www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Benefits Of Reunion

My spouse and I will be able to received The body and blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ, together at the same Divine Liturgy.

What a blessing that would be.

Dear Myles,

Was St Patrick not from Galloway? Anyway, he was certainly not an ethnic Irishman!

Alex

I know I read somewhere that St Pat was from Britanny, Northern France...! They were also Celts,...No..??? mik

Dear Mike,

Yes, indeed! One of the seven Celtic nations today!

Celtiberia was once the northern half of the Iberian peninsula and I understand that King MacBeth, on his way to Rome to complain about ecclesial incursions into Scotland, stopped there and spoke with the people. "Galizia" and their Celtic language "Galiz" still exist in Spain today.

Any people who use the prefix "Wal" or "wild" are also Celtic - Wales, Cornwall, Wallonia in Belgium and Wallachia in Roumania.

"Walnuts" too (Wild Nuts).

That last name about sums up the character of the Celts, one may assume . . .

Alex

I have been orthodox and I have been Catholic for some time. I do prefer the Catholic Church, since I have studied the first 7 Oecumenical Councils and Early Church fathers but I do think that the Catholic Church has to change a bit. The Eastern patriarchs will have to be given the authority they had in the Early Church, but not confusing them into believing they will ever be equal to the Roman Bishop.

Dear Armando,

You should become a "Greek Catholic" and so you will have the best of both worlds!

What's the matter with you? "Latin Catholic Greek" - who has heard of such a thing?

It's a wonder the Greek authorities haven't sent you outside the country!

Alex

The same tangible benefit that always comes from doing the will of God. God will be glorified, and we will grow in holiness and grace.

The other obvious benefit that I see, is that the "witness" of the united Church will be so much more effective, and our preaching will be more credible.

Our world needs the Gospel of Christ today, but our division is one reason that the spread of the Gospel is slow.

the unworthy,
Elias

Rome would have restored it's ancient ecclesiology and theology and returned to Orthodoxy.

+T+
Michael

Dear Alex you said:

"Celtiberia was once the northern half of the Iberian peninsula and I understand that King MacBeth, on his way to Rome to complain about ecclesial incursions into Scotland, stopped there and spoke with the people. "Galizia" and their Celtic language "Galiz" still exist in Spain today."

I ask:

I didn't realize that a part of Spain still speak a Celtic language. But then again, many parts of Europe probably retained their original languages until recently.

Did you know that three tribes of Gauls went towards France...(and as Julius Caesar said; the Belgi are the most heroic), and one went to Anatolia, (Turkey). They are the 'Galacians' in the Bible. Also, the suburb of Constantinople where the Genovese had their fortress, is called Galata.

Gala in Greek means milk, and the Celts might have been named that because of their whitish skin...who knows? Also in Greek when someone is blue eyed, they are called Galanos; as well as the sky when it is light blue.

Zenovia

Greetings all;

I hope that it is not too late to post my views. If (and if God wills it.) the Catholic and Orthodox Chruches agree to end the Schism -- maybe I am too much of a dreamer -- but to attend Mass sung with Gregorian Chant and the next Sunday to attend the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysystom in Greek or Russian would be proof positive that we are one as Jesus and the Father are one.

Glory to Jesus Christ!

George the Latin

Believe me, they've tried... :p :p
Well... I recieved my First Communion at a Latin Catholic Church and my spiritual father is a Fransiscan Cappuchin... Still, if there was a Greek Catholic church here in Iraklio I would regulary attend mass there since I too think that since I'm Greek I should be Greek Catholic but it's impossible to do otherwise...

Dear Michael, Lawrence stated the following:

"what practical and tangible benefits would there be from a reunion of the Orthodox and Roman churches ?"

And You responded:

"Rome would have restored it's ancient ecclesiology and theology and returned to Orthodoxy."

I say:

I love when I hear the 'rediculous' from Orthodox. Do you or anyone else realize, that if that were to happen, the RCC would simply dissolve or break into a million pieces because of the people's objections. Is that what you want?

Now tell me, what good would that be to the souls of all those people, and to those that are under their umbrella in undeveloped nations. Not to be polemic, but are those things ever taken into account, or was the comment made flippantly for who knows what reason? Certainly it was not practical or productive.

Zenovia

I love the Catholic Church and her history since her day 1. Mistakes have occured but if you look at orthodox history you will see just the same (if not worse) mistakes. The trampling over the azymes that were already turned into body of Christ, the closing down of Catholic churches in Istanbul...Did you know that the so-called "defender" of the so-called "orthodoxy" called Cardinal Humbert back so he could kill him! Thank God, Humber and the rest of the delegate had left Istanbul.

Dear Zenovia,

Yes, you are more than correct!

I once read that the "milk" part came from the Celtic milk-like drink called "selann" (?) that the Celtic saints used.

On the other hand, perhaps the Galatians were the fore-runners of the "Galicians" in western Ukraine?

A lot of gall all around, either way . . .

Alex

Oh dear, have I become ridiculous now?

Well, it didn't break up into a million pieces before the Council of Basle, before the Great Schism, or before the Edict of Milan. What has happened to the western church since then to make it so brittle?

If you truly believe this and you are correct about this, then it would mean the RC is in a lot worse shape than anyone (especially me) has expected. Surely you agree that Christ and the Holy Spirit will be with us to the end of the age.

I meant what I said, no matter how you took it. It should be obvious by now that unless the Roman Catholic church changes it's ecclesiology and (through it's teaching) becomes recognizeably Orthodox, there will be no reconciliation.

Perhaps Roman Catholics should revisit their expectations of what reunion really means, it cannot mean an Ultramontanist understanding of universal control from Rome, especially if it means an introduction of Roman-type conditions and problems to the east. There must be another way.

If my brief comment shocked you in some way perhaps it was worth it. The Holy Spirit is becoming manifest in the church. The church needs to prepare the laity for the great changes yet to come, some claim to see it even in some recent pronouncements from Rome. It wouldn't surprise me one bit.

+T+
Michael, most preposterous