I’m not sure why you find this interesting or unusual.
Melkites are Catholics. Again, I’m not following what the issue is. The Melkites Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic *sui juris *particular Church in full communion with the Pope.
In what way do you believe that Pope Benedict has not treated his patriarchs well so as to view this as treating them “better”?
I am a total idiot who doesn’t know anything, so please don’t blame me if I am too far off in this assertion: I read somewhere (this ‘Let’s Respond to the Issues Raised by V2’ academic journal for canon lawyers) that the Latin Rite-dominated Curia was at odds with the rights and prerogatives of the individual patriarchs and their native churches.
This struggle occurred for two reasons:
-Clergy and faithful of a certain rite living outside of their native church’s specifically defined territory were subject to the authority of the local Latin Rite diocesan clergy.
-The patriarchs were demanding greater control of their clergy and faithful outside of their specifically defined territories.
Furthermore, there is still relatively confused status and (what is perceived by some to be) unfairly assigned prerogatives for Latin Rite clergy.
These seem like trivial issues to us Latin Rite Catholics, but given the immense ethnic diasporas from the lands of the Eastern churches, there are some legitimate moral and pastoral concerns here. Now, this particular journal article was from the 70s/80s, so it might not be the most accurate way to learn about the canon law differences between Latin and Eastern Rite Catholic churches, but there you have it. Even if the issue is resolved and both parties have arrived at a ‘satisfactory’ conclusion, this strife still remains behind them, in the background.
As for the sui juris, particular church status of the Eastern Rites, I believe that you are thinking of organizational-institutional relationships and confusing them with liturgical practices. This sight is interesting for its cross-Rite con-celebration. It is–by all accounts–a rare site to see Eastern Rite clergy presiding with a Latin Rite clergyman over a Latin Rite service, or any combination of the above. It is even rarer for a Pope and his Patriarch.
It emphasizes that even though we celebrate the Mass using different practices and come from different cultures, we are still One Church, the Body of Christ.
I am excited, and you should be, too.
Also, please correct me if I am wrong in anything I have said. Thanks!
[Also, it shows that our Melkite brothers stand by us in our ‘Second Reformation’.]
