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Bishop Pataki of Passaic Retires at 80 PASSAIC, New Jersey, DEC. 7, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI appointed Bishop William Skurla of the Byzantine Eparchy of Van Nuys, California, to lead the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic.Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States, announced Thursday that the Pope accepted the resignation of 80-year-old Bishop Andrew Pataki of Passaic for reasons of age.Father Gerald Dino, 67, of the Passaic Eparchy and pastor of St. George Parish, Linden, New Jersey, will succeed Bishop Skurla in Van Nuys.Bishop Skurla, 51, will be installed Jan. 29 at the Cathedral of St. Michael the...

The small group of Eastern-rite Catholics who gather each week in Sacred Heart Parish’s former church building in Wasilla now belong to a bona fide church community of their own. Blessed Theodore Romzha Byzantine Catholic Mission was established Feb. 16 by Byzantine Catholic Bishop Most Reverend William Skurla. The new "mission" — a precursor to a parish — is associated with the only Byzantine Catholic parish in Alaska: St. Nicholas of Myra in Anchorage, founded in 1958.So, what is a Byzantine Catholic?The Catholic Church contains 23 rites, or liturgical expressions. The vast majority of people who call themselves Catholic...

Much of my teenage years were spent in the San Fernando Valley of California, at that time (the mid-70s) a religious and cultural wasteland. Apart from the outlets described in that article, another appeared; I discovered the Eastern Rites of the Church, and the Orthodox Churches. My father, Guy, first stimulated my interest in this area, as in so many others. His tales of valiant Christians maintaining their faith and traditions under Muslim and Communist domination fired the imagination. My freshman year at Daniel Murphy High School (during our last year in Hollywood, before the move north to suburbia)...

Below are the summaries of the interventions: - H.E. JOHANNIS (Zizioulas), Metropolitan of Pergamo; President emeritus of the Academy of Athens (GREECE) It is a great honour for me to be given the opportunity to address this venerable episcopal Synod and bring to it the fraternal greetings and best wishes of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the Church of Constantinople. The invitation to our Church to send a fraternal delegate to this Synod is a gesture of great ecumenical significance. We respond to it with gratitude and love. We Orthodox are deeply gratified by the fact that your Synod, too,...

A Novena of Fasting and Prayers This may be appropriate when keeping a fasting novena before the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, Mother of God Prayer of Consecration In union with all mankind, in communion with the entire Church, and with our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, we address to you O Father, this supplication especially for our country, through the heart and the hands of the Virgin Mary. Father, send your Holy Spirit, so that each one of us might become an instrument of your peace, From hunger and war, deliver us! From nuclear war, from incalculable...

ROME, MAY 3, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University. Q: I would like to know the present teaching of the Church, with documentary evidence, on fixing relics of the saints at the altar of Holy Mass. -- K.S., Nagapattinam, India A: The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, No. 302, contains the following statement: "The practice of placing relics of Saints, even those not Martyrs, under the altar to be dedicated is fittingly retained. Care should be taken, however, to ensure the authenticity of such relics." This statement summarizes the...

"We don't know if that's going to affect (relations) with the Russian Orthodox church. The future will show," Interfax new agency quoted Patriarch Alexy II as saying. Metropolitan Kirill, a senior official in the Russian Orthodox church, attended the meeting with Benedict on Alexy's behalf. Alexy ruled out the possibility of inviting Benedict to Russia in the near future, calling on the new pope to address the proselytizing of Orthodox followers by Catholic missionaries that he alleges went on during John Paul's reign. These accusations led Alexy to block John Paul from visiting Russia in 2004, ending the late pontiff's...

For the past several years I have witnessed an ongoing crisis of identity within the Roman Catholic Church, which is evident even on the campus of Franciscan University. Often reduced to the battle between "Conservatives" versus "Progressives" or "Traditionalists" versus "Charismatics," the issues involved are multifaceted and complex. I have tried to make my own contribution to this debate, with varying degrees of success. Now I'd like to address it from a new perspective, i.e. as a kind of outsider, for that is indeed what I have become. I am an Eastern Christian. While gladly submitting to the authority of...

Ukraine Opposition Leader Calls for Strike 2 minutes ago  Europe - AP By JIM HEINTZ, Associated Press Writer KIEV, Ukraine - Election officials declared Wednesday that the Kremlin-backed prime minister won Ukraine's bitterly disputed presidential runoff balloting, prompting opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko to call for a nationwide strike to protest what his camp contends was brazen vote fraud. AP Photo (AP Video)   Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) said Wednesday the United States does not consider the results of the elections to be legitimate. He challenged leaders of the former Soviet bloc nation "to...

The words "Byzantine" and "Greek" in the past have been used to describe the Eastern Catholic Churches, which consist of seventeen churches with roots in particular countries, all in full communion with the Pope. The largest ones found in America are the Ruthenian (Eastern European), Melkite (many countries of the Middle East), Maronite (Lebannon), Ukrainian (Russia), and Coptic (Egyptian) churches. Eastern rite liturgies are characterized by sung liturgies, elaborate vestments, small congregations, and varied ethnic customs, reflecting the traditions of the different countries of the rite. The Eastern churches draw their membership mainly from their home countries, with a small...