for vocations.

Let me ask once more do we send Eastern Catholic missionaries as Eastern Catholic to any place in the world?

Dan L

I gather from the silence that we don't support any missions. A pity.

Dan L

Dear Dan,

Well, Rome has us EC's well-trained in that department, wouldn't you say?

We don't send missionaries out because of a standard that says that new converts come to the #1 Particular Catholic Church, the Latin Church.

Yes, converts can go to where they please, but formally it is to the Latin Church.

The UGCC in Ukraine would often ordain married priests for the West and then send them out as "missionaries of the UGCC."

I have several friends who are just such "missionaries."

We have a Byzantine Mission to the poor here in Toronto, that of St John the Merciful that I am privileged to support.

The UGCC is rather focused on the Ukr. homeland, not only because this is more culturally relevant to it, but also because the people there need loads of help for their spiritual and material well-being.

Years of Soviet communism will do that to you!

Alex

Alex,

I think until we get over this nonsensical attitude that we can't bring the Gospel to anyone who is not of "our" ethnicity our claim of "sui iuris" cannot be taken seriously. We've apparently been told and I gather we must believe it that The Divine Liturgy is poison to anyone not Greek or Slav. The Divine Liturgy might hurt or kill anyone coming into contact with it whereas the only universal liturgy is the Roman one.

The other side to this corruptive attitude is that Moe and people like him have no place to direct their passion except in the Peace Corpse. I'll be glad when we grow out of this.

Dan L

Shouldn't we adopt a slogan like "We have to get to them before the Orthodox do!"

I agree with you Dan, and I've been thinking about how one goes about this. I will say this, I'm lucky living in Pittsburgh. Recently, Divine Liturgy has been added at Duquesne University and now at Penn State University by the Archeparchy. Formerly, the Byzantine students, I would assume, went to the late-Sunday "hangover Mass" -- now they can go to the late-Sunday "hangover Divine Liturgy"; but seriously, it may keep Byzantines from switching and may also attract the curious.

I can't see why college Newman centers don't start holding a Divine Liturgy, even once a month, to show the kids what else is out there. That's one easy way to proselytize.

My parish holds dinners for the homeless several times a year. This helps, too.

First, if we really care about this, we've got to get involved in our parish and see if anyone else is interested. I think many people who are in their 20s or 30s may be most interested, especially if they're converts. Then you have to convince the priest, I suppose, to allow you to go out and do good works in the name of the parish.

Anyone want to offer any more suggestions on how we can do more mission work?

Hi all,

This is my first post on this forum. Been hanging out on the Catholic.com and Salvation Army forums.

I live in New York City. If you're not familiar with it's layout, there are five boroughs or counties. Most everyone outside of New York (and some within) think of Manhattan as New York. But there are four other boroughs. I live in Queens and work in Manhattan. There are no Eastern Catholic churches in Queens. I've got to go to Manhattan or Brooklyn to attend a Divine Liturgy.

I guess Queens could use a little mission work! (But there are plenty of non-Catholic Eastern Orthodox churches.)

Blessings,
Gene

Hi Jacobaer,

Welcome to the Byzantine Forum. May you be blessed as you read and post here.

Blessings in Christ,

Porter

Gene,

There's a Ukrainian Byzantine Rite Catholic church in Astoria Queens! I believe it's on 30th Street and not far from the Greek Orthodox Cathedral actually. And the Romanian Byzantine Catholics also use that church for their liturgies!

God bless,

John

I do believe America is a ripe mission field but I wonder if we have any missions in other countries as well? I know that Ukranian priests are sent to North America, I wonder when the BCs are going to follow suit by having priests come over from the Carpathians.

Dan L

Dear Dan:

Too bad your disdain for anything Latin prevents you from learning the tricks of the trade.

Have you heard of "World Mission Sunday?" Have you read the Holy Father's call for the "New Evangelization?"

The Romans have been at it for 2,000 years taking to heart the Church's mission "to make desciples of all nations!" :p

Have you noticed that men and women religious are always at the forefront of missionary work? They build schools, hospitals and they feed the hungry and clothed the naked. Simple but crucial components in a successful evangelization.

Yes, committed hard bodies and funding: from donations to volunteerism. And plenty of sweat, blood,and guts!

The Eastern Catholic (and Orthodox) Churches seem not to see the need for these Religious Orders. Yeah, you have plenty of monks and so we do, too. But, in addition to these "praying" monks, we have these "working" religious men and women anywhere and everywhere on the globe!

You know what, the Protestants are on the close heels of the Latins, but not you Eastern Catholics nor the Orthodox.

Asia is the "biggest" and "deepest" frontier; Africa comes second, where combined more than 2/3 of the world's population live.

The American "Peace Corpse [sic]" is a "dead" duck. And it does not fit well in a religious setting.

But before embarking on a foreign mission, scour your neighborhood first for people wanting to join your Eastern Catholic Church. Try domestic missions first.

No, I think disgruntled Latins should not count. Look for sincere people who can look past the ethnic flavor of your Church.

The East prides herself of being true to the vernacular. But have you not discovered yet that the vernacular here in the U.S. is American English? And with it Amercian, Western, culture?

The Administrator's conceptual framework for a stronger and more attractive Byzantine Catholicism in the Americas should be on the table right now, in my opinion.

Inculturation now becomes a long, and tedious, process!

Amado

Amado,

Are you assuming I don't know this?

Dan L

Dan:

For once, I wish you are willing to admit that missionary work has been the pithe and substance of ROMAN CATHOLIC religious orders, although some lay missionaries are thrown in the mix to spice it up.

Amado

Dan:

If we believe what the surveys say, the US of A is not yet a "ripe" mission field.

Of the around 270 million Americans (at the time of the survey in 2000) only about 150 million stated their Church or ecclesial affiliation.

About 120 million indicated they did not have any religious affiliation or that they believe in a God, or they are just plain agnostic.

(Of the approximate 280 million Americans today, only 65 million are Catholics. We have a long way to go, brother! )

Amado

Amado -

Your triumphalism re: the "missionary spirit" of the Latin Church should be tempered by the knowledge that hierarchs of the Roman church have been guilty at times of pilfering, plundering and pummeling the Byzantines into submission, stealing sheep and leveraging the power of Rome to do so.

Your broader point is a good one, but you could do it with a little more humility, given our history.

Gordon

Dan -

I saw your post this morning, but did not have time to reply. It really resonated with me, as I have had similar aspirations including working in international Byzantine missions, much like the Orthodox Christian Mission Center.

In terms of local missions work, my parish (St. John's in Minneapolis) has started an outreach on the east side of the Twin Cities (St. Paul) called "Saint Michael's Outreach". We meet at the Franciscan Brothers of Peace friary in St. Paul on the 3rd Saturday evening each month (5pm ECF and 6pm Divine Liturgy). I built an iconostasis with my father-in-law that can be easily assembled in a matter of minutes.

Since the iconostasis has already been built and is portable, the possibility exists to have Divine Liturgy in other locations as well throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas, so long as our pastor is willing and able to do this. You might consider building one with just such a purpose in mind.

So far, we have had close to 20 participants at the Divine Liturgy in St. Paul, mostly of Latin origin, although some parishioners also attend. Our express purpose is to help catechize the Latins on our Eastern traditions in response to Orientale Lumen. There are several major universities and seminaries nearby, so we are promoting this monthly event as a way to reach out to young adluts as well.

One additional plan that I have is to start giving presentations on the eastern Catholic Churches to the local Catholic schools. I am putting together a curriculum to help with this presentation, including Power Point slides.

Just some thoughts...sory if they seem a bit random. I am fatigued by being on the road all week!

Peace -

Gordo