Blessed be the name of Jesus
Christ. Blessed be Christ forever!
The Roman Catholic Church is a confusing
subject in that the term “Roman Catholic” is an
umbrella that over-arches many different Rites, the
largest of which is the Latin Rite. When you think of the
stereotypical “Roman Catholic”, it is the Latin Rite that
you are thinking of. All of the Popes (as far as I
know) have been from the Latin Rite. All of the
Cardinals as well are of Latin Rite.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church
The Latin Rite is what people generally
think of when they hear the term “Roman Catholic”.
Within the Rites, they breakdown in to the
Western Rites (of which the Latin Rite is a part)
and the Eastern Rites that generally are more like the
Orthodox Church. Of the Eastern Rites, the largest is
the Byzantine Rite. The oldest are the Coptic (Egyptian)
Rites. The Eastern Rites are traditional Orthodox
churches that chose to remain under the Umbrella of Rome
after the Great Schism of 1054 AD.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East%E2%80%93West_Schism
Of the Rites – both Catholic and
Orthodox, the one that is most often on my mind are the
Coptic Rites. The Coptic Rites are dying because they are
largely in the middle-east and are being squeezed out by the
chaos around them, and second, the Coptic language is being
forgotten, and the faithful are growing old, passing away,
and the youth are going elsewhere, or simply living secular
lives. Throughout the world, belief in self is replacing
belief in Christ.
It would be very easy for me to turn this
in to a small novel, as I often get carried away when I
write, but I will try to keep this as short as
possible. I simply want to explain what Roman Catholic
means, and look at some of the history and possible future
of the churches.
First, I need to define Orthodox and
Catholic. When spelled without capitalization,
orthodox and catholic simply mean “universal”.
When capitalized, they refer to the larger organizations of
“The Catholic Church” and the “Orthodox Church”.
For the most part, the theology of the
Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church are very similar as
they both trace back to before the counsel of Nicaea in 325
AD. Both follow the Nicene Creed, but there are subtle
differences.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicene_Creed
Attempts to reconcile East and West have
generally stumbled on a couple things. First of
course is the Papacy. The Orthodox Church recognizes
the Pope as the Bishop of Rome, and they acknowledge the
origins of the historical seat of St. Peter (the first
Bishop of Rome), by labeling the Pope as “First
Among Equals”. For the Vatican, “First
among equals” has been rejected, and the only
acceptable answer is being under the authority of Rome and
recognizing the Pope, as the head of the Church. The second
disagreement is a theological concept that I don’t
understand termed “The Filioque”. This is beyond my
understanding, as I see it as splitting hairs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filioque
There is also a difference in the
importance of the creed. This is of great importance
to me, as the New Roman Missal brought forth (in the
English version of the Latin Rite) in 2011. The
revised creed, in my opinion, has been watered down, and
down plays the Holy Trinity. I find it very odd that the
changes were only made to the English version (as far as I
know), but remain the same in Latin Rite churches, that use
languages other than English. I don’t understand why only
the English version was revised?? The example here
that I can speak to, is that going to a Latin Rite service
in French, the creed hasn’t changed.
http://apostolictradition.org/index.php?topic=139.0
I grew up going to the English Latin Rite
Church. However once I became an adult, I went through
various phases of attending, not attending, and exploring
other faiths. Quite simply when I go to an English
Latin Rite service, I find the church noisy, a lot of people
visiting, and something lacking in reverence and
worship. There were many times I would go to the
church when it was empty, as that was the only time I could
find a connection between myself and The Divine. I believe
that G-d is in the silence.
In 2011, I started going back to the
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. My baba used to take me and
my sister there when we were kids, but everything was in
Ukrainian, and I was just too young to understand.
While this is a “Roman Catholic Church”, the
service is very different. It is focused on worship,
and everything is done with great solemnity. In the Latin
Rite the service is called “the Sacrifice of the Mass”:
in the Ukrainian church, the service is called “the
Divine Liturgy”. I am Ukrainian, but I don’t
speak the language. That isn’t a huge issue as they
have an English service for those of us who can’t speak
Ukrainian.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_Greek_Catholic_Church
What is important and timely is that a
number of Ukrainian Catholics have broken away from the
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, because they have come to
the conclusion that the Latin Rite has slowly been eroding
away everything that is Orthodox, and trying eliminate the
other Rites. To be blunt, it seems as if the Latin
Rite is seeking both power and primacy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_Orthodox_Greek_Catholic_Church
Conspiracy Theories
There certainly are some unusual things
happening in the Latin Rite, that are worth thinking
about. First is the reality that the Latin Rite is
trying to grow to the point where the other Rites are simply
overwhelmed. The Latin Rite is growing in Mexico, South
America, and the Philippines. Where the “Catholic”
church is growing, more correctly “The Latin Rite” is
growing. I do think that there is cause for concern.
In 1972 Pope Paul VI said “the smoke of
Satan” has entered the Vatican. I cannot find the
source, but I am pretty sure that I remember (before I
was born) hearing that Pope Pius XII said something
very similar.
Before I go further, I want to say
up-front that I am not judging anyone here. The
scripture “1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2For
with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with
what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”
Sticks in my conscience. These however are my
observations.
First on my mind is that of those that
teach in error.
Shortly after I was married (in a
Latin Rite church), I was at my new in-laws when at 9
PM they did their regular nightly thing of “Saying the
Rosary”. Recitation of the Rosary is supposed to be a
meditation of the “Mysteries of Christ”, but that
isn’t always the case. My in-laws “Prayed the
Rosary”. They had a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary
and St. Joseph in their living room, and everyone kneeled
down in front of the statue. This I would not
do. When I was offered a Rosary, again I said “No
Thank You, G-d gave me 10 fingers”.
I kneeled down in a back corner, away
from the statue, and listened as they very quickly recited
one of the Mysteries (http://www.catholic.org/prayers/mystery.php)
and then proceeded to recite the Our Father and the 10 “Hail
Mary’s” at a frenzied pace. Perhaps that is too harsh,
but it was certainly faster than I could contemplate a
Divine Mystery. I confess I did say 10 of the 53 “Hail
Mary’s”, but for the remainder, I simply recited The
Jesus Prayer – “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of G-d, have
mercy on me a sinner”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Prayer
When we were done, we sat around the
kitchen table, and the discussion got lively. I
explained why I would not kneel in front of a statue, they
explained that they were paying with Mary, not “to Mary”,
and I just listened. The entertainment came when I stated
that Jesus Christ was a Jew. That was the straw that broke
the camel’s back. My father in-law marched out in
anger saying that I didn’t know what I was talking about,
that Jesus was a Roman Catholic, and that is what he was
taught. My mother in-law tried to explain how powerful
the Rosary is, and how she (the Blessed Mother)
intercedes for us. I tried to explain The Jesus
Prayer, and that when the Rosary makes up 98% of your prayer
time, something is out of balance.
Here is the question “who is in
greater error”? This is what they were
taught. This was all that they understood. Their
prayers where well intentioned, but wrongly focused.
They did accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. They
just happened to be stuck in Rosary mode. I believe
that G-d’s love is unconditional. There is nothing one
can do that will cause G-d to love you any more: there is
also nothing you can do to make G-d love you any less. They
sincerely loved G-d, they had their faith in Jesus and
understood that Jesus is G-d, but their prayers were not
aligned, and were certainly out of balance. If G-d is
unconditional love, their errors and sins, nor their
unbalanced prayers are not enough for damnation. Those
that taught them, were guilty of a far greater sin.
The theology behind the Communion of the
Saints is to ask for the saint, or Mary to pray FOR
you. This is no different than one person asking
another for prayers. I have no problem with that, but
it is on the thin edge of superstition. I realize that
there are arguments here from all sides, but I do not want
to debate. I simply want to explain what I know, as
best I know it. I’m a sinner, and most probably wrong about
a great many things. I place my trust in Jesus Christ,
ask for forgiveness, and move forward. I see faith and
salvation as a daily decision. For me, I acknowledge
my faith each morning. Being a sinner, I can try not
to sin, but I don’t think that is possible. If it were
possible to live a sinless life, what need would there be
for the Blood of Christ, and the gift of salvation?
The reality however is that most
Catholics (and some Orthodox) pray to the
saints. The theology of both the Orthodox and Catholic
Churches are clear that there is one mediator between G-d
and man, and that is Jesus Christ. In practice however
it is a very thing line.
I have to add this however to be
fair. While I have never been overly inspired by The
Rosary, some great men have found miraculous strength in the
Rosary. The example here is Father Max Kolbe. His
story, and the details of his death in Auschwitz can be read
here - http://auschwitz.dk/Kolbe.htm
. Maybe I am wrong about Marion Theology and the
Rosary? If I am, I ask G-d’s forgiveness. Father
Kolbe’s story is heart breaking and filled with
sorrow. His strength and faith however is beyond
question.
Getting back to “The smoke of Satan”,
and the Vatican, there have been many questionable things
since the late 1950’s and 1960’s. There were rumours
regarding Pope Paul. I won’t say more than that. If
you want to find out more, you will have to search with
Google. I can’t state gossip and rumour in good faith.
Pope John Paul I was almost
certainly murdered. I have no proof, but that is what it
seemed like to me. The timing was just too weird.
After Pope John Paul II was shot, and
after his battle with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease,
he seemed like a frail, broken old man. I do believe
that he was a mere puppet for other sinister powers from
within. I have no proof, but that is what it seemed
like to me.
After Pope John Paul’s death, Pope
Benedict was a surprise for me. Somehow he just didn’t feel
or look right. With his resignation, again, something
just doesn’t add up with the official story. Again, as
with everything, I could be wrong.
I know nothing about the new Pope
Francis. I can’t see where “Peter the Roman” fits in,
and I see nothing in Saint Malachy’s prophesies that
directly say he will be the False Prophet or the
Antichrist. It does say he will lead the church
through great tribulations.
Again just unsubstantiated rumour,
but supposedly those highest in the Vatican know and
agree that the False prophet will arise from within the
church. There may yet be some hidden secret, or
scandal that will destroy the Vatican. Perhaps Pope
Francis is the last Pope, and a false Prophet will
rise from the ashes of a church in ruins?
May G-d forgive me if I have judged
anyone within what I have written.
YBIC
Robert
http://apostolictradition.org/