The Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches: Restoration of Full Communion? A Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Exchange of Views

Friday evening, November 5,2010 @ 7:30 PM

Nassau Community College Center for Catholic Studies

Lecture by Msgr. Daniel S. Hamilton, Ph.D.

Responses: Christopher Poulios, Ph.D. & Rev. Robert George Stephanopoulos, Ph.D.

From Newsday:

Nuns see orders diminishing on LI

"Sister Mary Loyola Engel is 102 years old and has been a nun for 80 years. She remembers when healthy numbers of young women entered her congregation, which founded the Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre.

But no one has entered the Congregation of the Infant Jesus in 40 years. The youngest member today is 61."

The story is not really news and of course the communities that wear habits, are faithful to the Church and do apostolic work together as communities continue to grow.

Syro-Malankara Church welcomes new bishop

"UNIONDALE — Amid the blare of horns and the clanging of cymbals, Syro-Malankara Catholics from around the country rejoiced as they welcomed a new shepherd for their flock. At a ceremony at Bishop Kellenberg Memorial High School here, Bishop Thomas Mar Eusebius was installed as the first leader of the newly-formed Exarchate for the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church in the United States. "


The above snip is from The Long Island Catholic where Bishop Murphy's column also focuses on this good news. Relations with the Eastern Churches has improved over the past 50 years and hopefully this trend will continue. Here is the link to the website of the Syro-Malankara Church and Here is a quick clip of the Bishop being lifted up in a chair by priests - I wonder if more video of the Mass is available?

From Bishop Murphy's column:

"If on Sunday afternoon October 3, you had been at Kellenberg Memorial High School in Uniondale you would have witnessed a remarkable event. Our Holy Father Pope Benedict, responding to a request from the leadership of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, established a new exarchate or diocese for the Syro-Malankara faithful who live here and throughout the United States. At the suggestion of the Major Archbishop or Catholicos, His Beatitude Moran Mor Cleemis, the pope appointed a new bishop, Thomas Mar Eusebius, as the first Exarch or bishop for this Church who was given additional duties as official visitator of the Catholicos for members of the Church in Canada and Europe."

"Indian Christian tradition has long held that the Apostle Thomas evangelized India before being martyred. Thus India claims true apostolic foundation from Thomas as Rome does from Peter and Paul. The “Thomas tradition” has been carried through the centuries with a liturgy that is the same Mass as we have in the Latin Church. Yet the liturgy has its own forms of prayer and ritual that reflect the Thomas tradition and the Indian context that these Churches have lived for as long as there has been Christianity in that country. Through the centuries, theological differences brought about some divisions. Both the Syro-Malabar and the Syro-Malankara exist side by side. Both are eastern Syrian, similar in theological tradition to the Maronites of Lebanon, but each maintains certain particular characteristics. A great and holy Bishop, Mar Ivanios, brought the small group of Syro-Malankara back into communion with the pope in 1930 and thus we have today the flourishing Syro-Malankara Church in South India with this new branch of the vine of Christ established here on Long Island for all the United States."

Photo - MARY IAPALUCCI | TLIC

RIP - Fr. Francis Keenan, S.M.

"Father Francis Keenan died of a brain hemorrhage Sept. 20. The Marianist priest, who had taught at Kellenberg High School since 1987, had a special place in his heart for the comic strip character "Ziggy," a nationally syndicated cartoon by Tom Wilson."


The above quote is from a News12 report on the students at Kellenberg High School who got Tom Wilson to send a Ziggy sketch in memory of the beloved priest. Before he went to Kellenberg, Fr. Keenan was at Chaminade for many years and was my Senior Religion teacher. After he moved to Kellenberg I enjoyed seeing him explain to people in a homily how he had to adjust to female students after all those years of teaching only boys. When a female student went to his office distraught over a bad grade she started to cry, and Fr. said he just sat there really scared, not having any idea what to do. Of course, he soothed her mind as he often did with all students. Students also created a Facebook appreciation page and there are some really nice comments about him. The official Marianist obit is here. He was a gentle soul and good Christian priest.

Denis Dillon, A Pioneer in the Fight Against Organized Crime

From Jerry Capeci, the Gang Land expert:

"Dillon's appointment, however, came before the powerful racketeering statutes had been signed into law and was a full decade before the federal government formulated any semblance of a cohesive strategy against the Mafia.

"Denis was an effective, professional leader, a pioneer in the fight against organized crime," said Associate Deputy Attorney General David Margolis, who oversaw the federal government's organized crime section from 1969 to 1990 and is currently the highest ranking career attorney in the Justice Department.

In fiscal year 1971, the only year for which Gang Land could obtain data, Dillon's team of seven lawyers and 13 investigators convicted 116 mob-connected defendants of various crimes, more than any of the other 17 strike forces around the country back then."

Amityville Dominican Sister named president of leadership conference

Here is a snip from this article:

"Richard Gaillardetz, “a Vatican II scholar,” spoke about “the creative tension (sisters might be experiencing) and staying in creative fidelity with Vatican II. He also spoke about the doctrines of the Church which, depending on where they hit us, can be very difficult. The challenge is not to be subservient and just do it because they said it, nor do we have the ability to just dismiss it because it doesn’t make sense to us. We grapple with the doctrine, we wrestle with it and we stay with it till we can answer, ‘What is it really saying to me?’”


Sister Mary Hughes will be president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the organization that encompasses most of the women religious. The other group of women religious, the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious, is smaller but the members are younger and their communities are growing due to their fidelity to Church teachings and religious discipline.

Denis Dillon exemplified the faithful Catholic public servant

The above link takes you to a great column by Rick Hinshaw in The Long Island Catholic.

Kellenberg alumnus takes final vows as Marianist brother

"UNIONDALE—Marianist Brother Daniel Griffin made his perpetual vows as a member of the Society of Mary at Bishop Kellenberg Memorial High School here on Sunday, August 8. A teacher at the school, the 26-year-old is also a member of the class of 2002."

Brother Griffin is now in the seminary preparing to become a priest. This is good news for the Marianists and for the DRVC. In other local vocation news, my wife told me someone we knew from Faith on Tap here on Long Island was interviewed on Oprah. At the time she would help out with FOT she was managing car dealerships but now she is a Dominican Sister of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in Ann Arbor.

Former Nassau DA Dillon remembered as man of conviction

"Days before former Nassau District Attorney Denis Dillon would stand for re-election one year, Dillon's longtime friend Arthur Diamond offered him some unsolicited advice.

Stop hitting so hard on the anti-abortion issue, Diamond remembered telling Dillon, a devout Catholic. It's hurting you politically, he recalled saying.

Dillon paused, then said, "I love you, Artie, but I can't worry about this election. I have to worry about what happens to me long after this election," Diamond, now a state Supreme Court justice, recalled at Dillon's funeral Mass Thursday morning. "He was our great servant, but he was God's first."

The above article is from Newsday, here is the obit from the NY Times.

Bob Sheppard, RIP

Bob Sheppard was my speech teacher in St. John's University and he was terrific. A real gentleman and good teacher. He was also a lector at St. Christopher's in Baldwin and a devout Catholic. He is most known for being the voice of that team in the Bronx - The Yankees, but I would never hold that against him. He died at the age of 99.

Via The Deacon's Bench

Most Holy Trinity Church - Brooklyn, NY

I have recently begun to dig into my family's history and am actively working on researching my father's side. Most Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn plays a big role in the history. The parish was merged with another local parish St. Mary but it still looks like a large active parish. Today the parishioners are latino and polish but in my family's time it was a German parish. My grandfather was baptized in this Church in the same year as the author of the book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. The extensive website shows that much of the interior of the Church has been preserved - the high altar is the same as is pictured in the parish anniversary book I have from 1966. I hope to visit this Church someday and take some pictures, as well as the cemetery nearby where I imagine my ancestors are buried.

Lawrence Taylor Charged with Third-Degree Rape in Rockland County

This should be interesting to see how the media covers this story. This writer points out the past behavior of LT and says his 'recklessness' has caught up with him.

Pittsburgh Pictures

(Click to enlarge)

Here is a bad picture of the inside of St. Paul Cathedral -

And one of the outside:

And a statue of St. Joan of Arc in a back chapel:




Here is a picture from the Romanian room in the Cathedral of Learning -



The mosaic is of Constantin Brâncoveanu, Prince of Wallachia, who refused to recant the Christian faith and lost his own life and the lives of the male members of his family. Can you imagine having class here? The chairs are all hand carved - that beats cheap manufactured ones with gum stuck to the bottom.

And finally, this picture shows the brand new tire I bought at Firestone in Pittsburgh which lasted exactly 76 miles on the Pennsylvania Turnpike -

Pittsburgh

My nephew had his First Communion this past weekend so I got to visit with family in Pittsburgh. Besides playing Wii with nieces and nephews I also got to see St. Paul Cathedral, which is beautiful. If you ever go to Catholic Churches and wonder where all the great high altars are - they are all in this Cathedral. The only site with some pictures I have found is here. I saw a bit of the nearby Heinz Chapel - there was a wedding going on but I managed to walk down the side aisle and glance at the stunning 73 foot tall stained glass windows. Like the Heinz Chapel, the Cathedral of Learning is part of the University of Pittsburgh. I toured several of the Nationality Rooms in this building. These are museum like rooms that are used as classrooms - you peek through peepholes to ensure there are no classes being held and then go in to examine the artifacts.

It wasn't all high culture though, I also sat in a bar and discussed Ben Roethlisberger with locals and watched someone who bit into a ghost pepper on a dare and then proceeded to freak out. Good times.

Elderly Woman, 92, Become Nun

"Greek-born Chrystalla Petropoulou, of Long Island, NY has fulfilled a lifelong dream. At the age of 92, the Mattituck resident has become a nun in the Greek Orthodox Church.

The April 18, 2010 edition of Newsday reports that Petropoulou, seated in her wheelchair, officially became a nun on April 17, 2010 at the new All Saints Greek Orthodox Monastery in Calverton, Long Island. Along with Elizabeth Brandenburg, aged 28, and Maria Kallis, aged 27, Petropoulou received a new religious name and a new black habit.The three women each had hair in the shape of a cross ceremonially snipped from their heads."

ABC News Investigation: USA Swimming Coaches Molested, Secretly Taped Dozens of Teen Swimmers

"In a sex abuse scandal that some victims compare to what happened in the Catholic Church, at least 36 swimming coaches have been banned for life by the USA Swimming organization over the last 10 years because of sexual misconduct with teenagers they coached. "

Keep in mind this abuse occurred over the past 10 years while the majority of the abuse in the Church occurred decades ago. The leaders of the Church have apologized over and over again, while the USA Swimming executive director says:

"Asked if he had apologized to any of the young teen victims, Wielgus responded, "You feel I need to apologize to them?"
He added, "I think it's unfair for you to ask me whether individually or me as the representative of an organization to apologize for something when all we are trying to do is everything we possibly can to create a safe and healthy environment for kids who are participating in our particular activity."

Holiday Cheer

"For reasons that require no elucidation, anti-Christian animus rises to its peak at two times of year: Christmas and Holy Week. The world's evangelical atheists, most of whom are insincere about their real target -- they rarely say a word against Islam -- begin to froth at the mouth around December 18 and Palm Sunday, and don't subside until a couple of weeks later. From their tirades, you'd think that millions of Christians had taken to the streets with whips, flogging everyone who wouldn't fall to his knees at the sight of a Nativity scene or a crucifix. To be maximally gentle about it, that isn't so. "

That is the beginning of an excellent Rumination by Francis Porretto at Eternity Road. Go read the entire thing. The Sunday Ruminations are my favorite part of this blog.

Empty Tabernacle on Holy Thursday

When I attended Mass on Holy Thursday at St. Joseph's in Babylon, I was very surprised to see the tabernacle was empty, doors wide open, and the sanctuary lamp out. This was apparently correct. I believe this is the first time I have ever seen the tabernacle empty before Holy Thursday Mass - I have always seen it done after the Mass. Speaking of Liturgical stuff, I have yet to see veiled statues, does anyone know of any parish on Long Island that veils its statues for Holy Week?

2010 Men's Conference - April 24th, 2010

at Holy Trinity High School, Hicksville, NY


The 2nd Men's Conference will be held with "Catholic Guy" Host Lino Rulli as the emcee. This year the cost of the ticket does not include lunch, which is a shame because the lunch last year was delicious.

Triduum

Holy Thursday - I attended the Holy Thursday Mass at St. Joseph's in Babylon last night. Overall it would a good Liturgy in both Spanish and English. I like the way they alternated the two languages, first reading read in English but printed in Spanish in the booklet, second reading was the opposite. The priest gave his homily in both languages and the opening and post communion prayers were read in both. Their Good Friday service will also be bilingual, but I think it is unfortunate that they will have two separate Easter Vigils - 1 in the Church in English and 1 in a parish hall in Spanish. I think the Vigil should be the 1 Liturgy for all parishioners, however they can work that out.

Good Friday - Today I was unable to attend Good Friday service but I just tuned into it on Telecare. This is about the third time recently that I have turned on Telecare and heard beautiful chant from St. Agnes .

Easter Vigil - I am unsure what parish to attend this year, I would like to go to a parish I have not been to yet.