This is a truly ignorant comment. The Greek Rite was neutral enough to be adopted by the entire east Meditteranean Littoral from Jerusalem to Albania, the Slavs, and the Romanians.
The Syrian Rite was versatile enough to be adopted in the whole of Asia from Antioch to Japan and Indonesia. Even after the destruction of Genghis Khan, it clung to life in the non-Syrian cultures of Persia and India.
Similarly, the Coptic Rite was neutral enough to be adopted by as radically different of countries as Egypt and Ethiopia.
It was by adopting the rites and traditions of the Roman Missal, Ritual, Calendar and theology that one could adopt a new culture not of Europeans, but a culture into which Catholic Europeans had also been absorbed in order to embrace a truly universal Christian identity, even in regards to the externals of worship.
This is the same backwards mentality that saw the Pian Liturgical books tossed in the trash and replaced with the Pauline version. It is also the mentality that keeps the Greeks and Russians seperated.
It is the mentality that you are not a Catholic unless you do everything that the Romans do; therefore, to be a Catholic you must do everything the Romans do.
Its difficult to see this proclimation as anything but a reading out of the Church and Christendom of anyone not in the Roman Rite. One might call it the typically ignorant Frankish mentality, except that it was present even in the more universal Imperial Roman mentality.
Perhaps this is best seen looking at the "Ecumenical" Councils. Purporting to represent the whole Church, the early Eucmenical Councils really did nothing of the sort because they were always limited to the confines of the Roman Empire. One could only define the Church as being whole in this limited manner if one ignored the Catholic Christians living outside the Empire circa AD 300-500 in Persia, Edessa, Armenia, Georgia, Ethiopia, India, Arabia, Germany, and Baktria.
Christ was not born and crucified to bring us Christian culture. The Pian Missal and Motzart Masses are not an end but a means.
Yes indeed, someone's comments were ignorant.
The Greek Rite was neutral enough to be adopted by the entire east Meditteranean Littoral ... The Syrian Rite was versatile enough to be adopted in the whole of Asia ...
This in no way contradicts the article's statement that "Greek or Syrian liturgies are very much reflective of local national customs and language." You insult the author without disproving his point.
Its difficult to see this proclimation as anything but a reading out of the Church and Christendom of anyone not in the Roman Rite.
What is difficult to see is how you could so blindly misread the article which never says or even implies what you falsely attribute to it.
Christ was not born and crucified to bring us Christian culture.
Wrong. Christ must reign as king not only over individual hearts but over nations as well. How will souls come to know and love Christ as they ought if they live in an anti-Christian culture? Christian culture is the necessary first stage of bringing souls to salvation. When entire countries are not Christian, then you need Christian culture in individual homes. When even homes are not Christian, then you need Christian culture in individual hearts. But Christian culture must exist for souls to come to Christ.