Eastern Catholic Theology Slow Rebirth after a Long and Difficult Gestation Robert F. Taft, S.J. [Editor's Note: This paper was given as the First Annual SS. Cyril and Methodius Lecture at St. Paul's Seminary, Pit burgh, May 8, 2001, celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Saints Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Catholic Seminary, Pittsburgh. “An earlier redaction of this talk was delivered in German as the Fesivortrag for the Solemn Inauguration of the Collegium Orientale at the Catholic University of Eichstatt, Germany. on October 31, 1999, and published in the college journal: RF. Tall, “Orientalische-katholische Theologie: fallige Wiederge- burt nach langwieriger Schwangershaft,” ContaCOR 2/1 (2000) 10-31] |, PRELIMINARIES: WHAT IS EASTERN CATHOLIC THEOLOGY? Despite the optimism of my lecture’s title, is there really an “Eastern Catholic Theology”? And if so, what is it? These are the questions T would like to address today. But first, let me define my terms. Iris not possible to define in any definitive way what Eastern Catholic theology is or might be, except to say what its not. First, itis not Eastern/Oriental Orthodox theology, since to claim that would be simply to beg the question, and would also run the risk of co-opting someone else’s intellectual and theological tradition. This does not mean that Eastem Catholic theology stands in opposition to Orthodox theology. On the contrary. both claim to derive from the patristic and liturgical sources of a commoa tradition, And besides, Eastern Catho- lies have been strongly influenced by modem Orthodox writers. an influence they unashamedly welcome and gratefully acknowledge. Secondly, Eastern Catholic theology is not Western Catholic theology, though it has obviously undergone strong Western Catholic influence. more so than has Orthodox theology. though Orthodox theology has 5Eastern Churches Journal, Vol. 8 No. 2 alse absorbed much from modem Wester thought.! even if it is reluctant to acknowledge it Does that mean Eastern Catholic theology is any theology done by theologians who happen to be Eastern Catholies? Not at all. Just as the Orthodox reject Orthodox thinkers whom they judge too “ or “scholastic” to be representative Orthodox theologians, the same is true of Eastern Catholic theology. There are Eastern Catholic writers ‘sho just parrot Latin manual-theology of the pre-World War II period, before the effects of the scriptural, patristic, and liturgical renewal that Jed up to Vatican Il had filtered down to the Catholi¢ East. I would in no way call such writings Eastern Catholic theology. So pethaps it woutd be better to speak of “Catholic Eastern theology.” meaning by that a style af Catholic theological thinking in which “Eastern” is not an ecclesial or ethnic ateribute of those doing this theotogy, but an epithet specifying the narure and quality of the theology itself? 4] See, for instance, the sources referred to in A. Schmemann, introduction to Liturgical Theology (The Library of Onhodox Theology 4, London: Faith Press/Porland Maine: The American Orthediox Press 1966, reissued since by St, ‘Viadimit Seminary Press, Crestwood, NY). 2] Furthermore, there are Catholic theologians not belonging canonically to any Eastern Catholic Church whom [would consider to be domg an “Eastern” type of theology. That is also the view of some Romanian Orthodox, who. on granting an honorary doctorate to Toma Spidlik. S.J., professor-emerimas of the Pontifical ‘Oriental Institute ia Rome, referred to him as “one of ours.” Other Romanian Onhodox theologians have called him “a starets from Rome,” and “the best Onthodox theologian writing today.” 8] Other Catholic theologians, while decidedly “Western” in the scientific rigour, philosophic-speculative quality, systematic order. and universally inclusive scope of their thought, never neglected the Eastern sources and remained fully open to having Wester theological thought enriched and even comrected by the insights of the East. am thinking of my latc teacher and colleague Edward J. Kilmarth 8.1. (1923-1994), protessor atthe Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome,_Easter Catholic Theology With regard to such categorizing, however. it is good to recall what the US courts once said in rendering a decision concerning pornography: it is difficult to define it, but we all recognize it when we see it. That is true, I think, of Eastern Catholic theology. One cannot deny its similarities with Western Catholic theology and with Orthodox theology, from both of which far older, fuller. and richer theological traditions it obviously derives so much. Yet Eastern Catholic theology docs exist despite problems in defining its distinotiveness, and like any other cultural reality, it deserves to be dealt with in its own right. So you already have the answer to my initial question: there is indeed an Eastern Catholic theology. embryonic, not widespread, still struggling to define itseli, often embattled, even beseiged, but by no ‘means in retreat or about to surrender. How can one define this theol- ogy? Can one define any theology? Should one even try? | would describe it as rhe theology of Catholic practitioners with a knowledge and love for the traditions of the Christian East, a Catholic theology that seeks to breathe with both lungs, nourishing a sometimes anemic Catholic thought with oxygen from both sides of the East-West Christian divide, Archpriest John Petro, Rector of Saints Cyril & Methodius Seminary, introduces Archimandrite Robert TaftEastern Churches Journal, Vol. 8 No. 2 Il. HISTORY Before entering imo greater detail on the nature and charac- teristies of this theology, a brief overview of its origins is in order.” Nothing whatever can be understood apart from its history, and that is doubly true here, 1. Vatican | Paradoxically. ! would place at the First Vatican Council (1869-1870), thar most narrow, most ultamontane. least “Eastern” of all councils, the remote beginnings of the renewal of Eastern Catholi- cism that would eventually spill over inco Liturgy, theology. and indeed, all areas of church life.” Appalied by Pius IX’s and the Council’s lack of understanding or respect for the distinciness of the Catholic East, its age-old waditions. and the peculiar dignity of its supreme hierarchs — suffice il to note that the Eastern Catholic patriarchs were assimilated to the titular Latin pseudo-patriarchs and ranked with them at the ‘Couneil — Eastern Catholic bishops at Vatican I rose up in protest. On Junuary 25, 1870. at the 16th General Session of the Council, the Chaldean Patriarch Joseph Audo took the floor in an historic speech insisting that the particular discipine of the Christian East be respected Two days later the Romanian Cutholic bishop of Nagyvérad (Grosswardein), Joseph Papp-Sziligyi. expressed his support of Audo’'s views. EA] I. Haljar, Les chrdiiens waiares de Proche-Orient (Paris: Seuil 1962) 301-9, [5] On Vatican | and the Eastern Catholic bishops. see C.G, Paielus. Vatican I et les eebques uniates, Une étape éclaivanie de ia poitugue romaine & l'égard des rientaity (1867-1980) (Bibliotheque de la Revue a histoire ecclésiustique Louvain: Editions Nauwelnerts 1981). [6} Anyone familiar with she highly charged aumosphere of Vatican 1 and the suffocatingly authoritarian pupalism. of Pus IX (1846-1878) could guess thatthe seaction woald not be long in coming. On January 29, the pope stmmencd Pawirch Auaio to his quarters Like a miserean; and znade him subscribe to the sisposhions of the ball Reverwores that forall practical purposes rucned Catholic bishops into aliazbors, to be treated as Sudo hal just been. On “Pio Nona.” 35 hie is called, the fundamental work is the 3 val. biography of Giacomo Mari Sul, vol. 1: Pia IX 11846-1850; (Miscellanee Historize Pomtiticiae 38, Rome:Eastem Catholic Theology The Melkite patriarch and hierarcity also played at Vatican ba role that presaged their crucial importance at Vatican I (on which more Jaler). At the S4th General Session on May 19, Melkite Patriarch Gregory TI Youssef Sayyour created a sensation with his intervention in defense of the patriarchal system of government traditional in the Christian Bast, tacked on ali sides, notleast by the Armenian Catholic patriarch Peter 1X Hassoun and the Syrian archbishop of Mosul Cyril Belmam Benni, and deeply offended by the way the pope had mani- fested his displeasure, Patriarch Gregory took the floor again on June [4.to defend himself from the accusation of having “schismatic tenden- cies,” and to reaffirm his views. These profound divisions in the Catholic East, manifested with ‘utmost clarity at Vatican I, remain with us today. There are Eastern Catholic Churches that have set out resolutely on the path to recover their heritage, and others that are so latinized they do not even under- stand the nature of the problematic, or are too small and weak o7 disimeresied to do anything about it even if they did, 2. Leo XIIl and the 1893 Eucharistic Congress of Jerusalem Another key event was the election of Pope Leo XIII (1878- 1903), soon to become known as “the pope of the Christian East,” whose pontificate marked the beginnings of the emancipation of the Eastern Catholic Churches.’ The story has been told and retold many times, and Universita Gregoriana Editrice 197-49, vol. 2: Pto BC (1851-1866) (Miscellanea Historize Pontificiae $1, Rome: Universiti Gregoriana Editrice 1986), vol. 3: Pia IX (1867-1878) (Miscellanea Historiae Pontificiae 58, Rome: Universita ‘Gregorians Fairice 1990). On Pius IX and the Eastern Catholic charches, see esp. Vol. 3, chap. 2, though the maiter is handled more fully by Patclos. cited in the previous note, On Pus IX’s treatment of the Melkite patriarch, se also C. Snider, Pio IX nella luce dei processi canonic? |Swudi Piani 8, Vaiican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1992) 192-283. [7] C. Soetens, Le Congrés Euchavistigue intemarional de Jérusatem (1893) duns fe cadre de la politique orientale du pape Léon XIM (Recueil de travaux histore et Ge philologie, série 6. fase, 12. Louvaim: Editions Nauwelaeris 1977); RF. Esposito, Leone XM ¢ (Oriente cristiano: Srudio sterice-sistemcatico (Rome: Edizioni Paoline 1960) 367-384. Hajar (note 4 above) 309-311, further 55Eastern Churches Joumal, Vol. 8 No. 2 does need repeating here, beyond a few highlights especially pertinent to our topic. The April 11, 1883 report of Vanutelli, the Apostolic Delegate at Constantinople and later cardinal, outlined Latin failures in dealing adequately with the East. and insisted on the teaching in Catholic sominaries of special courses in Oriental theology, liturgy, and history. This of course implied the recognition of what some had been trying to say at Vatican I; that the East has a peculiar patrimony even in theology, and is not just Western Catholicism in different vestments. Preparations for the 1893 Eucharistic Congress of Jerusalem brought things to a head, showing the weakness of the Catholic East confronted with the assault of Latin missionaries, Cardinal Langénieux, archbishop of Rheims, was Pope Leo's Cardinal-legate for relations with the Eastern hierarchies in view of the upcoming Congress. His courageous and fur-seeing report of July 2, 1893. informed the pope in undisguised terms of the problems caused by the Latin assault on the East, and of the need fora radically new policy. Leo XHII took swift and decisive action, The encyclical Praeclara granulationis of June 20, 1894, was followed in the Iall by frank discussions at the Vatican during which the Eastern Catholic patriarchs could express their griefs freely. without the fear of reprisals that reigned under the repressive regime of Pius IX. Swifly thereafter came the historic encyelieal Orientaliion dignitas,® dated November 30, 1894. but promulgated on December 6, the feast of St. Nicholas so dear to the Byzantine East, This document has been called the “Magna Carta” of Eastern Catholicism.” bibliography on Leo's policies regarding the Bastin G. Croce, La Badia Greca di Grovaferrata e fa rivista “Roma e {’Oriente.” Cattolicesimo e oriodossia jra tunionismo ¢ ecumenismo (1799-1923), 2 vols. (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1990) T, 126-26 note 48. [8] English translation in The Vatican and the Eastern Churches. Volume I (Fairfax: Eastern Christian Publications 1996), pp 173-188. {9] The tact that een histories of the papacy do not even consider this aspect of Leo XIII's pontificate worth mentioning (e.g...R.P. MeBrien, Lives af the Popes. The Ponsifs from St, Peter to Join Paid I, Harper, SenPranciseo 1997, 347-51) is symptomatic of the modest place Eastern Catholicism sill oeeupies in the minds 56Eastern Catholic Theology 3. Further Developments Intellectual and Institutional These may seem to be purely formal, constitutional matters, but they soon had their effect on the intellectual level that is our interest here. The work of the Assumptionists: the foundation in Germany of the still existing review Oriens Christianus; the eclebrations surround ing the 15th centenary of the death of St. John Chrysostom in 1907, and the commemorative volume of still irreplaceable studies on the Easter traditions, especially liturgy. published for the occasion;!” Benedict XYV"s (1914-1922) foundation on May 1, 1917, of the Sacra Congre- gazione pet la Chiesa Orientale.'! and of the Pontificio Istituto di Studi Orientali the following October 15:!7 would lead, ultimately to a whole new status for the Catholic East. and. more important for our theme, a new seriousness in the intellectual approach to its traditions.’ ‘of Cathotic academia. if indeed it can be said to be present there at all. {10} XPYCOCTOMIKA. Snudi e rieerche intorno a S, Giovanni Crisostomo, acura del ccomitsto per il XV" centenario della sua morte, 407-1907 (Rome: Pustet 1908). [1] See M. Brogi, “La Congregazione per le Chiese Oriental,” in P.A. Bonnet, C. Gullo (eds.), La Curia Romana nella Cost. Ap. «Pastor Bonus» (Studi 23, Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1990), [12] See various studies in E.G. Famugia (ed.). The Pomifieal Oriental tustiture: The First Seventy-Five Years. (1917-1992 (Rome: Edizioni Orientalia Christiana 1993, RE. Taft & JL. Dugan (eds) 1 75° anniversario det Pontificia Istituto Orientate. Atti delle celebraaioni giubilari, 15-17 oitobre 1992 (Orientalia ‘Chcistiana Analeeta 244, Rome: Pontificio [stitoto Orientale 1994); RF. Taft (ed), The Christian East. is Institutions & its Though. A Critical Reflection. Papers of the International Scholarly Congress for the 75th Anniversary of the Pontifical Oriental Institute. Rome, 30 May — 5 June 1993 (Orientalia Christiana Ansiecta 251, Rome: Pontificia Istiuto Orientale 1996); V. Poggi. Per fa stovia de! Poutificio Istituto Oviensate. Saggi sullistitugione, ¢ suo’ uomini POriene ‘Cristiano (Orientalia Christiana Analecta 263, Rome: Pontficio Istituto Orientae 2000). 113] We must kip over many other steps in this long and slow trek, e.g. the reform of. the Badia Greca di Grottaferrata. mayisterially detailed in the fascinating study of G. Croce (note 7 abrave} Also the saga of Prince Max of Saxony and the review Romae Oriente in bid, 64-140. 283-96, On Max, sec also Iso Baumer, Max von Sacitsen, Prins und Prophet (Freiburg: Universitat Verlag 1992); Priester und Professor (1990); Primat des anderen. Texte und Kommentare (1996), Ta this 57Eastern Churches Journal, Vol. 8 No. 2 4, Lambert Beauduin and Amay/Chevetogne, Cyril Korolevsky, Metropolitan Andrew Sheptyisky It is at this point that several key figures in our saga appear on the stage: Lambert Beauduin, O.S.B. (1873-1960), and his monks of Amay/Chevetogne (1925)'" with their seminal periodical Trénikon (1926-}, Cyril Korolevsky (1878-1959), and Andrew Sheptytsky (1865-1944), Jean-Frangois-Joseph Charon, now better known by his adopted name Cyril Korolevsky, was born in Caen, France. on Decem- ber 16, 1878, and died in Rome on April 19. 1959.1 What interests us especially here, among Korolevsky’s inde- fatigable work for the restoration of Eastern Catholicism and its Titur- Period, progress was not without mumerous detours and contretemps, especially under Pius X, whose disastrously unenlightened pontificate set back for generations the renewal of Catholic intellectual life and nascent ecumenism timidly fostered by Leo XII (1878-1903), [14] On the foundation of this monastery at Amay, Belgium, in 1925 (it moved t0 CChevetogne, also in Belgium. in 1939), see the biographies of its {ounder: Sonya A. Quilslund, Beaudiin. A Prophet Vindicated (New York/Paramus NJ/Toronto: Newman 1973), esp. chapters 5ff; and, most recently, the definitive study: R. Loonbeek and J. Mortiau, Un pionnnier Dom Lambert Beauduin (1873-1960). Liturgie et Unité de chrétiens, 2 vols, (Université de Louvain, Receuil de travaux histoire ot de philologic, 7° Série, Fascicules 12-13, Louvain-Ia-Neuve: College rasme/Editions de Chevetogne 2001) esp. 1, 589FF This work also conteins much information on he other two figures to which this section is devoted, Cyril Korolevsky and Metropolitan Andrew Sheptytsky. [15] On Korolevsky, see Eugéne Tisserant, “Father Cyril Koroleysky, A Biographical Note,” in Cyril Korolevsky, Metropolitan Andrew (1865-1944), ranslated and revised by Serge Keleher (L’viv: Stauropegion 1993) 17-36; also Crave (note 7 above) If, 32-54, 283-296, and the further references there, 33-35 note 71. How so interesting a character has not yet found his definitive Swift, especially in the light of all this century's human detritus that continues to be dissected if not lionized in endicss biographies, must remain a source of wonder. Perhaps prospective biographers art daunted by Korolevsky’s own huge, unpublished autobiography in three typewritten volumes languishing in the Vatican Archives, (on which see Croce (note 7 above) IL, 33-35 note 71. 5BEastern Catholic Theology gical traditions to their pristine integrity, is his bombshell essay of 1924, L'uniatisme.'® In a way never done before nor superceded since. this essay set the parameters of the problem and its solution in the most trenchant and convincing terms. ii remains to this day the fundamental statement of the entire problematic of Eastern Catholicism, While Korolevsky. as consukor for liturgy of the Oriental Congregation and a key member of :t5 commissions for the reform of the Eastern Catholic liturgical books," was able 10 implement his ideas in that concrete realm, his iriend Andrew Sheptyisky (1865-1944), Archbishop of L’viv. Metropolitan of Halych. and primate of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, helped to implement and ditfuse the same vision throughout his Church and the whole Catholic world,!® again not without opposition even at home among his fellow bishops. The collaboration of Korolevsky and Sheptytsky in this enter- prise, carried out with the unflagging support of Engéne Cardinal Tisserant, orientalist, defender of Eastern Catholicism, and one of the greatest Prefects in the short history ofthe Vatican Oriental Congrega- tion. is a story that deserves a treatise to ingett! [16] Z'uniatisme Crénikon collection 5-6. Amax, Belgium, 1927). not tobe confused with the review of the same name. This essay is at long last available in English ‘wanslaiton in Korolevsky. Mecrepolita: Andrew inote [5 above) Appendi I. pp. 543-508. and as a separate monograph irom Eustern Christian Publications in Faicfax. Virginia, USA, To the translation is appended Serge Kelcher, “Sixty ‘Years After, Some Comments on Cyril Koroleysky"s Cniativm.” pp. 599-602, 117] Some celevani bibliography on the Vativan reform of Eastern liturgical baoks is cited in Brogi, “La Congregszione per Je Chiese Oniemtsli” (nore 11 above) 730-267. hare 263-64. This topic is another PhD thesis waiting to be waitlen, U8] On Metropolitan Andres und the various aspects of his struggle for Eastern Catholic authenticity and renewal. see Keeoievsky. Merroputizan Andrew (nou 1Sahove): PR. Magoscied.s. Moraits- arid Reali, The Life anel Times of Ande Shepevas kot (Edmonton: University of Albena Canadian Institute of Ukeainicn Suudies 1948 [19] Korolevsky himself has told part of i in a Jengehy and wide-ranging Vatican ‘votum’” that has never been published for a Iarger audience, though it e=rtainly deserves 10 be, The Votom is emttied: Sacra Congrcgazione per la ChiesaEastern Churches Journal, Vol. 8 No. 2 Another of Andrew Sheptytsky’s prophetic projects was his founding of the L’ viv Theological Academy (LTA) in 1928. Interrupted for over filly years by the Soviets, who forcibly closed the LTA in 1944, it resumed its activities on September 1, 1994, This flourishing institu- tion under the vigorous and imaginative leadership of young Ukrainian Catholic clergy and laity, some of them educated in the best institutions of the diaspora and fully imbued with the spirit of their Ukrainian Catholic Eastern heritage. is but one concrete sign that the vision and labors of the pioneers ef renewal have not been in vain. Commissioned by the Holy See to make an official visitation of the LTA from September 27-Ocotber 3, 1995, a visitation repeated April 10-21, 2001, Tean testify to this first hand? 5, Ex Occidente Lux Before moving on, let me draw attention to an essential element of our story: thus far the early pioneers of the intellectual and theological Orientale, Prot. N. 1219/28, La liurgia ed it rita praticati dai ruteni. Vowo del P. Cirillo Korolevsky (Vatican City: Tipografia, Poliglota Vaticana 1937) 292 pp. Inthose pre-computer days, the Vatican press did private, limited-edition printings of such briefs or “vote,” as they are stil called, in which consultors, when requested, express their opinions in writing to the respective Congregations of the Holy Sec. Other key publications of Korolevsky that also merit being dusted off and zeadered into English would include: C. Korolevsky, “Le clergé occidentale 1 Fapostolat dans l'Orient asiatique et greco-slave,” Revue apologerique 35 (1922-1923) 204-223, 273-286, 365-373, 470-476, 524-529, 610-628.; idem.“Le passage et l'adaptation des occidentaux au rite oriental,” Jrénikon 6 (1929) 457-487; 7 (1930) 136-166, 257-275, 402-419, 538-551; 8 (1931) 282-322 (to my knowledge, this article was never completed). [20] Details ofthe 1995 visitation were reported officially in Robert. Taft, S.I., Report to the Synod of the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church on a Visitation 10 the Liv Theological Academy, 27 September -3 October 1995 (Geiober 24, 199); and in my December 4, 1995 final report to the Holy Sec: Visitation of the Lviv Theological Academy of the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church, Lviv (Leopoli, Ukraine, 27 Semember -3 October 1995. My reporton the latest visitation caried ‘uton April 10-21, 2001: Congregation for Catholic Education — Prot. N.42296, Visitation of the Lviv Theological Academy of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church Lviv (Leopoli), Ukraine, 10-21 April 2001, pp. 27 + Appendices I-X, was submitted to the Holy see on June 14, 2001 60Eastern Catholic Theology renewal of Eastern Catholicism were to a man producis of the West. Korolevsky was a French Latin Catholic who had heard the cal] of the East. Even Metropolitan Andrew Sheptytsky. though ethnically Ulsainian, came from one of tne many noble Ukrainian families that had long becn latinized and polonized. His decision co return to his own ancestra] Chureh and people and serve them as an Eastern-rite Basilian monk was unheard of. and provoked scandal and strong opposition.”! A¢ that time most natiye Eastern Catholics, mired in their tatinization and defensive about it, suffering from an inferiority-complex vi s a Catholic West that acither recognized nor respecied them. were in no position socially. culturally or intellectually to recognize. analyze. and do anything about the impasse in which they found chemselves, The rebellion of the Eastern Catholic hierarchs at Vatican I was largely a gui-reaction against the imposition of foreign canonical and hierarchi- cal structures and procedures. non a declaration of intellectual inde- pendence and renewal. of which they were shea by and large incapable. 6. Enter the Meikites All this changes radically when the Melkites hear the wakeup call and enter the fray. In the years immediately preceding Vatican II. carly signs of an enormous shift in mentality can be observed among the more enlightened Melkite clergy. previously repuied to be highly latinized. Here. too, we enter a realm deserving a doctoral dissertation to itself. Two names spring to mind as those whe frst drew my atentign to this phenomenon: Archimandrite Orestes Kerame (1895- 1983),"7 and Patriarch Maximos TV Saigh (1878-1967). * Maximos. of course. achieved instant world-wide recognition for himself and his Melkite [21] See ALS. Ziba. “Szeprycki/Sheprvis’kyi Genealogy.” ia Magosci, Morality and Reality (note 18 above) 437-439: Korelevsky. Metropolitan Andrew (neve 15 above) 43-73, [22] On Kerame. see Archbishop Josaph Tawil, “In memoriam: I'archimandrite Oreste Kéramé” Le Lien. Revue dc Patriareat gree-mellete-catholique 48 n0. 2 (Beyrouth, mars-avril 1983; [23] See Emilios Inglessis. Masimes IV. L'Qrient contesse POveient (Paris: Cert 6Eastern Churches Journal, Vol. 8 No. 2 Greek-Catholic Chureh because of his interventions at Vatican IL.” But he had provided an unmistakable prelude of what was io come then in a talk given in Diisseidorl. Germany, on August 9. 1960.* Like a shot heard round the world. this talk, sw ifily wanslated into English, French, and Italian, received wide diffusion as the Catholic Church geared up for the opening of Vatican I. announced the year before by Pope John XXII on January 25, 1959. The now defunct Jiebilee magazine pub- lished this talk in English in January 1962. 29 and the i 'pact it had on me then is fresh in my mind still today Kerame, though not a bishop or Council Father. was another major source of Melkite Catholic thought at Vatican Il. I had the privilege of knowing Kerame personally. In long talks, this former Jesuit explained to me why he had felt obliged to leave in 1941 the order he obviously still loved.” Atthat time there was no real room in a Latin 1968). [24] See the next section below [25] Inglessis, Maximos 1¥ (nove 23 shove} 99-100, {26] Vol. 9 no. 9 Jan. 1962) 26-21, reprimed as “The Eastern Réle in Christian Reunion.” ww Maximus IV Sayegh (ed.), The Eastern Churches and Cathie Unity (New York: Herder & Herder 1963) 48-61. [27] The remarks of Archbishop Joseph Tawil on this separation from the Jesuits, despite theic diseretion, ace sufficient commentary on how thing were at that time. "Sa sortic de la Compagnie |1941) pour douloureuse qu'elle fu, était provideniictle cari n aurait jamais pu y aeeomplic ce qu'l etait appelé a réaliser” (Tawi, “In memoriam,” nots 22 above. 33). That Kerame could not have aaecomplished what he did had be remained a Tesuit i fur more a judgment on the Fesuits of that day than on Kerame, Long before meeting Kerame I iad myselt formulated the principle that has guided my life as an Eastern Catholic priest: the traditions of the By antine cite in which I was ordained und to which I have tried to cemain faithfial in spirit and action. are an eeclesial reality supsrior to the Contingent customs of any monastery. religious order oc congregation, including my own, When thore is u conflict, its the usages of the order that must cede. My cconyersations w ith Kerame sn his later years only confirmed the absoluie rightness of my chosen rouiz, and wiat had always been a guiding principle af my own double vocation as an Faster rie member of a Latin religious order: whenever there és « conflict, eeal or appavent (i.e. s0 pereeised by superiors). between the 62Eastern Catholic Theology religious order for one who wished to remain fully faithful to his Eastern heritage, and Kerame chose the higher loyalty. unlike so many others who were prepared to abandon the ecclesial heritage of their birth for the traditions of a religious congregation, an ecclesial reality far more limited and less important in every way. Kerame’s literary output was extremely slim, but his thogght was extraordinarily influence great and lasting.” 7. The Melkite Catholic Church at Vatican Il (1962-1965) This brings us to Vatican Il. L'Eglise Grecque Melkite au Concile (The Metkite Greek Church at the Council) was the title of a book first published in French in 1967.7? Then as now, thirty-four years later, it would be difficult 10 imagine a book of this title about the role sionary, and his demands of my rite and those of the order. the rite must always take precedence. Fortunately, the problem has never arisen Tor me in any substantive way, For times have changed since the early 1940’s. The December 25, 1950, leter and deeree of the Jesuit General John Baptist Janssens. Pru ramo arientali Societatis les (Acta Romana Societatis lesu XI, 887-891 ) can be considered the “Magna Carta’ of Easter-rite Jesuits, It lepislates explicitly that they are to live their rite in its ‘integrity, and elements of the Jesuit Institute that by nature pertain to the Latin Rite do not apply to them, Kerame. whose love for the Society of Tesus never lessened in ypite of the painful choice he was foreed to make, not only tived long ‘enough to witness this greater openness in the Catholic Church and the Jesuit order: his life and thought prepared ior it [28] Among his writings one can cite: Notre vocation et notre dime de chrétiens #Orient (Cairo: al-Maaref Press 1954): Constantinople ei le Grand Schisme chrétien (Cairo 1954): Unionisme, uniativme, arabisme chréien (Bulletin @ orientations eccuméniques. Beyrouth 1957); Le prochain Concite ecumenigue Catholiques et Orthodoves bient6t réunit? (Bulletin orientations cecuméniques 4, Beyrouth 1959), translated as “The Eeumenical Council: are Catholics and ‘Orthodox soon to be reunited?". in P. Sherwood (ed.), The Unity of the Churches of God (Baltimore/Dublin: Helicon 1963) 34-83. [29] L’Egtise Grecque Melkite au Conctle. Discours et notes du Patriarche Maximos Wet des Préiats de son Eglise ai concile wrcuménique Vatican Hf (Beyrouth: Dar Al-Kalima 1967), An English translation, in preparation in the USA for over a decade, has yet to appear. The most recent study on the Melkites at Vatican IT is Gaby Hachem “Primauté et ecuménisme chez les Melkites catholiques & Vatican IL” Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique 93 (1998) 398-441, 63Eastern Churches Joumal, Vol. 8 No. 2 played by any other Eastern Catholic Church at Vatican IL. At that time no other Easicrn Church in communion with Rome had as yet played any significantly “Eastern” leadership role in the wider Cathotic Church, In the case of the Ukrainian and Romanian Greck-Catholic Churches, this was prevented by Communist persecution. In the case of other Churches, their insignificant aumbers, the vagaries of their history, or the mediocrity of their leadership, rendered any such corpo- zate role unlikely, though outstanding individual bishops from these Churches, such as Ignatius Ziade. Maronite Archbishop of Beirut, and Tsaae Ghattas, Coptic Catholic Bishop of Luxor-Thebes. gave eloquent voice, and in a fully Eastern spirit. to the aspirations of these Churches too. Bucif size, persecution, or other factors explain why other Churches played no norable corporate role at Vatican Il, this does not explain why the Melkite Church did. To what. then, can one attribute the remarkable essor of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church at the Council? In his “Preface” to the 1967 French edition of the above-mentioned volume, L’Eglise Grecque Melkite au Concile, Patriarch Maximos LV attributes it, first, to the fact that the Catholic Melkites had never lost contact with their Orthodox roots and thus never became closed in on themselves. Thisallowed them to discern what is essential (i... Catholic) from what is contingent (L.¢., Latin) in Catholicism, enabling them at Vatican IT to witness toa pensée complémentaire, another. complementary way of seeing things, as a counterbalanec to Latin Catholic unilateralism. Maximos IV also offers a second reason, the synodal cohesion of the Melkite hierarchy —at that time the patriarch with sixteen bishops and four general religious superiors ~ in its preconciliar discussions preparatory to Vatican II. and the consequent unity of its voice at the Couneil. We see this exemplary Eastern conciliarity from the start. in the lewer of August 29, 1959, accompanying the first Melkite response to the Preparatory Commis- sion of the Council; “We have believed it more useful to give our proposals together, in common..." This was collegiality anie factum, 30] Cited in “Vatiean i: 25 ans aprés.” Le Lien 35 nos, 1-2 (janvier-avril 1990) 37,Eastern Catholic Theology long before the later work of the Council had made this ecclesiology common coin. With the advantages of hindsight. | would suggest three further qualities that facilitated Meikite leadership at Vatican Il: 1) education: 2) courageous, intelligent, innovarive leadership: 3) imaginative and universal vision. None of these can be considered traditional clerical virtues. By waining and tradition, are more inclined to conservatism, obedience, regularity. stability. the attributes of any social organization where too much imagination is a lability. and routine is prized above initiative. First. educarion, Eastern Catholicism is often criticized, some- dimes exaggeraledly, for its “Westernization.” an accusation, every ‘honest person must admit, that contains some truth, This Westemnization has brought with it obvious disadvantages, specitically acertain crosion of the Eastern heritage, But every coin has two sides. and contact with the “West” has also had decided advantages, It is “Western” culture that invented “modermity” with its traditional values of pluralism, civility, respect for individuals and their rights. and an intellectual. artistic and cultural life that strives to he free of outside restrain! or manipulation, and seeks to be objective, even-handed, and fair. These ideals of intellectual honesty, coherence. consistency. sell-criticism. objectivity. fairness. dialegu moderation and courtesy of tone and language even when in disagree- ment: and a reciprocity which, eschewing all "double-standard” criti- cism, applies the same criteria and standards of judgment to one inierlocutor’s thought and actions thax one applies ta one's own: lead to cultural openness. and the desire to know the other, So if a dose of the East can be good medicine lor the West. somictiting that the Catholic West has lang accenied without demur. the West can also be good medicine indeed jor the East, and the Melkite bishops at Vatican Il, imbued with what was best in the superd postwar French Catholic inelleciual tradition, spesking French Zluently and thus accessible to broad personal contacts and dialogue, were cnabied wo understand and appreciate what was happening m the Catholic Church ina way they never could have dane with a simplistic caricature-image and paranoid ejection of the West, That is why the Melkites at Vatican 65Eastern Churches Journal, Vol. 8 No. 2 I were repeatedly called a “bridge” between East and West: they knew both sides of the river and could mediate between them." Of the other qualities. courageous, intelligent, innovative lead- ership was shared by all the great progressive leaders of Vatican Il. Peculiar to the Melkiles, however, was the disproportion between their conciliar leadership and their numbers — one patriarch and a mere sixteen bishops awash in a Latin sea! Equally unique to the Melkite Council Fathers as a group was the truly remarkable imaginative and universal vision they showed, In addition to being among the first to state categorically that the Council should avoid definitions and condemnations, the list of important items of general import on the Vatican I and posteonciliar agenda that the Melkite bishops were the first to propose is simply astonishing: the vernacular, eucharistic concelebration and communion under both spe- cies in the Latin liturgy; the permanent diaconate; the establishment of what ultimately became the Synod of Bishops held periodically in Rome, as well as the Secretariat (now Pontifical Council) for Christian Unity; new attitudes and a less offensive ecumenical vocabulary for Gealing with non-Catholic Christians, especially with the Orthodox Churches; the recognition and acceptance of Eastern Cathotic commu- [51] Those who would deny this should remember that its a question here of the lived experience of the Catholic Church. Catholies did experience the Melkites to be a bridge tha allowed the voiee of the East tobe heard atthe Council sessions, and noone but Catholics have the right to judge their own experience. Whether Eastern Catholics at Vativan IC were also a bridge between Orthodoxy and Rome is something we must let the Orthodox decide. But no less an authoritative Orthodox exponent than Professor Alivizatos of Athens wrote in 1963 of the “persuasive ‘way in which he [Maximos TV] expounded the Eastern point of view’” at Vatican Hnglessis, Maximos /V, note 23 above, 74). These sentiments were echoed by the highest Orthodox hierarch, Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, when Maximos IV and he met for the fist time, on January 5, 1964. during Pope Paul VI's pilgrimage to the Holy Land. in reply te Maximos' affirmation that he was trying to represent the authentic Enstem wadition at Vatean II, Athenagoras replied, “You represent all of us. Thank you! (Vous nous xépresentez tous; merci! ibid, 71)." And at theit meeting in Constantinople on Tune 2 of the same year, Athenagoras referred to Maximos a8 a gift of God to His Chareh (ibid. 72. 66Eastem Catholic Theology nities for what they are. “Churches.” not just different “rites,” an ecclesiology ultimately canonized by the Council documents concem- ing the Eastem Catholic Churches." But for the Mclkites. perhaps none of the above qualities would have “worked” without the audacious yet untailingly courteous courage of Maximos TV and his close collaborators, For Muximos 1V did not stand alone at Vatican I. He was the first 10 acknowledge the synodal, collegial nature of the Melkite enterprise, and other major Melkite Council figures like Archbishops Blias Zoghby, Neophytos Edelby, Peter Medawar. and Joseph Tawil, also made the trenchant and eloquent “voice of the East” heard at Vatican IL But when all is said and done. our basic point of reference will always remain the great figure of Pawiarch Maximos 1V and the réle he played in his own and the broader Church during the twenty critical years (Oct. 30, 1947-Nov. 5, 1967) of his historic patriarchate, Among the dozen or so most quoted Council Fathers in the published histories of Vatican TI, he gave from the star a hitherto unimaginable importance to the Eastern Catholic minority at the Council by the content and élan of his interventions.** Al the First Session of the Council. Maximos’ electrifying opening speech on October 23, 1962, set the tone for the Melkite onslought on the one-sided. Latin vision of the Church. He refused to speak in Latin, the language of the Latin Church, but not, he insisted, of the whole Catholic Church nor of his panticular Church. He refused 10 follow protocol and address “their Eminences,” the cardinals, before “their Beatitudes,” the Eastern Catholic patriarchs, for in his and any sane ecclesiology patriarchs. the heads of locat Churches. did not take second place to cardinals, who are but second-rank dignitaries of one (32 Sez REF. Tafl. “Eastem Catholic Churches (Orientalivns Eectesiaranal.” in: Modern Cutholicigm, Vastean i and Afer. ed. Adrian Hasiings (London SPCK/Kew York: Oxford University Press 19911 135-140, esp. 135-36 [331 See for example X. Remne, Ler: 1963) 26. 85. 3 fom Vatican Cis (London: Faber & Fuber orVol. 8 No, 2 (dittem Graeches Jouma (SRENGGhGiion. the Latin Church, He also urged the West to allow the-vernactilar in the liturgy, following the lead of the East. “where every language is. in effect. liturgical.” And he concluded, in trae Eastern Christian synodal fashion, that the matter at any rate should be Jeft to the local Churches to decide. Atl this in his first intervention atthe First Session! No wonder numerous Council Fathers, overcoming their initial surprise, hastened to congratulate him for his speech. And no wonder it hit the news, That was a language even journalists, impervious to the torturously endless periods of Vatican clericalese, could understand, Maximos spoke simply. clearly, directly — and he spoke not in Latin but in French. Has postconciliar Eastern Catholic thought lived up to its Promise at Vatican IT? Has any of us? Ideals always have a headstart on reality. That is why we call them ideals, something not yer fully auained, that towards which we strive, But the leaven was planted, and since Vatican Il the message has spread bitby bit throughout the Eastem Catholic world, and with it have come many small but unmistakeable signs of renewal, 8. Catholic Intellectual Commitment to the Christian East: The Pontificio Istituto Orientale (PIO) and Other Institu- tions More hidden and indirect, doubtless. but nonetheless real in laying the groundwork for the impact the Melkites made at Vatican I, and for the still ongoing postconeiliar fallout, was the massive commit- ment to the Christian East of the Catholic Church in our century, It is mpossible o mention every individual, group, institution, or publica- ton. | have already spoken of the Benedictines of Amay/Chevetogne. Pride of piace would also have to be given to the great intellectual work of the Assumptionist Byzantinists, and the Jesuits have also done their Part. along with so many Catholic academic institutions and the schol- arly establishment in the much berated “secularized West,” which have for generations labored to instill the values of fairness, objectivity, (24) tid,_Eastern Catholic Theology dialogue, courtesy and common human decency in their study of the non-Catholic East. This has led to openness and the desire to know the other, rather than the ghetto-like insularity and smug self-satisfaction of those who think they have nothing to learn from other traditions. Witness the endless list of “Western” studies and publications on the Christian East, its Fathers, its spiriwality, its fiturgy. its monasticism, its theology, its history. Witness the huge list of serious journals founded and published under Catholic auspices that deal with the culture of the Christian East objectively, sympathetically. even with admiration and love. A short list, off the top of my head, would include, in alphabetical order: Bolletino della Badia Greca di Grottaferrata, Christian Orient, Der christliche Osten, Diakenia, Eastern Churches Journal, Eastern Churches Quarterly, Eastern Churches Review, Echos d’ortent, Ephrem’s Theological Journal, The Harp, Hei christelijk oosten, Trénikon, Istina, Le Lien, Logos, Le Muséon, Nicolaus, Oriens Chris- tianus, Orientalia Christiana Periodica, Oriente cristiano, L’Orient syrien, Ostkirchliche Studien, Pokrof, Parole de l’Orient, Proche-ori- ent chrétien, Revue de l'orient chrétien, Revue des études byzantines; Roma e Uoriente, Russia cristiana = L’altra Europa = La nuova Europa, Stoudion, Tanima...°° [35] In the light of such a list one can perhaps understand the perplexity of poor benighted “Westerners,” accustomed to dealing with facts, at the following ‘opening sentence of a recent anicle by two Serbian Orthodox writers: “In the ‘Western literature and periodicals there is an inadmissable small number of aticles, studies and books dealing with either Orthodoxy in general or the Serbian ‘Ortnodoxy and the Serbian Orthodox Church in particular.” D.B. Djordjevic and B. Djurovic, “Secularization and Orthodoxy: The Case of the Serbians.” Orthodoxes Forum 7 (1993) 215, Incidentally. the journal containing the complaint is published in Munich with “Westem” funds. How many Orthodox joumals are dedicated to an open, sympathetic, objective study of the Christian ‘West? How many books does one find by Orthodox authors (excluding those living in the Western diaspora) that treat the Catholic Church and its history and tradition with objectivity. faimess. respect, and Christian love? Tam of course perfectly aware that the Catholic world has greater resources available for this sort of work. But in the light of the above list of publications. we might at least be spared this gross distortion ofthe facts. 69Easter Churches Journal, Vo!. 8 No, 2 Archimandrite Robert Tait delivers his lecture Among stil operative Catholic academic institutions. pride of place must be accorded. I believe. to the role of my own Pontifical Oriental Institute in Eastern Catholic theological renewal, Institute alumni were engaged trom the start in the foundation and formative yeurs of the Secretariat. laler Pontitical Council. for Christian Unity. The role of PIO professors and alumni in Eastern Catholic liturgical renewal is well-known.” The study of Easter Spirituality as an aca- demic discipline was invented at the PIO, More important for the theological enterprise is how this immersion in the sources of Eastern liturgy and spirituality. and in the beginnings of Catholic ecumenism, served asa leaven to transform the study of Eastern Theology, Of course Eastem Theology had been taught at PIO from the start. But apart from Patristics. which was considered a distinct discipline. it was largely a study of “Orthodoa theology” considered as something “non-Catholic,” and therefore to be studied us the theology of someone else: studied, to 36] Sov Gubriele Winkler. “The Achievemems ot the Pontifical Oriemtal Institute in the Study: of Oriental Caturgiolagy.” in Ta-Dugan. 75* gnniversurio det Ponrijicia Istinata Ovientaje yaoie |? above) 115-141 70Eastern Catholic Theology be sure, fairly, from an objective. historieo-critical point of view: but studied the way one is supposed to drive on the German Autobahn, “mit Abstand.” irom a detached and uninvolved, if not apologetic and even polemic, point of view, as a part of apologetics. That has now totally changed. Eastern theology is not just studied. It is done irom within, with sympathy and love. The point of departure, the perspective, the method, and above all the mentality, have completely changed, Eastem theology is no longer an abject, someone else's theology, that one studies, but the subject of creation, a way of theology that engages one creatively and personally, in one’s life as well as in one's thought.” Lack of time forces us to pass over many other new academic institions ~ the Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies in Ottowa, 1990; The Centre Emmaiis in Momiréal: the Centre de Docu: mentation et de zechereches Arabes Chrétiennes atthe Jesuit Univer Saint-Joseph, Beirut; the Maronite Catholic Church’ s Université Saint- Esprit de Kaslik at Jounieh north of Beirut... At the Catholic University of Eichstatt in Germany, the Diocese of Eichstitt recently founded the “Collegium Orientale,” an initiative, one hopes, that will lead to further developments in Eastern Catholic theological education at that univer- ity. The presence there of students from all the Eastern traditions, not just the Byzantine, leads direetly to my next point, the characteristics of Eastern Catholic theology. [37] On the history of theology at the Pontifical Oriental institute, see F.G. Farrugia, “The Theological Profile of the Pontifical Oriental Instiute,” in id, (ed.}, The Pontifical Oriental Institute: the First Seventy-Five Years (note 12 above), 9-47; id, “La dogmatica al PIO.” in I 75° anniversarie del Pontificio Isituro Orientale (note 12 above) 95-113: E.G. Farrugia, “The Rise of Modern Easter Theology.” Ephrens’s Theological Journal 1/3-2 (Oxtober 1997) 5-16, and, in Bulgarian and at greaterlength: id..“Teororan Ha canon.” in RP. Taft and Edward Farrugia, S.J, ‘Teamorma Ha TWTyprHATa T Feo:rorM na crane. [The Theology of the Liturgy and the Theology of Symbol}, ed. with an introduction by Gheorghi Mincey, trans. Elena Velkovska and Blizaveta Musakova (Sofia: Hoa Bxtrapcxat yHimepenter- Rome: Tlanickw Hacnryr 22 Bocroxa 1992) 97-199. 71Eastern Churches Journal, Vol. 8 No. 2 Ill. CHARACTERISTICS OF CATHOLIC EASTERN THEOLOGY ‘Thus far we have been speaking largely of the Byzantines, and legitimately so, because Eastern Catholic spiritual, liturgical, and theo- logical renewal largely with them, But first among the charac- tisties of Eastern Catholic theology, we must emphasize that 1, Eastern Catholic theology is not just Byzantine Catholic theology. There has also been a remarkable renewal in the non-Byzan- tine Catholic Eastern Traditions, This is a major point, By and large today, the only Orthodox theology worth the name is Byzantine Oztho- dox theology. The state to which the communities Adrian Fortescue (1874-1923) called “the lesser Eastern Churches””* have been reduced by persecution (or in the case of (he Armenians, outright genocide) and by Islamie, Russian, then Soviet domination, has, with few exceptions, by and large precluded the development in modern times of any intellectually productive moder theological tradition. In no way do mean to imply that these Churches have no theology. They have their age-old traditional theology, rooted in their liturgy, their synods, their Fathers, their monasticism. their spirituality. In the case of the Syrians and Armenians, this theology is an astonishingly rich one. But the struggle for physical survival has, with some notable exceptions, espe- cially in the diaspora, largely precluded the serenity needed for modern scientific theological scholarship and speculation to build on and de- velop this heritage. 2. Secondly, Eastern Catholic theology is a theology in reac- tion. Karl Barth once said that the theologian must have the Bible in one hand and the daily newspaper in the other. What he meant was that any true existential theology exists at the intersection of God’s eternal Revelation and the evolving day-to-day realities of human history. So like any true theology, Easter Catholic theology is a theology in reaction to the world-situation in which itfinds itself. Traditionally, that [38] A. Fortescue, The Lesser Eastern Churches (London: Catholic Truth Society 1913, reprint AMS Press NY 1972). 72Eastern Catholic Theology situation has been one of enemies right and Tell: on one side the ‘praestantia ritus Lagini” of Benedict XIV"s constitution Etsi pastor- alis of May 26. 1742,” apparently said without imended izony in those days when Latia ceclesiasticsl arrogance came combined with a health- ier dose of ingenuousness than we would tolerate today: on the other side we have the Orthodox rejection and systematic calumniation of ~Uniatism’’:*” a staius of rejection by both sides of the East-West divide that is the source of ongoing zeflection.* Very few besides the Catho- lies are doing this reflection, sinee the Crusades and “L aiatism” have hitherto rendered impossible for the Orthodox any objective history of their relations with the West 3. Eastern Cathalic Theology is net made bia in the making. This characteristic derives directly ixom the situation just described, Easter Catholic theology is a theology i via, a theology of Eastern Catholics in the process of recuperating and repossessing. with the help ofboth Eastand West. theirancestral tradition. Still tentative and unsure of itself, it is w theology largely without pretense, Like Anglo-Catholic Anglicans vis-i-vis Rome, Eastern Catholic theology keeps one eye over its shoulder at the “other.” the Orihodox. This distinguishes it radically from the self-satisfied isolationism so characteristic of cextain strains in contemporary Orthodox theology. I see this process as alive, exciting, dynamic, {ull of hope, 4, Eastern Catholic Theology is self-conscious. Like Orthodox theology, Eastern Catholic theology is sel{-conscious in ways the West. complacent in its size and strength. never needs to be. Bul it is not xenophobic or paranoid. unlike much in modern Orthodox theology. [39] See Croce (note 7 above) I. | oie 60, [40] See RE, Taft, “Reflections on “Uniatism’,” ester: Churches Journal Volume 7 Number 1 (Spring 2000) 33-72. [4] Eng., Methite Catholic Archbishop Elias Zoghby. We are all sohismarics (Newton MA 1996); M. Petishics, “From Eastemization to Inculturation: Re-inlerpreting the Mission of the Esstern Catholic Churches.” Worship 7111997) 317-335. |42] For entertaining if disconcerting reading, just dip into Yanni Spiteris, La reologia 73Eastern Churches Journal, Vol. 8 No. 2 On the contrary. Eastern Catholic theology is open to the modern West, which itdoes not reject. and whose objectivity and fairness it embraces. 5. Easter Catholic Theology is open and unashamedly eclec- tic, Because of the Wester influence ~ indeed, dominance would not be too strong a term — it has Tong been subjected 10. Easier: Catholic theology is also eclectic in ways that would be an abomination to most Orthodox thinkers. A quintessential represemative of this spirit is the popular Russian Catholic spiritual writer Catherine de Hueck Do- herty."* Her spiritual eclecticism joining East and West, the sort of thing that sends tremors through those so fixated in their pretense lo the exclusivity of their tradition, was so vitally contemporary! This Westem influence. if often deleterious, has also had the positive effect noted in the following characteristic. 6. Eastern Casholie theology rejects the pseudo-aniitheses between Eastern and Western thougitt, and the false polarization con- seguent so ft, As that versatile polymath Louis Bouyer. equally at case in the theological and spizitual traditions of both East and West, was fond of asking those who liked to tout the famous Western spiritual classic, Thomas & Kempis’ Tie Imitation of Christ, as propagating a “iypically Western” spirituality inimical to the spirit of the Christian East, how it was, then, that Kempis went through fifteen editions in Russian? and then there is that “Eastern spiritual classic.” the Unseen ‘ortodossa neo-greca (Colin di studi religiosi, Bologna: Fdizioni Dehoniane 1992). This book should be translated into other languages. if only to make widely {known what some Orthodox theologians really think and say 143] See the receat biography Lorene Hanley Duguin, They Called Her zhe Baroness, The Life of Catherine de Hueck Doherty New York: Atha House 1993). and my review of it in Oriewialia Christiana Periodica 62 (1996) $17-519. [44] L. Bouyer, “Les eatholiques oxcidentaus et la liturgic byzantine.” Diet vivant 21 (1951-52) 17-31. On the same question, see the more thorough discussion and references in G. Podskalsky, “Eniwicklungslinien des sriechisch-hyvantinischen theotogischen Denkens ibis zum Ende der Turkokratie),” Ostkirchliche Studien 47 (1998) 34-43, esp. 35-36. On the Orahodox tendency to averdo the East-West Gistinetion/opposition. see id. “Osthicchtiche Theologie in der Weltkirche: Aliernative (Anuithese), Annex oder AllneilmiueI?” ia RE, Tali (ed), The 74Eastem Catholic Theology Warfare of Nikodemos the Hagiorite (1748-1809), the strikingly eru- ite Athonite monk who produced both the Philokatia and the Pedation, to this day the classic standard amthologics of Orthodox spizituality and canon law. Since we now know that Nikodemos’ Unseen Warfare, published in Venice in 1796, is no more than a slightly abridged translation, with adaplations and additional notes, of the Neapolitan Banabite Lorenzo Scupoli’s Spirirual Combat (Combattimento spiri- ‘uale}, one can understand the scathing derision serious scholarsreserve for those commentators who have pui forward Nikodemos’ work as a pure expression of Eastern Orthodox spirituality in contrast to that of the benighted West!*> 7. Eastern Catholic theology is a theology rooted in the Fathers of the Church, and especially in the lived experience of the Church's liturgy and the spirituality that flows from it. This distinguishes it sharply from typically Western theology. Professional liturgical schol- arsand theologians apart, when does one ever near a Western theologian citing the liturgy? From this flows the next characteris 8. Eastern Catholic Theology forms an integrated whole. Like Orthodox theology, itis an integral (though not closed) world in which liturgy, spirituality, art, and architecture comprise an integrated, har- monious whole in a way unthinkable in the West, with its clash of competing methodologies and philosophies. Like the difference be- ‘tween a gothic cathedral and a small, fully decorated Middle-Byzantine Christian East. Is Institutions & its Thought. A Critical Reflection. Papers of the Imemational Schoiarly Congress for the 75ih Anniversary of the Pontifical ‘Oriemal Institute, Rome. 30 May —5 Tune 1993 {Orientalie Christiana Analecta 251, Rome 1996) 531-541: also D. Wendebourg. “Pseudomorphosis’ ~ ein theologisches Urieil des Axiom der kirchen- und theologiezeschichilichen Forschung.” ibid. 365-589 = eadem. “Pseudomorphosis:’ A Theological Judgement as an Axiom for Research in the History of Church and Theology," The Greek Orthodox Theological Review 42 (1997) 321-342, |45] L. Bouyer, Orthodox Spirinality and Protestant and Anglican Spirituality =A History of Christian Spivituairy, ME (A Crossroad Book, New. York: The Seabury Press 1969) 39-44: G. Podskalsky, Griechische Dheologie in der Zeit der Tirkenherrohcaft 1453-1821 (Manche: C-H. Beck 1988) 280-81 6No.2 church, Eastern Catholic theology is an enclosed world, one that can be taken in at a glance, but also one in which every tessera is an essential piece of the mosaic. Nothing could be more totally different from it than the pick-and-choose, a la carte, self-service smorgasbord approach ta religion fast becoming widespread in the West. As a resull of this integral nature, Eastern Catholic theology has notjusta different liurzy and liturgical iconography and monasticism. It also has a different pneumatology, a different liturgical and spiritual theology, a different theological anthropology, a different Mariology. a different feminism... 9. Eastern Catholic theology is ecumenical, From the very stat, the Eastern Catholic renewal has sought to build bridges to Orthodoxy despite — with some notable exceptions — the latter's systematic rejec- tion of the outstretched hand, In my writings T have already defined elsewhere what ecumenical theology means.’ Ecumenical scholarship is not content with the purely natural virtues of honesty and fairness. virtues one should be able to expect ftom any true scholar. Ecumenical scholarship takes things a long step further. Ecumenical scholarship is anew and specifically Christian way of studying Christian tadition in order to reconcile and unite, rather than to confute and dominate. Its deliberate intention is to emphasize the common tradition underlying differences which, though real, can be the accidental product of history, culture, language, rather than essential differences in the doetrine of the faith. Of course to remain scholarly, this effort must be carried out realistically, without in any way glossing over real differences, which still remain for the furure to resolve. |A6] Sec Ingiessis, Maximos !V (note 23 above) and Korolevsky, Metropolitan Andrew (note 15 above) passim. [47] RF. Tall, “Ecumenical Scholarship and the Catholic-Orthodox Epiclesis Dispute,” Ostktichtiche Srudien 45 (1996) 201-226, here 202-4. 76Eastern Catholic Theology IV, LOOKING TO THE FUTURE What cise that future will offer | leave to the prophets, though there can be little doubt that it will be in the hands of those whe embrace ihe “Western” values of balance, iximess, objectivity. openness, and historical truth, The ecumenical “dialogue of love.” which seeks to siress that which unites rather than that which divides, is an ideai to be sitiven for but not yet achieved. For the Easter Churches will survive not as hermetically sealed protectorates. Indian reservations or mission reductions in the jungle, like those in the film “Mission,” interesting experimemts ulti- mately doomed to extermination by outside forces, The Easter Churches must be helped to survive aot in the wilderness but in the marketplace of the City. And in this, both the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches are in the same boat, Ir is my own view that despite all the paeons of praise we heap — and rightly — on the riches and splendor of the Basten Christian teaditions, Eastern Christianity is in deep trouble almost everywhere. though only a few of its wiser spokes- men have the sense to realize it. The Eastern Churches are facing serious erosion through secularism even in traditional societies like Greece. These Churches. by and large, have shown themselves clearly inade- quate to meet the task of confronting the moder world. This situation is frought with danger. The growing number of educated Eastern Christian clergy and laity. both Catholic and Ortho- ox, who are not and will not be spiritually satisfied with what they are getting from an inadequate leadership, is cause for alarm. The East has a reputation for transcendance and spirituality, but apart from monastic life — and then only in some monasteries ~ I think that reputation is largely undeserved. The lack of preaching, religious instruction, and pastoral care: the superficiality of religious practice: the widespread lack of interiority; are in fact appalling. ‘That is perfectly clear t anyone who has read some of the young, activist Orthodox priests in post-Communist Russia, or diaspora writers like the late Alexander Schmemann, with a sense of objective reality and the capacity for self-criticism. instead of the “scapegoat” approach (whatever is wrong must be someone else's fault) pervasive among the more conservative and fundamentalist clergy and laity. It is 7Eastern Churches Journal, Vol. 8 No. 2 my own personal view that Eastern Christianity finds itself in a pro- found crisis from which it has not yet found the means to extricate itself, and even more preoccupying is the relusal of so many to recognize (his situation, or their attempts to distract attention from it by lashing out, with a chauvinistic xenophobia altogether too traditional in Russian, Greek, or Balkan history, against enemies, real or imagined, who are presumed culpable for whatever is wrong, Eastern Christianity has not yet learned to face modemity, a lesson learned in the West only with great pain and many failures, But in addition to the failures, important lessons have been learned, impor tant values acquired, hopefully with some permanence. Despite fearful reactions and attempts to turn back the clock by those without the intellectual equipment to face and process change, efforts which surely will not succeed, since Vatican II Cathotics have succeeded in facing the modem world. And for the most part they have done so, I believe, with courage, honesty, integrity and imagination. That the Eastern Churches are beginning only now to face the problems of modernity is largely the fault of she circumstances in which these Churches have been forced to live, either as minority confessions in an at-best tolerant Islamic world, or for the past three generations under Communist persecution Tt would be wrong, however, to thinkthat Eastem Christianity does not have within itself the spiritual. means to cope with modernity. We see this in Eastern liturgy — and liturgy is simply the mirror to Bastern Christianity’s inner world — which shows that the Churches haye preserved from the storchouse of its past, elements that are not only desperately needed but also of great appeal to modern men and women. An attachment and profound rootedness in what is best in its own past, a deeply reverential spirit, a sense of the utter transcendence and holiness of God, a high Christology, the only truly integral and effective pneumatology in Christian history, an emphasis on the local Church and the consequent synadal or sobornal structure of church koinonia and governance. But the East also needs the more typically “Westen” virtues of flexibility, the ability to cope with change as a law of our modem culture, objectivity, openness, fairness, self-criticism, and a sense of the 78Eastem Catholic Theology unity of modern global culture in which no one is or can remain an island. If Christianity is 10 survive as a viable lifestyle attractive to modern men and women, it will not be as an obscurantist, anti-intellec- wal culture of folklore and ritwalism, sustained by the rejection of modernity and change. ‘The choice is there for those able to make it. Pope John Paul 1's repeated attempts to reach out in reverential respect and love to our Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Sister Churches.” and the highly successfull meetings of the bishops and religious superiors of the Eastern Catholic Churches of Europe, organized by the Vatican Congregation for the Oriental Churches at Nyitegyhdza in Easter Hungary, June 30-July 6, 1997. and then of North and South America and Oceania at Bosion, November 7-12, 1999. on both of which occasions the firm will toward renewal and restoration of the Eastern heritage was once again affirmed.”? has made it clear that negativity is, for Catholics at least, not the voice of the future, Eastern Catholics now see clearly that they must continue their pilgrimage toward renewal with the help of those of good will, regardless of what others think or say. We Easter [48] See Ecumenica! Documents of 1995. Oriemtaie Lumen, Us Unum Sint, Addresses in Rome (Fuirlax, VA: Eastern Chistian Publications 1996), [49] Sec the Allocution of Cardinal Achille Silvestrini, then Prefect of the Vatican Congcegation forthe Osiemtal Chucches. and the Final Document ofthe meeting, in L'Osservarore romano lor huly 13. 1997. pp. 4-S. The author of this paper was summoned by Cazdinel Silsestrini to participate in both these meetings, witere he _gavea paper atthe firsi.on "Liturgy as an Expression of Church Identity.” delivered and published in italian as “Liurgia come espressione di identita ccclesiale,” in Congregione per le Chiese Oriemtali. identi dette Chiese Oriental! Cattuliche. Anti dell'incontro di studi dei Veseovi ¢ dei Superiori Maggiori delle Chiese Oriemtali Cattoliche d’ Europa, Nyitegyiiza (Uugheria) 30 giugno 6 lughio 1997 (Vatican: Librerin Esitrice Vaticuna 1999) 119-136, It has also appeared in English translation: “Liturgy as Expression of Chorch Identity.” Folia Aihianasiava | (Nyiregy tdza. Hungary, 1999 29-45: and. in summary orm, in “Liturgy: as the Expression of the Identity of the Church,” Easier Churches Journal Vatume 6 Number | (Spring 1999) 30-35: and ut the second: “The Liturgy im the Life of the Church.” Eastern Churckes Journa! Volume 7 Number 2 (Summer 2000) 65-106, 79Easter Churches Joumal, Vol. 8 No. 2 Catholics would prefer to proceed hand in hand with our Orthodox brothers and sisters. But let no one doubt for a minute that with them or without them — and the choice is theirs — we shall stay the course, confident that God is with us. For that is the mandate we have received from our Catholic Church, and that, under God, is the positive voice of encouragement and hope to which we must attend. The audience at the lecture included Bishop Basil Schott of Parma (first row, far left) and Metropolitan Nicholas of Amissos first row, second from the left) 80