Posted on 06/30/2003 2:53:51 PM PDT by NYer
VATICAN CITY Pope John Paul II again reached out to the Orthodox Church on Sunday, saying his efforts at reconciliation weren't just "ecclesiastic courtesy" but a sign of his profound desire to unite the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches.
John Paul made the comments during his regular appearance to pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter's Square. Later Sunday, he welcomed a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople at a traditional Mass marking the feast day of St. Peter and St. Paul.
"The exchange of delegations between Rome and Constantinople, for the respective patron feasts, goes beyond just an act of ecclesiastic courtesy," the pontiff said. "It reflects the profound and rooted intention to re-establish the full communion between East and West."
John Paul has made improving relations with the Orthodox Church a hallmark of his nearly 25-year papacy, visiting several mostly Orthodox countries and expressing regret for the wrongs committed by the Catholic Church against Orthodox Christians.
Despite his efforts at healing the 1,000-year-old schism, he hasn't yet visited Russia because of objections from the Russian Orthodox Church.
During the Mass on Sunday, 42 new archbishops received the pallium, a band of white wool decorated with black crosses that symbolizes their bond with the Vatican. Two of the archbishops received the pallium in their home parishes; the rest took part in the Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.
Dang, what is it with these people. It's like Russia is some object on a shelf and they want to buy it.(from Aliska's story link above which I am midway through reading.)
Aliska I have been to the Kronzer Foundation site but am finding this earlier history fascinating to read. Thanks.
1566 - Pope Pius V expels Jews from Papal States.
1826 - Pope Leo XII decrees that Jews are to be confined to ghettos and their property is to be confiscated
Just a few short examples that could be greatly multiplied.
Considering that Russia is Christian, one must wonder what they want them to convert to?
Powermongerers. Control, convert, or kill is the vatican motto. They have long ago lost the real ethos of Christianity and may God help their souls.
"The Portugal News also reported that Christine's investigation led her to discover an "increasing number of children who are allegedly being sexually abused by so-called Catholic clerics within the confines of religious shrines, while managing to deceive their superiors. She recently exposed a group of pedophile priests at the Marian shrine of Medjugorje, Yugoslavia, who had sexually abused hundreds of children and also made them available to sex tourists.
But when she confronted Fr. Svetozar Kraljevic, OFM, the priest who has had the longest association with the Shrine at Medjugorje and is their English-speaking representative, with her proof of what she had discovered, he referred to "kids being drugged, raped and sodomized in a visionary's house as akin to 'a car accident' ". At that point, Christine leaned forward and described in graphic detail what had happened to the children at Medjugorje. But it seemed to have no visible effect on Fr. Svet, because as Christine explains, "he simply shrugged and turned away".
The same news article in the Portugal News reported that Christine had also learned that, "Boniface do Rosário, a 64-year old Malaysian with previous convictions for child sexual abuse in England and Germany, became a prominent figure within the Fatima community and concelebrated Mass on a regular basis at the shrine. He posed as a bishop of the African Comboni missionary order and solicited funds from unsuspecting pilgrims for an imaginary seminary he said he was building on the outskirts of Fatima. He was finally unmasked in 1990, but before serving any of his prison sentences, he was released under an amnesty granted by President Mario Soares to mark the visit to Portugal of Pope John Paul II in 1991. His present whereabouts are unknown.
Christine feels these kinds of hoaxes continue to happen because, in general, the church doesn't want to deal with the problem of exploited children and are uncomfortable discussing it especially when sacred shines like Fatima and Medjugorje are the backdrop for such blatant frauds."
Which I think brings a much larger issue to the whole fraud and Croatian thing, that of not only pedophilia, but worldwide cooperation in a child sex ring, as part of the church in former Yugoslavia.
It just continues to get more ugly with Medjugorje, perhaps Fatima as well.
In an historic ruling, a Russian court confirmed that the "Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" was a forgery and that its publication by the ultra-nationalist Pamyat organization constituted an antisemitic act. The Center provided financial and other technical assistance in the legal battle. Center officials also met with Russian Orthodox Father Gleb Yakunin (pictured second from left) in Moscow to discuss the case."
I found more, both encouraging and some not so encouraging (from only 4 years ago), but I am too tired to post and I trust you will believe me.
Glad I could be of service.
The Taiga book is waiting for me at my local library, so I will be able to pick it up tomorrow.
Regarding "Ghosts", I don't know if I entirely agree with the thesis or not, but it did make for fascinating reading, and I appreciated Jones' honesty for facing the truth squarely and, as a devout catholic, not sweeping it under some fancy wall-to-wall carpeting. He concedes a terrible wrong has been committed and that it has not been put to rights. Whether he would consider the pope's apology setting things right is an unknown.
The allusion to the conversion of Russia, of course, comes from the Fatima apparitions. Early on in my catholic journey I prayed arduously for either the conversion or the reunification of the orthodox to Rome. That was before I started gaining an understanding just how complex the situation was and will remain, perhaps until the end of time. I can see how the Fatima message would be interpreted as insulting by the orthodox.
Again, there are people who so desire to have Fatima be true on all points, that they are devoting their very lives to achieve that end. I am not one of them simply because I do not know with reasonable certainty who is right and who is wrong doctrinally at this point in time.
I think it is safe to say that there is little danger I may become an "Old Believer". I'd settle for a "New Believer" :-).
One thing that happened to me after many trips to Russia in the mid-90's is that I learned you could watch TV or listen to the radio and not have to be constantly bombarded by advertisements, which usually treat us as if we are all brain-dead, you know. We need them to tell us which toothpaste to use and why.
In Russia they call us a merchant culture and after spending time there away from it, I became able to see what they meant. Even now I have to turn off things - and we rarely if ever use the TV - because I feel like the ads just invade my space.
I guess these seem like the same issues to me. In Russia they do have TV commercials but instead of being so aggressive and overbearing, they will be, for instance, gently entertaining. Or cute. And they lack all the "BUY THIS NOW!" stuff you get here in America. One that I really liked while there was of a small boy sleeping in a bed and his cars drive around on the rug and do cute things. And that's it. No exhortations to buy this toy, no person with a banner about prices.
So my point is that all this stuff is what I lump together under westernism - an overdoing of it specifically aimed at another person with an intention to WIN.
This is, I believe, how many of us perceive the pope as coming at us. Just like what the radio sounds like to me at times. Having experienced the alternative, and we do at church every Sunday, I think we get out of the habit of tolerating it well.
Anyway I just wanted to share that with you.
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