M
mitex
Guest
Hello everyone, I wanted to let everyone know that this Saturday evening, after liturgy, I made a profession of faith before my local Byzantine Catholic priest (Ukrainian Greek Catholic) and was received into communion with Rome. I had previously been baptized and chrismated into the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese a couple years ago.
The reason I made this decision to join Eastern Catholicism is because I believe I will be able to build a bridge for ecumenical Christian unity between the east and west. While I have no high hopes of this happening on a large scale, I am hoping I can make an impact locally and show my fellow Catholics and other western Christians the rich heritage, liturgy, and theology of the east, as well as praying for unity between the east and west. I do see myself as both Catholic and an Orthodox Christian in communion with Rome (got that from a blog on Patheos).
It was a gut wrenching decision to make to leave Greek Orthodoxy, but being a convert who was ecumenical and more theologically moderate (I hewed closely to Schmemann and Meyendorff), I shuddered at some of the more fundamentalist parts of Orthodoxy (ROCOR, Athonites, and the Greek Old Calendarists) and thought hopefully I would feel more at home in Byzantine Catholicism where my ecumenism would be more welcomed. I feel like I can be a more effective bridge builder now and accept the necessary role of Rome and the Papacy while staying true/returning to our Eastern patrimony.
I was right! I found a wonderful Ukrainian Greek Catholic parish, and a very kind spiritual father there. I am hoping to be more active on here now that I am finally in the Church. Thank you, God bless.
The reason I made this decision to join Eastern Catholicism is because I believe I will be able to build a bridge for ecumenical Christian unity between the east and west. While I have no high hopes of this happening on a large scale, I am hoping I can make an impact locally and show my fellow Catholics and other western Christians the rich heritage, liturgy, and theology of the east, as well as praying for unity between the east and west. I do see myself as both Catholic and an Orthodox Christian in communion with Rome (got that from a blog on Patheos).
It was a gut wrenching decision to make to leave Greek Orthodoxy, but being a convert who was ecumenical and more theologically moderate (I hewed closely to Schmemann and Meyendorff), I shuddered at some of the more fundamentalist parts of Orthodoxy (ROCOR, Athonites, and the Greek Old Calendarists) and thought hopefully I would feel more at home in Byzantine Catholicism where my ecumenism would be more welcomed. I feel like I can be a more effective bridge builder now and accept the necessary role of Rome and the Papacy while staying true/returning to our Eastern patrimony.
I was right! I found a wonderful Ukrainian Greek Catholic parish, and a very kind spiritual father there. I am hoping to be more active on here now that I am finally in the Church. Thank you, God bless.
