Posted on 03/03/2016 9:46:21 AM PST by marshmallow
The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has renewed his criticism of portions of the recent joint statement of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.
Referring to the Eastern Catholic churches-of which the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is the largest-the document stated that "it is today clear that the past method of 'uniatism,' understood as the union of one community to the other, separating it from its Church, is not the way to re-establish unity. The ecclesial communities which emerged in these historical circumstances have the right to exist and to undertake all that is necessary to meet the spiritual needs of their faithful, while seeking to live in peace with their neighbors."
Commenting on this portion of the declaration, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk told the Catholic News Agency that "the ecumenical vocabulary of the Catholic Church uses the phrase 'ecclesial communities' to refer to Protestant churches, that is to label those communities which do not bear all the richness of the apostolic tradition."
"Professors of ecclesiology, but also common people, raised concerns and doubts about the use of this expression referred to the Greek Catholic community", he continued.
While welcoming the Moscow patriarchate's acknowledgement of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church's right to exist, he said that "in the end, we are not called to ask anyone permission for our right to exist."
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicculture.org ...
Went to the article and did a search for the name “Jesus”, 0 results.
The same may be said of the U.S. Constitution and of your home page. Your point?
“Went to the article and did a search for the name “Jesus”, 0 results.”
Just like the books of Genesis, all the books of the Major Prophets, all the Wisdom books, etc.
Whole swathes of the Bible never mention Jesus by name so why would you be surprised that a short article about a document about the formal relationship between two Churches wouldn’t either?
maybe you should have read the statement itself for it starts off with:
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the holy Spirit be with all of you” (2 Cor 13:13).
1. By God the Father’s will, from which all gifts come, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the help of the Holy Spirit Consolator, we, Pope Francis and Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, have met today in Havana. We give thanks to God, glorified in the Trinity, for this meeting, the first in history.
Once again, Francis has done a 180 turn from Pope Benedict. It was Pope Benedict who referred to the various Protestant sects as mere “ecclesial communities” that could not be considered “churches”.
But now the ecumaniac, Jorge, is lumping the Ukranian Catholics, who are in full communion with Rome, have valid sacraments and priests, in with the Protestants.
Plenty of non-catholic churches bear all the richness of the apostolic tradition. They can be found in the sacred Scriptures as taught by the Apostles. The word "ekklesia" is a Greek word that means a "called out assembly":
Most English translations of the New Testament generally use the word "church" as a translation of the Ancient Greek term "ἐκκλησία" (transliterated as "ecclesia") found in the original Greek texts, which generally meant an "assembly".[1] This term appears in two verses of the Gospel of Matthew, twenty-four verses of the Acts of the Apostles, fifty-eight verses of the Pauline Epistles (including the earliest instances of its use in relation to a Christian body), two verses of the Letter to the Hebrews, one verse of the Epistle of James, three verses of the Third Epistle of John, and nineteen verses of the Book of Revelation. In total, ἐκκλησία appears in the New Testament text 114 times, although not every instance is a technical reference to the church.[2]
In the New Testament, the term ἐκκλησία is used for local communities as well as in a universal sense to mean all believers.[3] Traditionally, only orthodox and catholic believers are considered to be part of the true church, but convictions of what is orthodox or catholic have long varied, as many churches (not only the ones officially using the term "Orthodox" in their names) consider themselves to be orthodox, and many (for example, Eastern Orthodox Church and Anglicans) consider themselves to be catholic. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Church
The New Testament never referred to multiple, distinct churches. It spoke of one Church, Christ’s Church.
As far as Wikipedia as your source: I recommend you move it up a notch in your research.
1 Thessalonians 2:14 For you, brothers and sisters, became ... For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God's churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own people the same things those ... //biblehub.com/1_thessalonians/2-14.htm - 20k
2 Thessalonians 1:4 Therefore, among God's churches we boast about ... Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. ... //biblehub.com/2_thessalonians/1-4.htm - 19k
Galatians 1:22 I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea ... I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. ... And still the Christians in the churches in Judea didn't know me personally. ... //biblehub.com/galatians/1-22.htm - 17k
Revelation 1:4 John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia ... John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before ... //biblehub.com/revelation/1-4.htm - 19k
Galatians 1:2 and all the brothers and sisters with me, To the ... and all the brothers and sisters with me, To the churches in Galatia: .... ... //biblehub.com/galatians/1-2.htm - 17k
2 Corinthians 11:8 I robbed other churches by receiving support ... I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. ... I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. ... //biblehub.com/2_corinthians/11-8.htm - 18k
2 Corinthians 8:19 What is more, he was chosen by the churches to ... What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our ... //biblehub.com/2_corinthians/8-19.htm - 20k
2 Corinthians 11:28 Besides everything else, I face daily the ... Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. ... //biblehub.com/2_corinthians/11-28.htm - 18k
2 Corinthians 8:18 And we are sending along with him the brother ... And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel. ... //biblehub.com/2_corinthians/8-18.htm - 18k
2 Corinthians 8:1 And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to ... And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. ... //biblehub.com/2_corinthians/8-1.htm - 18k
2 Corinthians 12:13 How were you inferior to the other churches ... How were you inferior to the other churches, except that I was never a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong! ... //biblehub.com/2_corinthians/12-13.htm - 19k
Revelation 1:11 which said: "Write on a scroll what you see and ... which said: "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea ... //biblehub.com/revelation/1-11.htm - 19k
Revelation 3:13 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit ... ..... Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ... //biblehub.com/revelation/3-13.htm - 17k
Revelation 3:22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit ... Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches." ... ... //biblehub.com/revelation/3-22.htm - 17k
Revelation 2:7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit ... Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ... He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ... //biblehub.com/revelation/2-7.htm - 19k
I recommend you do a simple word search in the Bible before you criticize someone for their research.
Congratulions! You did a word search for “churches” on one protestant website.
Very lazy, in my opinion.
Yes, “church” can be applied to a local community. Many words have multiple meanings. But our Lord told Peter that he was the rock upon which he would build his Church, singular, not churches. For a local community to be truly a local church it must be part of the universal or Catholic Church. For any local community to put itself in opposition to the universal Church is to be no church at all.
Congratulations, you proved yourself even lazier than me! What Catholic version of the Bible would satisfy you? Douay-Rheims okay?
“For you, brethren, are become followers of the churches of God which are in Judea, in Christ Jesus: for you also have suffered the same things from your own coutrymen, even as they have from the Jews,” (I Thessalonians 2:14)
Want the rest of those passages I cited? Who is being lazy again?
I know you’re just defending what your Catholic teachers have taught you but I have the same right to consider myself and my worship community a church as the Orthodox in this article do.
Peter was/is not the rock Christ’s church would be built upon but Peter’s confession of faith in Jesus who IS the rock of our salvation. I hold to the same faith that the first Christians do and recognize that the TRUE universal church is surely that spiritual house Peter told us about of which every believer is a living stone within this building:
“And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture: “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” (1 Peter 2:4-6)
The article was about Ukrainian Catholics who were offended that their church was described in a document as an "ecclesial community" rather than the correct term -- for a group with valid bishops and valid sacraments -- which is "church".
Call your group anything you like. Don't expect us to endorse your terminology any more than you endorse ours.
Oh, don’t worry. I don’t.
I expect many people will be surprised to see who is in heaven with them and who isn’t. Elitist thinking, presuming “others” are lesser brethren and snobbish exclusivity will cease to exist and what will remain will be shame for such narrow thinking that denies the work of the Holy Spirit and remorse over how many rewards were lost that could have been laid at the feet of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
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