[chifreemrkt]

But there is a serious flaw with this line of thinking from our Orthodox brothers.
First I agree that through much of our history in "union with Rome" the Eastern Catholic church has treated as second class citizens including the lengthy periods of latinization in the first half of the last century. Fortunately the late Pontiff has spent a great deal of time and effort encouraging us to return to our traditions, although he stopped short in such areas as re-permitting our clergy to marry.
At the same time my Orthodox brother fails to mention the persecution that is encouraged and even sponsored by our Orthodox Brothers in Eastern Europe. These include recent events in areas such as Belarus as the Orthodox church uses their association with "the last dictator of Europe" to squash the free expression of religion and forcibly prevent our Eastern brothers from reestablishing their church.
It saddens me that there exists such a degree of distaste for the Eastern Catholic Church. Instead of seeing the church as a stepping stone to a unification of our church, we are seen as the enemy. It is this line of thinking that leads to such atrocities as the crusades and the holocaust.

Christ is Risen--- Christos Voskrese

[Agrarian]

"Member since April 10, 2005"

Welcome to FR! You sure pick an interesting topic, jumping into a thread like this with your first and only post on the forum...

[NYer]

It saddens me that there exists such a degree of distaste for the Eastern Catholic Church. Instead of seeing the church as a stepping stone to a unification of our church, we are seen as the enemy. It is this line of thinking that leads to such atrocities as the crusades and the holocaust.

Welcome to Free Republic!

And thank you for showing up on this thread. Of which Eastern Catholic Church are you a member?

[Cronos]

Nice to have you on board. It's good to have someone who's actually living in the churchs to give us their perspective.