“our rocor priest mentioned in a sermon that we should not be confused by protestants claiming to worship the same God. they don’t.”
After some years here on FR, I have often at least wondered if what your priest says isn’t true. I have concluded that in many cases, though by no means all, he may well be correct.
I hestitate to comment on this article since it is clearly designed to be inflamatory and anti-Latin Church, but.... I suspect that many of our Latin brethren have noticed that Orthodoxy was no really much enamoured of +JPII. Clearly the Latins were, but I think its just as clear that we weren’t. Speaking personally, I found his theology fuzzy at best, essentially modernist and at worst, syncretist. Perhaps I shouldn’t say his theology was syncretist so much as that his actions were syncretist. Those actions, and comments like the ones attributed to him in this article, caused great concern among the Orthodox of all parts of The Church. It is no mere coincidence, or a result of fatigue on the Orthodox part, that relations between all the Orthodox Churches and the Vatican have improved so dramatically since the election of +BXVI. +JPII was, in my eyes, very much a man of the 20th century, given to grand gestures and a whole lot of “kumbaya”. +BXVI is unlike any pope for something more than 1000 years. His theology is thoroughly patristic. He is not so much a man of the 20-21st centuries as he is a true Father of the Church whose words, whether we agree with them or not, are “timeless”. Orthodoxy has been blessed over the past 1000+ years with men who likely will one day be viewed as Fathers. But the overwhelming majority of them are known only to a few Orthodox, even fewer Western Christians. +BXVI, however, is the Pope of Rome. Everyone knows about him. If God gives him the years, he will transform the Christian world. That’s something +JPII never even came close to accomplishing.
I think JP2 was a little overly interfaith-oriented at times. But those same flaws sprang from a personality which also gave him certain gifts which rescued Catholicism from heading over a cliff. He is the soft left jab that has set up the right punch that is Pope Benedict.
The West talks about God a lot differently than the East. As a Lutheran, while we think of some things more like the East, most of our theology follows more the West (which makes sense). I had never really thought of it till reading Pelakin’s books.
Excellent post. I feel the same way. I think JPII was a good man but not a great Pope. BXVI could do great things if God blesses us with time for his Papacy.