Posted on 11/10/2005 6:43:19 AM PST by NYer
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani met Thursday with Pope Benedict XVI amid tight security that closed down the main boulevard leading to the Vatican.
Talabani is on a weeklong visit to Italy and has met with the country's top officials, including Premier Silvio Berlusconi.
Benedict met with Iraq's foreign minister in August and discussed religious freedom in Iraq and the country's constitution.
The Vatican has expressed concern about Iraq's constitution, fearing that any legal system based on Islamic law might not guarantee the rights of religious minorities.
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said after his Aug. 25 meeting with the pope that he had sought to assure the pontiff that the constitution would aim to safeguard religious freedom for all Iraqis.
Iraqi Christians number around 800,000 — about 3 percent of Iraq's 26 million people. Most of them belong to the Chaldean Church, an Eastern-rite church that is loyal to the pope but does not follow the Roman church's Latin rite.
The Vatican opposed the war in Iraq, and Benedict's predecessor, the late Pope John Paul II, spoke out strongly against it.
Talabani said Tuesday after meeting with Berlusconi that "war is not the best way, but it was the only way to topple Saddam Hussein." He said Iraqi forces should be ready to begin taking over from coalition troops around the end of next year.
Security around the Vatican was tight on Thursday, with the Via della Conciliazione — the main boulevard leading to St. Peter's Square — closed to traffic.
Although it is not widely known in our Western world, the Catholic Church is actually a communion of Churches. According to the Constitution on the Church of the Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium, the Catholic Church is understood to be "a corporate body of Churches," united with the Pope of Rome, who serves as the guardian of unity (LG, no. 23). At present there are 22 Churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The new Code of Canon Law, promulgated by Pope John Paul II, uses the phrase "autonomous ritual Churches" to describe these various Churches (canon 112). Each Church has its own hierarchy, spirituality, and theological perspective. Because of the particularities of history, there is only one Western Catholic Church, while there are 22 Eastern Catholic Churches. The Western Church, known officially as the Latin Church, is the largest of the Catholic Churches. It is immediately subject to the Roman Pontiff as Patriarch of the West. The Eastern Catholic Churches are each led by a Patriarch, Major Archbishop, or Metropolitan, who governs their Church together with a synod of bishops. Through the Congregation for Oriental Churches, the Roman Pontiff works to assure the health and well-being of the Eastern Catholic Churches.
While this diversity within the one Catholic Church can appear confusing at first, it in no way compromises the Church's unity. In a certain sense, it is a reflection of the mystery of the Trinity. Just as God is three Persons, yet one God, so the Church is 22 Churches, yet one Church.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes this nicely:
"From the beginning, this one Church has been marked by a great diversity which comes from both the variety of God's gifts and the diversity of those who receive them... Holding a rightful place in the communion of the Church there are also particular Churches that retain their own traditions. The great richness of such diversity is not opposed to the Church's unity" (CCC no. 814).
Although there are 22 Churches, there are only eight "Rites" that are used among them. A Rite is a "liturgical, theological, spiritual and disciplinary patrimony," (Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon 28). "Rite" best refers to the liturgical and disciplinary traditions used in celebrating the sacraments. Many Eastern Catholic Churches use the same Rite, although they are distinct autonomous Churches. For example, the Ukrainian Catholic Church and the Melkite Catholic Church are distinct Churches with their own hierarchies. Yet they both use the Byzantine Rite.
To learn more about the "two lungs" of the Catholic Church, visit this link:
The Vatican II Council declared that "all should realize it is of supreme importance to understand, venerate, preserve, and foster the exceedingly rich liturgical and spiritual heritage of the Eastern churches, in order faithfully to preserve the fullness of Christian tradition" (Unitatis Redintegrato, 15).
To locate an Eastern Catholic Church in your community, follow the following link:
Eastern Catholic Churches in the U.S.
A Roman rite Catholic may attend any Eastern Catholic Liturgy and fulfill his of her obligations at any Eastern Catholic Parish. A Roman rite Catholic may join any Eastern Catholic Parish and receive any sacrament from an Eastern Catholic priest, since all belong to the Catholic Church as a whole. I am a Roman Catholic practicing my faith at a Maronite Catholic Church. Like the Chaleans, the Maronites retain Aramaic for the Consecration. It is as close as one comes to being at the Last Supper.
Please freepmail me if you would like more information on the Eastern Catholic Churches.
Catholic Ping - Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
FYI ping
No muslim nation is going to guarantee the rights of Christians or Jews.
Any attempt to build a church in a muslim nation would be met with mass murder.
Here, however, in the politically correct (which means p-ssing off the voters) the nation is operated for the sole benefit of the radical minorities.
Yes, it is. You have no idea how much the Iraqis love their Christian neighbors. You would have seen that immediately if you read the Iraqi blogs. There was more upset and anger at the bombing of the Christian churches in the Iraqi papers and the Iraqi blogs than there was in the western media.
Well, today is the Feast of Saint Gregory the Great. See what happens...
btt
Then why was I unmolested while attending Mass in Morocco?
The Churches in Iraq, predate the Muslim religion. These are Catholic Churches that go back hundreds of years.
Church of St. Simon Peter
The oldest Chaldean church in Mosul believed to have been built in the 13th century.
Thanks for providing that picture.
I don't know. Perhaps you were wearing your bhurka.
No I was wearing my God Bless America tee shirt.
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