Papal decrees have been insufficient to stifle Latinization…

Having commented previously on the foresight of Benedict XIV, the reader will be amazed when acknowledging that the then Pontiff wrote the following statement nearly 200 hundred years before the persecution of the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches in Poland: "They think they act rightly in their eager attempts to bring Oriental converts to abandon, without Our prior consent, the rite they used to observe, even though this has been firmly maintained from ancient times by all other Orientals and Greeks". (Benedict XIV, 1755, , §27)

	Pope John Paul II

Sadly for so many members of the Eastern Catholic Churches, the decision by Vatican II regarding the Eastern Catholic Churches that: "Provision must be made therefore everywhere in the world to protect and advance all these individual churches", was made post hoc. (Flannery, 1964, §4) That Karol Wojtyla, when he became John Paul II, understood the plight of the Eastern Catholic Churches, and did so much to resurrect their existence, was quite obviously, as a direct result of having understood what had occurred in his homeland.

What must be stressed is that a plethora of Papal Encyclicals, Letters, Decrees and Conciliar Documents have all been insufficient in stifling the process of latinization. Enormous praise must be given to the courageous and intuitive thought of so many Popes, who have attempted to traverse the seeming ravine between East and West, as well as to great ecumenical writers of the West such as Yves Congar; yet the work of individuals however Spirit-filled must be supported by the Church Universal, especially by way of her educational institutions — and the activities taking place within parishes. The Pope for one, would appear to be a much venerated but misunderstood man, the echo of his voice repeating throughout the centuries: "the orientals need have no fear at all of being compelled to abandon their lawful rites and customs". (Pius XII, 1945, §2) In the case of the Eastern Catholic Churches — Rome has spoken often — but few have in fact listened.

Liturgical emasculation…

Yet the most serious form of latinization with the ability to destroy the Eastern Catholic Churches has been what can be termed liturgical emasculation or as some Orthodox writers have coined the phrase — hybridism. What is meant here is the taking on by the Eastern Catholic Churches of liturgical or ecclesial forms that are part of the tradition of the West and alien to their own Ritual germination; such as: statues, stations of the cross, First Holy Communion, Confessional booths, musical instruments etc. That this has occurred from good intentions or by a desire to appear more Western in a Westernized society did not prevent John Paul II from imploring a return of these Eastern Catholic Churches to their ancient traditions. In becoming pseudo-Eastern, the Eastern Catholic Churches in the final analysis rob the entire Church of its catholicity. They also set a precedent for the Orthodox Churches to observe, that reunion with Rome is in effect the way to latinization for the entire Catholic Church. As John Paul II noted: "It has been stressed several times that the full union of the Eastern Catholic Churches with the Church of Rome which has already been achieved must not imply a diminished awareness of their own authenticity and originality. Wherever this occurred, the Second Vatican Council has urged them to rediscover their full identity, because they have "the right and duty to govern themselves according to their own special disciplines. For these are guaranteed by ancient tradition, and seem to be better suited to the customs of their faithful and to the good of their souls." (John Paul II, 1995a, §21)

Three issues of prime importance for Byzantine liturgy of the Ukrainian Church…

Andrii Sheptyts'kyi

From the day of his investiture as Metropolitan and Head of the Ukrainian Church, Andrii Sheptyts'kyi sought to confront three issues of primary importance for the preservation of the Byzantine liturgy of the Ukrainian Church. According to Professor Viktor Pospishill, of Manhattan College, New York, these issues were: (i) the need to achieve uniformity of liturgical worship in the Ukrainian Church; (ii) elimination of Latin liturgical influences from the Ukrainian liturgy and (iii) "The need to provide the faithful with forms of worship that would satisfy their spiritual needs in changed social circumstances". (Pospishill, 1989, p. 202)

Sheptyts'kyi's plan was to find great support from Pius XII who wrote a year after the Metropolitan's passing:

"While cursorily and briefly recalling the flourishing state of the Ruthenian Church, we cannot pass over in silence the illustrious metropolitan Andrew Szepticky. For nearly forty-five years he labored with tireless assiduity, making himself most acceptable to his flock on more than one account besides what concerned their spiritual profit. In the course of his episcopate a theological society was founded to encourage the clergy in a deeper and more fruitful study of the sacred science; an ecclesiastical academy was erected in Lvov in which Ruthenian youths of superior intellectual gifts could apply themselves to philosophy, theology and other higher studies in the manner customary in universities; every kind of literary production, books, newspapers and reviews, greatly increased and won a good reputation even among foreign nations." (Pius XII, 1945, §62)

Pospishill has summarized a list of the reforms that Sheptyts'kyi implemented or planned to implement. This list has been drawn from the Pastoral letters of the Metropolitan. Some of the Latin influences he noted were (with Eastern interpretations in brackets):

(i) The iconostasis not present in some Churches;

(ii) musical instruments such as organs used in church services (Eastern Church tradition stresses the use of the human voice to praise God. We are made in his image — as such the most wondrous instrument is the human voice, not a man made instrument);

(iii) statues and Stations of the Cross in the churches (Statues are a Western tradition, the East placing emphasis on the veneration of icons);

(iv) an acolyte ringing bells during the liturgy (There exists in the Byzantine Liturgy no ringing of the bells after the words of Consecration nor after the Sanctus, as in the Latin Church);

(v) priests using vestments from the Latin Church;

(vi) the Filioque inserted into the Creed (The Filioque clause was omitted from the Nicene Creed in the Ukrainian Catholic Church Liturgy at the turn of the 21st century);

(vii) incensations reduced during the Holy Liturgy;

(viii) the introduction of silent masses (There is no distinction in the Eastern Churches between High Masses and Low Masses — each celebration of the Holy Liturgy is considered a High Mass);

(ix) Corpus Christi feasts being celebrated (As with Trinity Sunday, the Eastern Churches recognize each Sunday as being Corpus Christi, these are central tenets of the Divine Liturgy);

(x) Exposition of the Eucharist in a monstrance;

(xi) Holy Communion rail, with communicants kneeling for communion (In the Eastern Churches the posture which shows the greatest respect is to bow or stand. Kneeling is an expression of penance);

(xii) First Holy Communion not provided immediately after Baptism; and Confirmation not provided to the infant (According to Eastern Theology the Divine Mysteries are beyond all humans to understand — do even the Patriarchs fully understand the Sacraments? As such Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist are all Sacraments of Initiation which are given to the infant, the infant being an individual with a soul needing the gifts of the Spirit as much as an adult. Sheptyts'kyi argued a case against the ceremony of First Holy Communion as in the Latin Church, on the basis that one's first reception of Christ in the Eucharist, should not be more or less important than at any other stage in one's life — it is always the same Eucharist, so we should always celebrate the reception with equal joy and solemnity);

(xiii) promotion of a celibate clergy (A solely celibate clergy has never been the norm in the Eastern Churches — both married clergy and celibate clergy minister to the faithful. The Augustinian theology of the West regarding sexuality was never accepted in the East. Cyril of Alexandria and Gregory of Nyssa supporting the ancient tradition of a married priesthood. As of 2007, 95% of all Ukrainian Catholic clergy are married men);

(xiv) use of pews (As an adult and healthy man or woman we should stand aright in the sight of God);

(xv) usage of confessional booths (Why should a person wish to hide that they are a sinner when they come before another man who is equally a sinner, but through whom God's grace, forgiveness is freely given);

(xvi) New church buildings not facing East (Church buildings in the East are built facing the East — for the symbol of the dawn expresses the Resurrection after darkness).

At the time of Sheptyts'kyi's death many of the reforms had been implemented — however to this day areas of latinization still pervade. For future East-West reconciliation to occur, within the Eastern and Western Churches ritual integrity must be preserved, understood and cherished.

Finally numerical superiority does indeed matter when it comes to the visible sign of the Eastern Catholic Churches within the Church Universal. If the Eastern Catholic Churches comprised more than their current 15,000,000 faithful, (for example if the estimated 350,000,000, adherents to Eastern Orthodoxy came back to the See of Rome), the Latin Church would be pressed to give the East far more recognition than is currently the case. The Eastern Catholic Churches are easily ignored as they have little day-to-day impact on the life of the Latin Church. Yet the treatment of the Eastern Catholic Churches is the greatest litmus test, as to whether any Orthodox Church should ever seriously consider a return to the Universal Church.

Conclusion…

	Procrustes' Bed. For further information about Procrustes here's the Wikipedia reference.

In Ancient Greece a tale is told of Procrustes, a man known for his outstanding hospitality. Procrustes was the archetypal host, wining and dining his guest, with his sole request being that his guest sleep in an iron bed when it came to evening's end. If his guest was too short, the guest would be stretched to fit, if too tall, he would be severed. By latinizing the Eastern Catholic Churches, the Latin Church has emulated Procrustes, in seeking to cut or stretch to size. Love does not seek uniformity, but loves the object of their love completely.

The question that remains is that such a process as latinization, whether deliberate or not, indicates a certain type of catholicity far from being catholic. Leo XIII condemned latinization of the Eastern Catholic Churches concluding that: "…there is more importance than can be believed in preserving the Eastern rites. Their antiquity is august, it is what gives nobility to the different rites, it is a brilliant jewel for the whole Church, it confirms the god-given unity of the Catholic Faith." (Leo XIII, 1894, §4) "Nothing else, perhaps, is so breathtakingly effective for illustrating the mark of Catholicity in God's Church than the striking sight of different forms of ceremonies and noble examples of the tongues of the ancient past." (Leo XIII, 1894, §5)

We have seen how Popes over the centuries have sought to rouse the Latin Church from her glazed stare. Perhaps an article such as this has succeeded in stirring the calm pool, so as to divert for a moment the beauty of the Latin Church's reflection. Perhaps also, the writing of other like-minded essays may speed up the day when sisters cease to offer each other the bed of Procrustes to lie on.

ARTICLE NAVIGATION: PART I | PART II | PART III | PART IV | PART V

Bibliography and Further Reading:
Benedict XIV (1755), Allatae sunt. at www.papalencyclicals.net
Chenu, M-D., (1968), Nature, Man, and Society in the Twelfth Century, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Congar, Y. (1959). After nine hundred years: The background of the schism between the eastern and western Churches. New York: Fordham University Press.
Congar, Y. (1962), Priest and Layman, Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd., London, United Kingdom.
Deeter, T. (2003). "A multiplicity of rites", as in The Record, 4/9/03, p. 4., Perth.
Flannery, A. (Ed.), (1964). Orientalium ecclesiarium, in Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents. Newtown, NSW: E.J. Dwyer, Ltd.
Hebblethwaite, P. (1984). John XXIII: Pope of the Council. London: Geoffrey Chapman,
John Chrysostom (1996). The Golden Voice of Protest, edited by Robert Van de Weyer. Evesham, U.K: Arthur James Ltd.
John Paul II (1985). Slavorum apostoli. Homebush, NSW: St. Pauls Publications.
John Paul II (1995a). Orientale lumen. Homebush, NSW: St. Pauls Publications.
John Paul II (1995b). Ut unum sint. Homebush, NSW: St. Pauls Publications.
Kania, A.T. (2003), Breathing deeply, with one lung: The problem of Latin Church dominance within the Catholic Church. in Journal of Religious Education, 51(4), (pp.44-51). ACT, Australian Catholic University.
Korolevsky, C. (1993). Metropolitan Andrew (1865-1944). translated and revised by Serge Keleher. L'viv, Ukraine: Stauropegion.
Leo XIII (1894). Orientalium Dignitas. at www.papalencyclicals.net
Meyendorff, J. (1983). Catholicity and the Church. New York, United States: St. Vladimir's Press.
Montaigne, M. (1952). The Essays. Chicago, United States: Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc.
New Revised Standard Version (1991). The new Oxford annotated Bible with the Apocrypha - An ecumenical study Bible. completely revised and enlarged. New York, United States: Oxford University Press.
Pius XI (1928). Mortalium animos, at www.papalencyclicals.net
Pius XII (1945). Orientales omnes ecclesias. at www.papalencyclicals.net
Pospishill, V.J. (1989). Sheptyts'kyi and liturgical reform in Paul Robert Magosci, (Ed.), Morality and Reality: The life and times of Andrei Sheptyts'kyi, (pp.201-225). Canada: University of Alberta.
Schmemann, A., (1977), The Historical Road of Eastern Orthodoxy, St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, New York.
Torzecki, R. (1989) Sheptyts'kyi and Polish society in Paul Robert Magosci, (Ed.), Morality and Reality: The life and times of Andrei Sheptyts'kyi, (pp.75-98). Canada: University of Alberta.

©2007 Dr Andrew Thomas Kania

[Andrew Kania's Archive]