National Catholic Reporter<\/a> \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\nWithout any fanfare, Benedict XVI last week set aside a traditional title of the Roman Pontiff for roughly 1,500 years, \u201cPatriarch of the West.\u201d While initial speculation construed the move as a gesture of ecumenical sensitivity to the Orthodox, most experts say the real logic was almost certainly the exact reverse \u2013 a rejection of attempts to impose Eastern concepts upon the ecclesiology of the Catholic Church \u2026<\/p>\n
Yet \u2026 the decision did not fall from the clear blue sky. Recent debate on the nature of the papacy has highlighted the question of whether the universal primacy of the pope can accurately be understood on the model of the patriarchs, a concept that comes out of Eastern Christianity.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy best guess is that this amounts to a refusal on the part of the Vatican of an attempt to put the Petrine primacy into a framework that\u2019s not perceived as proper to it,\u201d [Jesuit Fr. Robert Taft, an expert on Eastern Christianity at Rome\u2019s Oriental Institute] said.<\/p>\n
\u201cCalling the pope \u2018Patriarch of the West\u2019 could be seen as an attempt to Orientalize Western ecclesiology,\u201d Taft said.<\/p>\n
Ecumenical observers also warn that renouncing the title may alarm the Orthodox about a lack of sensitivity for the legitimate autonomy of Eastern traditions. On that score, there are already early indications of negative reaction.<\/p>\n
Thanks to FWD from Fr Miguel Grave de Peralta<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nYesterday\u2019s new item from the Vatican bears witness to the above \u2026<\/em>
<\/strong>
Vatican City, Mar. 16, 2006 (CNA) \u2013<\/strong> Today, the Vatican released a letter sent by Pope Benedict XVI to Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, major Archbishop of Lviv of the Ukrainians, recalling the forced fusion of Catholics into the Orthodox Church by the communist Soviet government in 1946.<\/p>\nThe Pope\u2019s message served to mark what he called \u201cthe sad events to which the cathedral of St. George at Leopoli was witness, in March of sixty years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the letter, which was dated February 22nd, the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, the Holy Father recalled the infamous March 1946 date, during which \u201ca group of prelates meeting in a pseudo-synod which took upon itself the right to represent the Church, made a serious attack against ecclesial unity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cViolence against those who remained faithful to the Bishop of Rome intensified,\u201d he wrote, \u201cgiving rise to further suffering and forcing the Church to descend once again to the catacombs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite this, the Pope expressed his thanks to God that \u201cthe Greek-Catholic Church did not disappear but continued to bear her own witness to the unity, sanctity catholicity and apostolicity of the Church of Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s this, from the <\/em>Pope\u2019s message<\/em><\/a> to Greek Orthodox seminarians:<\/em><\/p>\nWe must confront the challenges that threaten faith, cultivate the spiritual humus that has nourished Europe for centuries, reaffirm Christian values, promote peace and encounter, even in the most difficult conditions, and deepen those elements of faith and ecclesial life that can lead us to the goal of full communion in truth and in charity, especially now that the official dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church as a whole is resuming its journey with renewed vigor.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Recently, I posted a bishop\u2019s take on the Pope\u2019s dropping the title \u201cPatriarch of the West\u201d \u2026 in the Comments on that post, I mused that perhaps it was a \u201ctrial balloon.\u201d Well, the following piece has a whole different take: From the National Catholic Reporter \u2026 Without any fanfare, Benedict XVI last week set […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1691,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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