"Eastern Churches"

[Peter_J]

I have noticed, and I’m sure that many of you have as well, that western Christians will occasionally talk about “the Eastern Churches”.

I encountered this (not for the first time) in a blog post called My sermon on ecumenism by Fr Tim Finigan. After saying that Anglicanorum Coetibus will enable Anglicans to be received as communities (which is certainly true) he goes on to say
Fr. Finigan:

In our prayers and work for Christian unity, we should not limit ourselves to the now traditional concern of unity with the Anglican and Protestant communities. Pope John Paul II and now Pope Benedict have worked very hard to improve relations with the Eastern Orthodox Churches. Overcoming prejudice and ingrained anti-Roman attitudes can be a task requiring patience and perseverance but both Popes have made considerable headway and some of the smaller Eastern Churches have been brought into full communion. Pope John Paul II said that if the Orthodox Churches were once again to be in full communion with Rome, the Church could again “breathe with both lungs”. We should pray to the Holy Spirit, to St Andrew, St Basil, St John Chrysostom and the other great saints of the East for this intention.

With all due respect to Fr. Finigan (and the various people who wrote in to say that his sermon was great), I think his statement about “some of the smaller Eastern Churches” is very misleading. The facts of the case are these: approximately 3000 Christians left the Assyrian Church of the East and joined the Catholic Church in 2008. But if someone just read Fr. Finigan’s statement, he/she might think that an *entire *Church had merged with the Catholic Church, and might even assume that it was an Orthodox Church that had done so (the ACoE is not Orthodox but Nestorian).

I wonder how many other misleading statements about “the Eastern Churches” can be found on the internet?

 

[mardukm]

Dear brother Peter,

There is nothing misleading about that statement. In Catholic ecclesiology, any grouping of Christians with a validly ordained bishop is properly considered a “Church.” This is the same understanding that all apostolic Christians have, as explicitly attested by St. Ignatius of Antioch (with due consideration for the differences between so-called “Cyprianic” and “Augustinian” ecclesiology). That is why in Catholic documents, you will find that Protestant groups are often referred to as “ecclesial communities” instead of “Churches.”

Blessings,
Marduk

 

[Nine_Two]

I have noticed, and I’m sure that many of you have as well, that western Christians will occasionally talk about “the Eastern Churches”.

I encountered this (not for the first time) in a blog post called My sermon on ecumenism by Fr Tim Finigan. After saying that Anglicanorum Coetibus will enable Anglicans to be received as communities (which is certainly true) he goes on to say

With all due respect to Fr. Finigan (and the various people who wrote in to say that his sermon was great), I think his statement about “some of the smaller Eastern Churches” is very misleading. The facts of the case are these: approximately 3000 Christians left the Assyrian Church of the East and joined the Catholic Church in 2008. But if someone just read Fr. Finigan’s statement, he/she might think that an *entire *Church had merged with the Catholic Church, and might even assume that it was an Orthodox Church that had done so (the ACoE is not Orthodox but Nestorian).

I wonder how many other misleading statements about “the Eastern Churches” can be found on the internet?

I think those of us who belong to Eastern Churches (both Orthodox, Catholic, and other) have to accept that the vast majority of Westerners will never understand the distinctions within our church. For the bulk of these, it is a completely unimportant fact that will never play a role in their life.
While it would be nice if those who wrote about the East did a bit of fact checking, it is a blog afterall, and readers have to take what they say at their own risk.

Quite frankly this is a pretty minor error compared to some I’ve seen around.

 

[Peter_J]

I think those of us who belong to Eastern Churches (both Orthodox, Catholic, and other) have to accept that the vast majority of Westerners will never understand the distinctions within our church. For the bulk of these, it is a completely unimportant fact that will never play a role in their life.
While it would be nice if those who wrote about the East did a bit of fact checking, it is a blog afterall, and readers have to take what they say at their own risk.

Quite frankly this is a pretty minor error compared to some I’ve seen around.

Well, sure it’s not as bad as, say, someone who lumps “Western Christians” together as one category. But still, I think someone who aims to inform others of an occurrence involving the ACoE should provide a little more detail about than just “some of the smaller Eastern Churches have been brought into full communion”, to avoid giving the impression that some *Orthodox *Churches did so.

 

[Peter_J]

I have noticed, and I’m sure that many of you have as well, that western Christians will occasionally talk about “the Eastern Churches”.

I encountered this (not for the first time) in a blog post called My sermon on ecumenism by Fr Tim Finigan. After saying that Anglicanorum Coetibus will enable Anglicans to be received as communities (which is certainly true) he goes on to say

With all due respect to Fr. Finigan (and the various people who wrote in to say that his sermon was great), I think his statement about “some of the smaller Eastern Churches” is very misleading. The facts of the case are these: approximately 3000 Christians left the Assyrian Church of the East and joined the Catholic Church in 2008. But if someone just read Fr. Finigan’s statement, he/she might think that an *entire *Church had merged with the Catholic Church, and might even assume that it was an Orthodox Church that had done so (the ACoE is not Orthodox but Nestorian).

I wonder how many other misleading statements about “the Eastern Churches” can be found on the internet?

I had been considering posting additional examples of Western Christians lumping “the Eastern Churches” together as a single category; but unfortunately I cannot, at the moment, think of other examples that are as good as that one.

On a side note, Fr. Finigan’s use of “the Eastern Churches” is (strictly speaking) not as erroneous as the fact that he says “some [plural] of the smaller Eastern Churches have been brought into full communion” when in fact it wasn’t even the entire ACoE that swam the Tiber.

 

[malphono]

I had been considering posting additional examples of Western Christians lumping “the Eastern Churches” together as a single category; but unfortunately I cannot, at the moment, think of other examples that are as good as that one.

On a side note, Fr. Finigan’s use of “the Eastern Churches” is (strictly speaking) not as erroneous as the fact that he says “some [plural] of the smaller Eastern Churches have been brought into full communion” when in fact it wasn’t even the entire ACoE that swam the Tiber.

I read the blog and, while I may well have missed it, I didn’t see anything that refers directly (or even indirectly, for that matter) to Mar Bawai Soro and his ACoE congregation having been received into the Chaldean Church.

 

[yucww210]

Agree with above http://gbielin.info/g.gif

 

[Peter_J]

I read the blog and, while I may well have missed it, I didn’t see anything that refers directly (or even indirectly, for that matter) to Mar Bawai Soro and his ACoE congregation having been received into the Chaldean Church.

Indeed, I believe that most people reading that blog would assume that an Eastern Orthodox Church – or rather, more than one Eastern Orthodox Church – had come into full communion with Rome.

 

[mardukm]

Indeed, I believe that most people reading that blog would assume that an Eastern Orthodox Church – or rather, more than one Eastern Orthodox Church – had come into full communion with Rome.

If one is not aware of the formal definition of the term “Church,” that would most likely be the case.

Blessings,
Marduk

 

[MrPip]

Most of the blogs I’ve read have a place where you can comment or ask questions about any particular posting. Have you considered this as a way, perhaps, to gain clarification and/or educate Fr. Finigan?

 

[andrewstx]

Indeed, I believe that most people reading that blog would assume that an Eastern Orthodox Church – or rather, more than one Eastern Orthodox Church – had come into full communion with Rome.

The Assyrians have never been Orthodox and can’t be

They are Nestorians.

 

[Peter_J]

Most of the blogs I’ve read have a place where you can comment or ask questions about any particular posting. Have you considered this as a way, perhaps, to gain clarification and/or educate Fr. Finigan?

That’s a possibility. The discussion on that blog-post when silent a couple years ago, but it was never actually closed to submissions.