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Glory to Jesus Christ!

Evangelizers,

The question of the very survival of the Eastern Catholic Churches has become obvious enough to the whole Church that this subject was featured in the November edition of ONE magazine put out by the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (cnewa.org)
As an Eastern Catholic myself, the fact that our dying was distintive enough to be a news worthy subject is both an embarassment and a blessing. I hope that at the very least it would shame us into embracing the New Evangelization and renewing and revitalizing ourselves.

What I believe will enable the Eastern Churches to thrive and also enable us to really make our unique contribution (I am speaking primarily but not exclusively about the Eastern Catholic Churches)is very comprehensive and monumental. There is no getting around this reality. This is why my personal motto of evangelization has become: "Raze the Eastern Catholic Churches to the ground on all levels and rebuild them according to their authentic selves..." This is our only hope. Duct tape and bandages, "rearranging deck chairs," another "nice" project, the fear of getting anyone "upset," etc. are just not going to do it.

I believe that what will probably happen is that only the strong will survive, only those entities that will embrace radical renewal. Probably for the Ruthenian Church in the next maybe 20 years what will happen (and in a sense it is already happening)is that there will be maybe 10 remaining parishes across the United States and perhaps maybe one thriving monastery. There will be a few other vibrant efforts in media or education and evangelization and that will pretty much be it. I believe that this is happening by default. But at the same time it could happen and should happen by a strategic, comprehensive plan built upon a clear sense of mission, and an exciting, irresistable vision of what our Church could and should be.

In other words the "implosion" can be by default and therefore depressing and defeating. Or the implosion can actually be purposeful,like prunning a rose bush ("razing") so that it eventually explodes again with gorgeous fragrant flowers amd evem produces other rose bushes.

To "raze our Church to the ground" means to renew it on all levels, from our financial structures, to parish structures, to priestly spirituality, liturgy, evangelization, etc. We will have to use this one indicting but simple standard: Nearly everything that distinquishes us as a "Greek Catholic" Church or "Uniate" Church is invalid. These things will all have to go. Other than in just a few areas we are not supposed to be distinguishable from the Orthodox. Everything that gave the Eastern Catholic Churches their "Greek Catholic" identity distinct from our Orthodox brethren were Latinizations or a secularizations. In other words much of our identity as a Church has been formed by foreign objects, things imported and adapted that came from sources outside of our authentic traditions and spirituality including a Biblical spirituality. This why I say our Church has to be "razed" to the ground on all levels. If you go through a check list of every aspect of Church and ask how and why we do it this way ("our way") you will find that many of these things are foreign elements. Now, admittedly not everything about our identity is foreign. In the process of "razing" and renewal some things will in fact remain as they are. But most of it must go because it is either in imitation of the Latins or of the secular world.

I invite you to try what I am suggesting. For instance: our
"religious orders:" As an Eastern Church why do we have "orders?" Should they be? Why are they? They are "orders" modelled after the Latin Rite structures, even using Latin Rite looking habits or lack of it (which is also imitating the Latins) only because we were apparantly too weak or small to develop monasticism that is proper to our Eastern Christian heritage. By saying this I am still very appreciative of the great work and dedication of our religious "orders." I am not belittling the immense contributions that they have made. But, as Archbishop Basil Schott often says, "NOW is the time." Do we still need the Latin Rite model at this time? Maybe it was good for a while and this is of course debatable. But should we stick to this model NOW and for the future? If we could at least give ourselves permission to ask these questions it would be big step forward. But I am sure that even by my even suggesting this question someone is "offended" which is symptomatic of why we will most likely implode by default. Again, I repeat: We appreciate all that our religious orders have done but, like it or not, we are being called to rethink this model.
Through Vatican II and subsequent Papal letters we have been asked to rethink things about ourselves. This is not "Tom Loya's" idea and "who does he think he is?" These are the ideas of the Church, the Holy Spirit who have spoken to us clearly for decades.

So what is keeping us from developing the checklist and asking the hard questions and proceeding with the hard changes? This question will point out our need for spiritual renewal in our Church because there is no good, honorable answer to this question. The answer is because of selfishness, complacency, laziness and fear.

Raze it! Renew it! Relish in it!!

--Fr. Thomas J. Loya, STB. MA.

Father,

I agree. We are imploding by default. Perhaps someone could let us know how many seminarians we have? If we have fewer than 30 or so shouldn't we shut down the seminary? BTW, I know we have fewer than 30. If we combined all of the Eastern Catholic Churches in North America together how many seminarians would we have? The answer to that question eludes me but if there are fewer than 100 we are in trouble. Do we need a seminary?

Should those stronger parishes withdraw into themselves, form alliances with each other, and begin to rebuild the Church? Can that happen?

I have many more questions than I have answers.

CDL

Father Thomas is to be thanked, for both is service to the Church and for his post.

I agree with much of what he writes. I think I must suggest different terminology since talking about "rais[ing] our Church to the ground" can be very scary to people. In a sense it is telling them that everything they have held dear to them is false and that they have been wrong all their lives. Some people cannot recover from that. It is, I think, far better to simply present the need for authentic renewal from the logic of our authentic liturgical tradition.

I have seen a few parishes successfully go from what I like to call "Low Church Greek Catholic" to "fully Byzantine". The method used was one of education and an ongoing, incremental return to authentic Byzantine praxis (first, a complete Divine Liturgy according to the official books, then Vespers, then Matins). This is really the "Tom Sawyer" approach. Teach about it in a way that leads the people to say "Can we have that here?" and then give it to them. It is with such a method that the desire for authentic restoration and renewal gains support from both the clergy and the people.

One thing that is required here. The model for renewal must be authentically Byzantine. I agree with Father Thomas that the Vatican directives have been very clear in telling us to rethink where we are at, where we need to go and how to get there. I fully support the stated desire of our hierarchs to restore and renew our liturgical life. Unfortunately, the model of a revised Liturgy they are considering is not one that is authentic. The model under consideration does remove many of the existing latinizations but also replaces them with new latinizations. This is why we need to radically embrace the fullness of our official liturgical life. It seems to me that the Ukrainians are thinking along these lines, too. At their recent synod they reminded the entire Ukrainian Church worldwide that the Vatican documents on the Liturgy are obligatory on the entire UGCC. That is exactly what our Church needs to do. A return to an authentic Byzantine Liturgy that is well celebrated and well sung is the source of any new life in our parishes.

My mother watched the Divine Liturgy celebrated by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople with Pope Benedict XVI in attendance on television. When I talked to her afterwards she commented: "That was our Liturgy. But it was in Greek. Was the Archbishop there - I didn't see him." I dare say most of our people (especially the older ones) might agree with her. That is something to build upon.

Again, I thank Father Thomas for his words.

John

John,

I agree with you. One way to implement your suggestions is by the example of the Church I go to. Our priest after liturgy during the coffee social has routine educational classes regarding the faith. The last class we had was on music and the proper tones to use, etc...

Here is another example, we use to kneel during the Liturgy at key points. Then after last Easter Father published an article about kneeling and the Churches tradition. He said it was not the tradition to kneel and spelled out why in the article. He then followed that up by explaining the tradition to individual parishoners. To this day we don't kneel and nobody seems to mind (except one nice SSPX lady who still kneels).

So, here is a good case how education can equal renewal.

On a very practical level, the renewal must occur in part by putting into practice the Church�s teaching On Human Life. If married couples are not fruitful and do not multiply, there is a serious lack of faith. The rejection of this teaching is a Latinization in the modern sense of the term. The Latins went into rebellion when they expected the traditional teaching of the Church to be overturned and Paul VI did not overturn it.

A sign of vitality in a Church is the number of its children. My Byzantine grandparents, who immigrated from the old country had fourteen children. Their faith and parish was alive and well. Succeeding generations have struggled with the Gospel of Life.

Along with the renewal of which Fr. Loya speaks, the teaching of the Church on human life needs to be made known even though it is �out of season� in this contraceptive society.

Have babies! Relish crying babies at Matins and Vespers! Make young fathers and mothers welcome in the parish. God will bless these efforts.

I would like to follow up this post and boldly say that in a couple of years you will see our Church grow with authentic Byzantine traditions.

We are in the process of renewal. We are in the process of an aggressive evangelizing effort. Like I said give us a couple of years and I think our Church will be a model of the future for the Eparchy!

The point of this is that some Churches are paying attention to what is happening and they are taking bold steps now to ensure the future.

Agrred Father! The only difference between an Eastern catholic Church and an Orthodox Church is the name of the hierarch commemerated. Which is why I am aghast at the proposed movement away from the Orthodox model to something which is neither Orthodox, nor traditional.

Alexandr

The article Father Thomas mentioned can be found here [cnewa.org].

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh Lord although I desired to blot out
With my tears the handwriting of my many sins
And for the rest of my life to please thee through sincere repentance;
Yet doth the enemy lead me astray as he wareth
Against my soul with his cunning!

Father Tom,

As always, it is good to see you post again!

I agree with what John has said. Hearing the word "razing" potentially creates more heat than light in the mind of the average parishioner, IMHO. With that said, I do agree with you in principle. I think we need to convince others of the "ideal state" first, so that they will not cling to the "old (Uniate) and habitual ways" of living their Eastern faith.

To Im's point, while I think that living and practicing the principles of Humanae Vitae is vital to a vibrant ecclesial life (with the blessing of many children) it has to fit within the context of a broader proclamation of the Gospel. Many do not know even the fundamentals of the apostolic teaching. We need to reaquaint them with the "joyful message of the Resurrection" first so that their whole life - every aspect of it - is seen in the light of faith and their loving communion with the Holy Trinity. The teaching of Humanae Vitae is not an end in itself, but a means to live more fully the Gospel of Life.

Returning to the theme of Father Tom's post, I think the primary need is to rediscover and emphasize the strengths of our tradition. To "discover our true, authentic selves" means to acknowledge that emphasis which the Holy Spirit nurtured within our tradition that expresses more fully who we are as Eastern Orthodox Christians in union with Rome. Icons, the Jesus Prayer, our particular traditions of worship, a "liturgical theology", patristics, spiritual exegesis, etc etc - these are just a few examples.

I also think that a strength of Byzantium, without descending into Latinzation, is the diversity of our origins. The Byzantine tradition draws on the wellspring of the apostolic faith (especially as expressed in Sacred Scripture) and its overflow in the three great theological streams of Holy Tradition: Latin, Greek and Syriac. Byzantium is as rich in its breadth as it is in its penetrating depth. We need to look beyond our own particularity and rediscover our authentic catholic fulness. In some ways this means transcending some of the ethnic nomenclature and habitual ways of relating to our apostolic mission that have made our churches immigrant ghettos and bearers of a particular culture rather than the sower of kerygmatic seeds which renew and redeem the culture where we are "planted"!

Just a few thoughts...

God bless,

Gordo

I am familiar with the magazine cited in the first post,here. when I saw it an issue a year or os ago, I was astonished that our very existence was acknowledged. I saw the magazine at Sts.Peter and Paul (Latin), and enjoyed the article which was indeed the state of the ECs in the Middle East. it is noteworthy that the more conservative/traditional any religious group is, the more they will grow and attract newcomers. people don't like wishy washy compromising, it makes them wonder if a religion that indulges in such nonsense is really worth the bother. C.S. Lewis said that he had more,as a conservative/traditional Christian,in common with a like Muslim, and not some pathetic watered down version thereof, than with a watered down compromising Christian. my point is this: going back to tradition, and doing so assertively and unaplogetically, may just be the thing that will revive Eastern Catholicism here and abroad.a great source of inspiration here is Archbishop Zoghby, who I see as God's man as he stands up for all of us, and is no compromiser, but knows who he is and what he believes in. perhaps we all can take a lesson from that man.
Much Love,
Jonn

I think we couls say that too about some Orthodox Churches especially with the situation in the Middle East, it will be a matter of survival.
Stephanos I

Why I Prefer Fr. Loya's 'Inflammatory' Language:

I prefer the talk of "razing" because it doesn't allow the listener to be comfortable in the state of the Church. One cannot remain neutral after hearing such talk. But one can remain neutral, unaffected, after generic talk about evangelization or regaining one's Byzantine identity.

Example: Parma had a series of presentations on the liturgy, which were very good, yet which made no demands and issued no challenges. No directives came from the Eparchy on implementation, and so all the attendees were free to attend, listen to nice words about the liturgy, and then go home without changing a thing.

It reminds me of the many homilies I have heard against institutional racism, with which I could easily agree, and then dismiss, since they had little to do with me. Homilies on personal holiness and conversion, on the other hand, challenge me and don't leave me in a comfortable place. That's necessary.

I think the Church has been too comfortable for too long. Dying is comfortable, living is painful. I vote for pain!

Let me put it another way: in order to undergo the sort of renewal the Byzantine Church needs, we need to be challenged. Are we important for the life of the Church? Does the world need us? Does God want us to survive? Yes? Then we have to do whatever it takes to live, even if that involves "razing." Put in terms of a call to greatness, difficulties evaporate. I'll try another example: if I'm sitting comfortably on my couch, chores are annoyances. But if there is a _mission_, a challenge, a danger to be overcome, I'll leap off the couch.

Well, that's enough logorrhea.

Here is what you can do, think global act local.

Your Church needs to grow at a rate > 6%.

So, what are we waiting for? Get busy...

HV I think is at the heart of the Gospel of Life for those for whom marriage is their "vocation". And given that that is a large majority of men and women, the fundamentals of the apostolic teachings go hand in hand with the teachings on the sanctity of marriage:


St. John Chrysostom, Homily 20 On Ephesians 5:22-23.

The comunion in marriage must reflect the great love Christ shows for us in communion. Real communion is always life-giving.

Think of it this way. If you want to be married in the Church, but exclude the very reason for such a Holy Mystery, to be a life-giving sign of Christ's love for the Church, you have introduced darkness where there should be light. What is more life-giving, what is more fruitful than being open to new life? The Gospel truth is decisive -- for those who will marry and for those who will, for the sake of the Kingdom, sacrifice this good for a greater good. The Gospel is always like that, we must submit our hearts, minds, souls and yes bodies to the service of the Kingdom of God.

On the other hand, when the attitude is well, first we'll do this but when we're ready, we'll have children, the Gospel call in the "vocation" of Marriage has been altered.

For those who have not followed the teaching of the Church in their vocation, it is not theirs to quibble with the Church but to repent, as we all must whenever we do not follow our Lord. It's that simple.

In a conversation I had with a Roman Catholic who was advocating for married priests in the Roman Church, I told him that a married man may become a priest within our tradition and explained how my mother's parish priest had 12 children. I asked him if he and his fellow parishoners were ready to support a man with a large family because the priest would have to follow the Church's teaching as set forth in HV. His jaw dropped because he hadn't considered that issue.

But the Gospel truth isn't there to pick what we like and don't like. In marriage, openness to life is an essential part of that Sacrament, and this teaching must be set forth as an essential part of the Gospel for those who marry in the Church.

Pseudo-Athanasius,

I like the rhetoric of razing as well. I can't imagine that there is anyway to do it constructively because we don't have the leadership to do it, unless that leadership changes dramatically. If it is to be razed then one must have the astute leadership that will show us how to rebuild. The race is on to see whether #1. we will collapse into chaos to see us rise like a phoenix, #2. collapse and cease to exist, or #3. have a controlled collapse and rebuild with a minimum of hurt. I suspect that either #1 or #2 will happen but I wish and pray for #3.

I had hopes for an all church conference to rally the Churches called by our bishops. It could still happen but I've not heard any news. Others do it all the time. Why we don't is a mystery. In addition to that or even if that doesn't happen the stronger more vital Churches ought to meet together and plan for what the Church is going to be like after the collapse.

CDL