www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall an Eastern Catholic University

Last weekend I took a trip to Naples Fl. to check out Ave Maria University. This is a new Catholic University founded by the former owner of Dominoes Pizza. They have a plan for the building of a Catholic Town which at the center is to be a Church, I saw that there were things planned like schools and other things. I went to the planning office and I reminded them as this town will grow that they will be attracting Catholics not of the Roman Rite, and there should be some place planned for them to worship in the matter that they are accustomed . And to remember that when they are making their plans.
I know that one of the Trustee is Paul Wyrich?? who is an arch-deacon in the Melkite church.
Where is all this rambling going? Maybe it's just frustration!! Is there anyone out there that has the vision to start an Eastern Catholic U!!? Someplace where the Theology and traditions could be taught.

Dear Theodore:

It takes sizeable funding to erect a university, or just even a college for that matter.

To solely designate such an institution as Eastern Catholic might not fly as there is a paucity of Eastern Catholics in the U.S. and/or people desiring to pursue such a course of study.

An alternative would be to erect sections in the theology departments of the so many Catholic universities and colleges in the U.S. and devote them solely to Eastern (Catholic) theological studies.

I believe some institutions run by the Jesuits have such sections/departments.

AmdG

As we discussed on other threads earlier in the year, there IS in fact an Eastern Catholic institute where one may study authentic Eastern theology at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels: it is my own Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute for Eastern Christian Studies here at St. Paul University (a Roman Catholic university with wide ecumenical contacts and programs and also having a pontifical charter). MASI is the ONLY institute of its kind in the Western hemisphere where one may obtain advanced research degrees in Eastern Christian studies. It maintains (as the mission statement puts it) "special but not exclusive interest in the Church of Kyiv." It is under the aegis of Canada's Ukrainian Catholic bishops, but we have, inter alia, Armenian, Greek, OCA, Russian and Ukrainian professors and students as well. MASI is not a full-fledged university, but we have everything we need--faculty, full course loads at all levels, a chapel with services three times a day every day of the week, etc. For those in the U.S., no need to duplicate this--just come up here! We have lots of room to grow and are happy to welcome new people. Tuition is among the lowest in North America, and with the strength of the American dollar a year here would cost you no more than a double scoop of gelatto! Please do check us out: www.ustpaul.ca/sheptytsky [ustpaul.ca] or e-mail me for more information. The website is currently undergoing a major revision, but the current one, above, will fill you in on all the relevant details.

Theodore, there is a University, for Eastern Catholics.

Its called Saints Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Catholic Seminary.

Its for the training of priest, but there are many laity that attend their just to learn and grow more in the faith.

In Christ+
Daniel

www.byzcath.org/seminary

Paul Weyrich, a rather controversial individual, is the Proto-Deacon of Holy Transfiguration Melkite Catholic parish, McLean, VA

Many years,

Neil

Too bad we don't have a pirohi mogul like pizza mogul Tom Monaghan (sp?).

Shlomo Amado waLkhoolkhoon,
I am doing what you have proposed. That is:

At the University of St. Thomas they have a department called Catholic Studies (they offer both undergraduate and graduate degrees). I have a meeting tomarrow with the director of the program. So prayer for me. I already have the director of the theology department, and a number of professors there jumping for joy over this project. The exact words of the director for the theology department to me where, I have never thought of that.

If this works, then all of you will have a template to use with other Catholic Colleges and Universities.

Poosh baShlomo Lkhoolkhoon,
Yuhannon

I know quite a few of us Byzantines are in the midst of serious theological training. We have not had a major impact in the theological scene, and I think that is one of the reasons you do not find many schools which have a program that really accounts for us.

When I started my MA degree at Xavier, I was told "We really don't do much with Eastern studies." I told them I knew, and it was not the reason I was going to study there. On the one hand, it would be nice, and Xavier did have one Orthodox priest teaching there for undergraduate classes -- but on the other hand, the best way for the East to be made known is for us to integrate ourselves. We must be willing to take our issues, our traditions, our sentiments, and use them to address the issues that are within the mainstream theological environment. Some Orthodox theologians have done so, but there has hardly been much for us Byzantines.

I am currently at CUA, starting with the PhD program here. I have already met one Roman Catholic who is taking the Orthodox-Catholic dialogue serious, and plans to do his dissertation on social ethics based upon Eastern Trinitarian theology. But the thing is, we really need more Byzantines to address issues, some of them more traditional studies (patristics, history, Eastern spiriutality) but also some who need to be more "risky" and "adaptive." For me, the models I look to for theology are Vladimir Solovyov, Pavel Florensky, Sergius Bulgakov. I have also started reading and studying Paul Evdokimov's works. They represent not just the Orthodox world, but the Eastern world in general as it relates to our stand with the modern world and serious, speculative theology. But, alas, for every Bulgakov there are hundreds of Orthodox and Eastern Catholics too concerned about themselves, too keeping within their own tradition, and in doing so, having very few opportunities for our theological message to get out.

This is not to say that we should not be concerned about our own tradition. We should be. It is also an important work which is being done. But alas, when people ask "where do we study" the only answer I can give is to study where the mainstream theological schools are at. Take our traditions there instead of just trying to stay to ourselves.

Well, I know of two full-fledged Eastern Catholic Universities:
1) Holy Spirit University, Kashlik, Lebanon (very near Harissa and Jounieh), run by the Maronites; and
2) the Ukrainian Catholic University in L'viv - which may even be offering courses taught through English.

Incognitus