When I was member of Albanian Orthodox Youth in the 1990s, we used to have Bible Study with a very holy monk from Mount Athos, he was called Father Theologos.
The man was truly a walking saint.
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The man was truly a walking saint.
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I remember seeing Fr. Theologos very upset only twice.
1) Old Calendarist orthodox christians. He called them: LUNATICS.
2) The Uniate: He called them Backstabbers.
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1) Old Calendarist orthodox christians. He called them: LUNATICS.
2) The Uniate: He called them Backstabbers.
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When I was in Toronto, during the first year of orthodox masters with the University of Sherbrook, we had 2 Ukrainian Greek Catholics in the group.
We had, 3 professors, Richard Schneider, Fr. Andreas Andreopoulos, Fr. Pavlos Koumarianos.
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We had, 3 professors, Richard Schneider, Fr. Andreas Andreopoulos, Fr. Pavlos Koumarianos.
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The behavior of Richard Schneider was normal, he was a former orthodox jew, turned protestant, turned catholic, turned orthodox, historian, teach church history.
But, the behavior of Fr. Andreas and Fr. Pavlos was different (Fr. Andreas was not a priest at the time though).
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But, the behavior of Fr. Andreas and Fr. Pavlos was different (Fr. Andreas was not a priest at the time though).
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They both kept somehow a very cordial distance with the ukrainian greek catholics, but in private was different.
Whereas Fr. Andreas knew the situation but didn't care much, Fr. Pavlos expressed the feelings without reservation in private.
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Whereas Fr. Andreas knew the situation but didn't care much, Fr. Pavlos expressed the feelings without reservation in private.
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They told me that this topic is never discussed publicly, never. It's kind of a knife stuck in the back which was never removed, same as what Fr. Theologos had told us years prior.
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Fast forward..................now.
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Few days ago I met my deep sources inside the orthodox world.
They told me that one of the reason that Patriarch Bartholomew rushed giving the Ukrainian Church its autocephaly, was because Pope Francis had restarted the attempts to Uniatize the orthodox in Ukraine.
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They told me that one of the reason that Patriarch Bartholomew rushed giving the Ukrainian Church its autocephaly, was because Pope Francis had restarted the attempts to Uniatize the orthodox in Ukraine.
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Constantinople was extremely upset, as Benedict 16 would never do that.
The hope was the Pope Francis would continue the work that Pope Benedict 16 and Patriarch Bartholomew had done to unite, but Pope Francis didn't care.
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The hope was the Pope Francis would continue the work that Pope Benedict 16 and Patriarch Bartholomew had done to unite, but Pope Francis didn't care.
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And then, a light was lit in my brain. I went back to rereading this.
publicorthodoxy.org/2022/01/21/chu…
Greek Catholics of Ukraine are now complaining that the new Autocephalous Orthodox Church is quietly asserting that only that Church represents the true Ukrainian nation.
hmmmm
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publicorthodoxy.org/2022/01/21/chu…
Greek Catholics of Ukraine are now complaining that the new Autocephalous Orthodox Church is quietly asserting that only that Church represents the true Ukrainian nation.
hmmmm
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So, I went back to doing some quick research during these days about the point of Greek Catholics, what was the beef about. I had never bothered about it in the past, until recently, during last 10 days.
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What I discovered is what I expected, the same Papal Primacy issue which has caused big divisions between Rome and Constantinople to the point of literally CREATING NEW NATIONS as a consequence, since the Council of Trent which was held between 1545 and 1563, 16th century.
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In effect the Council of Trent, reacting against Protestant Reformation which was a result of a 200 year long conflict between Italian and German Elites, de facto between German and Italian Elitarian Nationalism.
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The Council of Trent decided that the Roman Rite would have to be imposed on all territories of the Catholic Church, de facto asserting that any Rites outside it are schismatic. That made de facto the Constantinople Rite as schismatic.
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That implied that all Christians under the Pope would have to be gradually changing their Rite from whatever Rite they were using for centuries to the Roman Rite imposed by Council of Trent.
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That led to immense pushback through the centuries, hence the switch to Roman rite sometimes succeeded 100% (as in Mirdita in Albania), to partial change in Maronite country in Lebanon or in Ukraine, or no change at all as with the Albanian Italian Byzantine Church.
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In 1894, the Vatican gave up trying to change the Rites to fully Latin Rite, with an order from the Pope to recognize Greek Catholics as they are.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_C…
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_C…
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The year 1894 de facto begins the true split between Rome and Constantinople with Catholic and Orthodox as separate identities, which did not exist prior, which was conceived in 1870 Vatican I council, when Rome appropriated the term CATHOLIC as official name.
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In 1849 the French managed to snatch from the Sultan the recognition of the Catholic Millet, trying to control Levantine Christians which were in union with the Pope.
Here begins the CONCEPT of Catholic Nations.
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Here begins the CONCEPT of Catholic Nations.
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During the decades after that, the Maronites start Lebanon as a Catholic Nation at first, then Croats get created as a Catholic Nation.
There was another attempt made in Albania with Republic of Mirdita as Catholic Nation, but King Zog massacred it.
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There was another attempt made in Albania with Republic of Mirdita as Catholic Nation, but King Zog massacred it.
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For the Vatican Uniatism became almost an official policy to make all Orthodox just accept the Pope as their Leader, without changing anything at all.
That de facto created the true schism on the ground, as the Ecumenical Patriarchate felt backstabbed in the early 1900s.
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That de facto created the true schism on the ground, as the Ecumenical Patriarchate felt backstabbed in the early 1900s.
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The Ecumenical Patriarch gave the autocephaly to the Church of Albania only after Archbishop Kristofor Kisi threatened the Patriarch that he will join the Pope.
On the ground, the TRUE SCHISM had happened, different from just Rome vs Constantinople disagreement.
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On the ground, the TRUE SCHISM had happened, different from just Rome vs Constantinople disagreement.
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From 1894 onwards the Uniate has been THE PROBLEM that nobody ever talks about publicly but always brought up privately as extremely problematic by the Orthodox Churches.
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But, now it is reappearing again in Ukraine.
From 1849, Vatican created catholic millets (nations) and then from 1894 tried to make the orthodox just accept the Pope as leader with 0 other change.
We see these events now having effects in Lebanon, old wounds reappearing.
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From 1849, Vatican created catholic millets (nations) and then from 1894 tried to make the orthodox just accept the Pope as leader with 0 other change.
We see these events now having effects in Lebanon, old wounds reappearing.
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And it seems that Pope Francis, unlike his predecessors, has allowed this practice to restart, thus SILENTLY enraging the orthodox.
Hence, to my observation, we see silent problems in Ukraine and in Lebanon, which could explode sooner or later.
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Hence, to my observation, we see silent problems in Ukraine and in Lebanon, which could explode sooner or later.
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27/ end of thread
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