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Reading this discussion opens up some interesting higher level insights. However, on a practical level, the Orthodox feel very complete without Rome. Send in the missonaries, make your arguments that Rome's consequest of the East is God's will, tell us that we should slowly adopt Western traditions. Outside of a very few isolated Orthodox individuals, nobody is listening and nobody, in mass numbers, is going to convert. The logic that came up with Papal infalibility has now come up with "Crown of Orthodoxcy." Rome needs to do what it does best to get converts. Send in the Polish, German, Italian or any other army. Short of that, forget it.

dear jporthodox:

With the greatest respect, I am not sure that you quite grasp the trajectory of the Churches who are "Orthodox in Communion with Rome". [or perhaps you do and you just don't believe us...]

We are actually not interested in "converting" the Orthodox, nor "conquering" the Orthodox, nor sending in "missionaries" to do that.

And we are certainly not trying to get the Orthodox to adopt Latin Traditions. [That would certainly leave us in a very odd quandary]

While I cannot speak for my sister Church of Older Rome nor it's Patriarch - though I suspect the best interpretation of their intentions would not be in line with "conquest" - but I leave this to members of that Church, I shall dare to presume to speak as a member of one of those Churches which are "Orthodox in Communion with Rome" [for want of a better designation].

1. we want to be and remain Orthodox - in all matters theological, disciplinary, spiritual, etc. - eschewing all that is foreign to our Sacred Tradition and all that is at variance with its integral development.

2. we want to be reconciled and return to Communion with our Mother Churches, the Orthodox Churches.

3. we want to effect this reconciliation and reintegration whilst maintaining [i.e. not at the price of] our Communion with the Latin Church and those in Communion with it.

You may think us naive or worse disingenuous...
Or you may just disagree with us.

But of this "mission" we are convinced, and by this vision we are inspired - in the Spirit and by the mandate our Hierarchs.
It is part of the work of Charity which feeds our souls and by which we feel drawn closer to God.

May God have mercy on us and bless our poor efforts.

herb.

Re: above post--

Yes, eventually we will return to our "Mother Churches." (I love that phrase!) So who is the Mother Church of the Byzantine Catholic - Ruthenian Church - Pittsburgh Metropolia?

Is it the Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church? Should we merge with OCA? Or___? :rolleyes:

Should I start another thread? Actually, I find this topic very thought provocative, don't you? :p

This depends on how one defines things. I would consider Constantinople to be our “Mother Church” and the other Churches of the Ruthenian Recension (Capatho-Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic, Slovak Greek Catholic, Ukrainian Orthodox and Ukrainian Catholic, Romanian Orthodox and Romanian Byzantine Catholic, Hungarian Greek Catholic, Czech (did I forget anyone?)) to be our immediate Sister Churches. It is my hope is that when full communion is established that we would eventually merge all of these into a single jurisdiction.

The OCA is another story. They certainly share our Ruthenian roots but have since embraced the liturgical traditions of the Russian Church and are essentially of another household. The Russian tradition is wonderful. It's just not ours.

I will also mention that I think that it would be wonderful for the English-speaking branches of the Churches of the Ruthenian Recension (both Catholic and Orthodox) to work together to produce a single translation of our liturgical books. Both Archbishop Vsevolod (Ukr Orth) and Metropoltian Nicholas (CROGC of Johnstown) have praised the scholarship of the typical editions for the Ruthenian Recension published at Rome in the 1940's. Now is the perfect time for us to begin such an effort and the ecumenical implications are enormous.

Thank you to the Administrator. Finally someone answered my question in a way I can understand and I LIKE THE ANSWER. Our Mother Church is Constantinople and the other Eastern European Churches are our Sister Churches. Thank you. I feel good about that.

Regarding the translation, I'm not involved in anything like that. But if anyone asks my opinion, I vote YES.