Zenit: ON THE FEAST OF ST. STEPHEN
"St. Stephen is a Model for All Those Who Want to Serve the New Evangelization"

Rome Reports - Review of January 2012

Rome Reports: January 2012: Pope approves several liturgies of the Neocatechumenal Way

Rome Reports: Urbi et Orbi: Benedict XVI issues Christmas greeting in over 65 languages and includes message to China


Zenit: On the Visitation
"Let us Strive Again to Make Room in our Hearts to Welcome the Christ Dhild with Love and Humility"
Pope Benedict XVI's Urbi et Orbi Message
"Truth has Sprung Up, Bringing Kindness, Justice and Peace"
Benedict XVI's Christmas Eve Homily
"What would happen if Mary and Joseph were to knock at my door"

Chant Cafe: The Musical Portions of the Christmas Vigil

Misc.
Friend Honors Author Who Criticized Abuse of Vatican II
Michael Davies Was a 'Man of the Church'

Should be leaving today for AZ. Be back next week.

ΚΑΤΑΒΑΣΙΕΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥΓΕΝΝΩΝ XRISTOYGENNA

Kabarnos Νικόδημος

Today the Virgin Gives Birth... (Kontakion of the Nativity, Znamenny chant)

A wish list for books published by University of Notre Dame Press:

Thomas Aquinas as Reader of the Psalms by Thomas F. Ryan
Does God Suffer? by Thomas Weinandy, O.F.M.
John Buridan: Portrait of a Fourteenth-Century Arts Master by Jack Zupko
Logic and Philosophy: An Integrated Introduction by William H. Brenner
A Dialogue on Natural Philosophy (Dragmaticon Philosophiae) by William of Conches
Translated by Matthew Curr and Italo Ronca
Treatise on Divine Predestination by John Scottus Eriugena
Translated by Mary Brennan
Augustine and the Cure of Souls: Revising a Classical Ideal by Paul R. Kolbet
Loving the Fine: Virtue and Happiness in Aristotle's Ethics by Anna Lännström
Happiness and Benevolence by Robert Spaemann
Friendship and Politics: Essays in Political Thought Edited by John von Heyking and Richard Avramenko
God's Grace and Human Action: 'Merit' in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas by Joseph P. Wawrykow
The Case of Galileo: A Closed Question? by Annibale Fantoli
Translated by George V. Coyne, S.J.
Demonstration and Scientific Knowledge in William of Ockham: A Translation of Summa Logicae III-II: De Syllogismo Demonstrativo, and Selections from the Prologue to the Ordinatio by John Lee Longeway

Integral Humanism, Freedom in the Modern World, and A Letter on Independence, Revised Edition
Jacques Maritain
Edited by Otto Bird
Translated by Otto Bird, Joseph Evans, and Richard O’Sullivan, K.C.

Now Available for Pre-Ordering

From University of Notre Dame Press:
What Happened in and to Moral Philosophy in the Twentieth Century?
Philosophical Essays in Honor of Alasdair MacIntyre
Edited by Fran O'Rourke

I am considering getting a copy of this - Virtue and Politics: Alasdair MacIntyre’s Revolutionary Aristotelianism, edited by Paul Blackledge and Kelvin Knight

But will the contributors to the volume give too much of a "leftist spin" on MacIntyre? Is investigating if this is this the case and reading MacIntyre's response worth the price of the book, even with 40% off (until the end of the month)? I think I will see if it is available at a local university library first. Here's a review of the book at NDPR.

Another book I will delay purchasing: Reason, Tradition, and the Good: MacIntyre's Tradition-Constituted Reason and Frankfurt School Critical Theory by Jeffery L. Nicholas
A review at NDPR.

Aeon Magazine: End of Byzantium by Helena Drysdale
Besieged by a majority Turkish culture, Istanbul's Ecumenical Patriarch Barthomelew I attempts a cosmopolitan revival

Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
“Bartholomew is Seeking to Reinvigorate Dialogue With Roman Catholics”

Lee Cheek reviews Political Philosophy: A Historical Introduction by Michael J. White: A Good Introduction to Political Philosophy

St. Ambrose of Milan: Heeding God’s Call by Archpriest Alexander Men (+1990)

Mystagogy: Florovsky on St. Ignatius of Antioch

Lynette Hull, Re-creation of the Icon

(via Byzantine, Texas)

The Debate on Logic

The Difference between Traditional and Modern Logic and the Difference it Makes (via First Thoughts, which refers on a recent Peter Kreeft article - William Randolph Brafford's first post responding to Kreeft - see the comments posted there)

Related:
Henry Babcock Veatch's Two Logics

Byzantine, TX: Accolades continue to roll in for film "Archimandrite" - Pravoslavie

Vatican Insider: Israel: Dead Sea scrolls go online

Jimmy Akin, Whoa! 1st Century Info About Mark's Gospel!

December 15, 2012 - Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk meets with His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew

Making a Mountain...

Aristotle and Aquinas: The Vital Difference by Don DeMarco, Ph. D.

As far as I'm concerned, personalism is not a significant difference between the ethics of Aquinas and that of Aristotle. (We might even ask the question of whether contenmporary personalism is even important to the moral theology of Aquinas, or if we are just trading one word, e.g. human, for another, person.)

"The difference between the ethics of Aristotle and Aquinas has to do with how virtue comes about. It is reasonable to be virtuous. Surely “honesty is the best policy.” That is simply a reasonable statement that does not require love. And virtue, for Aristotle, lies between two extremes. Thus, the virtue of courage, for example, is the midpoint between the vices of timidity and foolishness. This is all very sensible, though something is missing.

Perhaps Aristotle overestimated our capacity to be reasonable and under-estimated the importance of love. Whereas Aristotle links virtue to reason, Aquinas links it more properly to love. Therefore, as the Angelic doctor states, “Love is the form of all virtues.” This means that every virtue derives its degree of virtuousness by its association with love."

The important difference is that Aristotle writes from a non-Christian perspective, one which is unaided by Divine Revelation. Aristotle does not talk about "love" but he does talk about friendship in all of its forms, as it exists between human beings. But not, friendship between man and God. Should we be surprised then that he has no understanding of the beatitude to which we are called, or the grace that is necessary? No account of the "supernatural organism" which is so central to the moral theology of Aquinas (and of good Christian moral theology in general)?

The differences in their ethics is not due to competing accounts of human nature (with respect to the material or formal causes) - but with respect to human nature as it relates to its Creator, God.

James Chastek, Rights and Justice

St. Thomas makes rights the object of justice, and they are recognizable as rights in our own sense (e.g. they are divided into natural and legal rights, and slaves as slaves do not have any). One important difference is that, by locating them in the context of justice, rights are properly had by others. It is certainly true that I have rights, but when I say this I am considering them so far as they can make someone else just. To consider rights as my own leaves them recognizable as rights, but it prescinds from the context that could make me a good, virtuous, happy person.

1. Ius (pl. iura) is the object of justice that is true; to translate it as right is potentially misleading since what is meant as ius by St. Thomas is not the same as what we mean by right in the sense of a moral faculty or freedom to do a certain action. It is proper to the Bill of Rights to list these moral faculties in order to safeguard them from being infringed by the Federal Government. The Bill of Rights sets to make explicit the limits to the authority of the Federal Government. [subjective active rights]

2. The other subjective "right," a title or claim to something, may be bound up with St. Thomas's notion of ius. Ius, as explained by St. Thomas, is proper to ethics is moral theology - determining what is owed to another, what must be done/rendered to another (an action, first of all) by a moral agent. Determining what is owed to me is proper to a judge or someone else mediating a dispute, though it is not without the flip side - if I have a legitimate claim to something, then it must be given to me. [subjective passive rights]

Zenit: On The Fruits of Conversion
"It Is There, in Our Conduct, That We Must Show That We Are Following His Will"

Deneen Responds to Schlueter

Re: Natural Law Liberalism - Beyond Wishful Thinking: A Response to Schlueter

Znamenny Chant by Fr. Simon Pimen

(via Byzantine, TX)

Another Interview with Fr. Gabriel

Pravmir: One Cannot Be Anything More Than a Christian: A Conversation with Fr. Gabriel (Bunge)

Father Peter Galadza on Light of the East

Light of the East: #427: Father Peter Galadza (mp3)

I think Fr. Galadza touches upon the question of married priests in the Eastern churches.

Related: #426: The Maronite Church (mp3)
The Light Of The East #424: An Eastern Monk (mp3)

Beatitudes, Mode 1

Crisis Magazine: “Go Read Your Thomas” by Brian Jones

"Following and expanding upon the tradition handed down to him, St. Thomas taught that reality had an intelligible order to it which aligned with our internal knowledge-based development."

??? I will have to think about what the author is trying to say here...

"Modern man is frequently provided with more education than ever before, but seems to understand himself less and less. There is no metaphysical framework that allows us to understand ourselves, the world we are in, how we ought to act, and ultimately, God. College has become the summum bonum for the youth, but it has not proven to be a community that truly helps young people to ask the deepest questions concerning life that make it more authentically human."

Metaphysics is important and the highest of the naturally knowable sciences, but it is unlikely to be attained by more than a few. There is no "metaphysical framework" because our society at large has rejected Christianity and continues to do so, while lacking the intellectual "elites" lack the requisite skills and moral character to recognize their ignorance.

Byzantine, TX: Chrysostom Seminar in Rome discusses clerical celibacy

Alexander Schmemann on the Ordained Priesthood

Synaxis: Remembering Father Alexander Schmemann: Ministry and Vocation

Father Schmemann strongly argues that there is no special or unique vocation of the priesthood other than to reveal to others the common vocation of the entire people of God: to always offer thanksgiving to God. He was adamant that any theological or doctrinal separation between the vocations of the clergy and the laity is a false one, which reduces the priesthood to a separate caste of people, much like the Levites in the Old Testament, and thereby encourages clericalism. According to Schmemann, “If there are priests in the Church, if there is the priestly vocation in it, it is precisely in order to make the whole life of all the liturgy of the Kingdom, to reveal the Church as the royal priesthood of the redeemed world.” Thus the priest fulfills the calling of everyone who is a member of the royal priesthood, to offer prayer and praise to God and become fully a priest over creation, always giving thanks for everything.

Continue reading.

Related:
Elder Paisios On Those Called To Be Clergymen
Today's Need for Bright and Transparent Cassocks
Elder Ephraim Katounakiotis: On the Priesthood (1)

Reflections on the Final Volume of Pope Benedict XVI's "Jesus of Nazareth"

Tonight's panel discussion at the DSPT will be streamed live. The discussion commences at 7:30 P.M. (PST).

The Beatitudes- Znamenny Chant (English)

Is a notion of ritual impurity sustainable in Christianity?

Via Byzantine, Texas: Purify Her Uncleanness by Carrie Frederick Frost
December 11, 2012

"Gregory" attempts to explain certain practices not through "ritual impurity" but concerns about physical integrity and safeguarding the mysteries, or something. Do the prayers and practices admit of this interpretation? This topic is somewhat new to me.

Sister Vassa Larin's opinion. And a response to Sister Vassa Larin by Fr. Sergei Sveshnikov. (He also has a follow-up article.)

Also from Byzantine, TX: Confession and the contrite heart

Will we return to this practice?

Infant Communion: The Ancient Western Tradition by Fr. John A. Peck

He cites the work of Archimandrite Robert Taft, S.J.

Some Catholics similarly advocate that Confirmation be restored to its place right after Baptism.

Natural Law Liberalism

Is this how we should understand the American founding fathers?

Sustainable Liberalism by Nathan Schlueter (via First Thoughts)

Previously...
Better than Our Philosophy: A Response to Muñoz by Patrick J. Deneen

Why Social Conservatives Should Be Patriotic Americans: A Critique of Patrick Deneen by Vincent Phillip Muñoz

Rome Reports: Benedict XVI and Cardinal Marc Ouellet open Americas conference at the Vatican


Zenit: Pope Benedict Addresses International Congress on "Ecclesia in America"
Calls on Participants to Focus on Problems Due to Secularism
Pope's Address to Participants of "Ecclesia In America" International Congress [2012-12-10]
Cardinal Ouellet Presides Over Opening Mass of International Congress on "Ecclesia in America"
Three Day Congress Will Focus on Evangelization in North and South America
Cardinal Ouellet's Homily at Opening Mass of the International Congress on "Ecclesia in America" [2012-12-10]

Rome Reports: Pope honors Our Lady on the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception


Zenit: Pope Venerates Image of Virgin Mary on Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Traditional Tribute Takes Place in Rome
Pope's Immaculate Conception Address at the Spanish Steps
"Mary Immaculate Teaches Us to Listen to the Voice of God that Speaks in Silence" [2012-12-09]

The Christian Origins of Islam by Peter J. Leithart

Dr. Leithart refers to Christoph Luxenberg's The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran and to a collection of essays, The Hidden Origins of Islam.

Dr. Kevin White on the Consequences of Introducing the Microphone to Liturgy

Citing Marshall McLuhan... Drop the Mic (via First Thoughts)

Zenit: ON AWAITING THE COMING OF THE LORD
"Let us Prepare to See, with the Eyes of Faith, Gods Salvation in the Humble Grotto of Bethlehem"

Interview with Metropolitan Tikhon of the OCA

OCN airs interview with Metropolitan Tikhon - OCN (mp3)

Alleluia: Tota Pulchra Es, Maria (Immaculate Conception)

More at Stephan George's YT channel.

The Habit of the Dominican

Honorary Degree Ceremony for Metropolitan Hilarion

Benedict XVI on Rights

Zenit: Benedict XVI's Address to Plenary Assembly of Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
"The Rights and Duties Do Not Have as their Sole and Exclusive Foundation the Social Conscience of Peoples, but Depend Primarily on the Natural Moral Law"

The ITC Document on Theology

Rome Reports: Pope welcomes document published by the International Theological Commission
http://www.romereports.com/palio/pope-welcomes-document-published-by-theinternational-theological-commission-english-8460.html#.UMJuhYNlWeA

THEOLOGY TODAY: PERSPECTIVES, PRINCIPLES AND CRITERIA

Zenit: Pope Benedict's Address to the International Theological Commission
"Without Openness to the Transcendent [...], Mankind becomes Unable to Act in Accordance with Justice and Work for Peace" [2012-12-07]

Pope Benedict XVI: 'Christianity and Monotheism is of Vibrant Relevance'
Pontiff Addresses International Theological Commission

Rome Reports: Georg Gaenswein, named Prefect of the Papal Household and Archbishop

Fr. Z: Promoter of women “deacons” can’t speak in Archdiocese of Philadelphia

What if certain Orthodox Christians (and Eastern Catholics) began advocating the "restoration" of deaconesses? I think Fr. Z is too dismissive of the historical data, which needs to be addressed properly.

John Haldane interview

3:AM Magazine: aquinas amongst the analytics (via Edward Feser)

A lecture he gave for the Iona Institute - Love, sex and marriage in liberal societies.


Q&A

Insight Scoop: New: "Enchiridion Symbolorum" (a new edition of "Denzinger")

"The New Testament in Byzantium"

Dumbarton Oaks: 2013 Byzantine Studies Symposium, April 26-28, 2013, Symposiarchs: Robert S. Nelson, Yale University and Derek Krueger, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

tentative program (pdf)
poster (pdf)

Patrick Brennan Responds to Jordan Ballor

The catholicity of subsidiarity

Edward Feser: Gonzaga lectures online

The 650th Anniversary of the Venerable English College

Rome Reports


Pope: audience with Venerable English College (full text)
Zenit

Archbishop Nichols' Homily at Venerable English College Anniversary Mass
"Today We are Very Conscious of Wanting to Deepen in our Church and in our Lives a New Spirit of Evangelization" [2012-12-03]

Gallery

Rome Reports: St. John Damascene, according to Benedict XVI

Does God Want Us to Be Happy? by Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko

How does he define happiness or happy? A definition is not offered at the beginning of the interview, but we do find a hint later:

Helen: So, the main confusion is that people look at their problems from a secular attitude, saying to themselves, “My life should be happy here on earth” rather than looking toward the life after this one. Is that so? 

Fr. Thomas: Yes. I would also say that not only do people look at life secularly – which I guess would mean with no relationship whatsoever to God – but I think it’s also true to say, especially nowadays, that many people look at the world in a falsely religious way. Not necessarily just secularly. People think that God exists to make our earthly life “happy,” to take away all suffering and pain, to do whatever we want Him to do, that all we have to do is “name it and claim it” and God will give it to us, no matter what it is — health, a good job, a good sex life or, for example, how the human genome project is described. I read it recently on the front page of the New York Times. The director of the project said: “Our purpose is very clear: it is to live a longer, happier, more pain-free, healthier human life before we inevitably die.” Well, many people think that’s a good program. Many religious people think that’s what God is trying to do, too — to make us live a longer, happier, healthier, better, and easier life…

The accumulation of various goods, but not the eudaimonia of Aristotle or Aquinas.

The full interview.

Related:
Something on those happiness studies. [Subjective] satisfaction vs. fulfillment based on objective meaning?

"Confession: The Path to Renewal of the Heart" ‒ A Lecture by Archimandrite Irinei (Steenberg) at the Joint Pastoral Conference in Nyack

This morning at a sale at a local Catholic bookstore, I looked through a copy of Married Priests? I don't think any new arguments are advanced regarding clerical celibacy as an ideal, and it relies on much work already done by Cochini and Heid and the like. It is unlikely, then, that this new book would successfully persuade Orthodox (and Eastern Catholics).

Related:
SACERDOTALIS CAELIBATUS
Priestly celibacy in patristics and in the history of the Church by Roman Cholij (who has since then repudiated his original position, iirc)

He has also written Theodore the Stoudite: The Ordering of Holiness.

From earlier this year: Rome to US Eastern Catholics: New Priests Should “Embrace Celibacy”

Biopic of Joseph Ratzinger to be Made

Vatican Insider: Ratzinger’s life becomes a film
An international production on the life and works of the Pope has been announced in Munich. The film is due out in 2014 and will be based on the written biography by Peter Seewald

Some Events at the DSPT Next Year

From the Events Calendar:

Natural Law - an Evening with Russell Hittinger, Jean Porter and Lloyd Weinreb
Thursday, January 31, 7 pm
Save the date to learn more about natural law from leading scholars: Russell Hittinger , William K. Warren Professor of Catholic Studies and Research Professor of Law at the University of Tulsa; Jean Porter , John A. O'Brien Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame; and Lloyd Weinreb , Dane Professor of Law at Harvard University. More details to come.

According to his brother, Dr.  Hittinger's book on Catholic social teaching (long-awaited by me) is finished and will be published soon. I haven't seen any information on it yet.
And the 2013 Aquinas Lecture:

The 23rd Annual Aquinas Lecture - Baptismal Theology and Practice in the Age of St. Thomas Aquinas
Fr. Augustine Thompson, OP
Wednesday, February 27, 7.30 pm
Fr. Augustine will examine new discoveries about the liturgical and social significance of baptism in the cities of thirteenth-century Italy and compare them with the development of the theology of baptism from the 12th century to Thomas Aquinas in the late 13th.

Metropolitan Tikhon Visits St. Vladimir's Seminary
Metropolitan Tikhon’s Inaugural Visit to Seminary Includes Guest Cardinal Dolan

FB album


Related:
SVOTS Dean Lectures in Toronto, and Serves in London at Anniversary Liturgy

For the Feast of St. Andrew

For Bartholomew, the ecumenical journey is "irreversible"


Pope: Catholics and Orthodox, witnesses of the Gospel to the world that has lost faith in God

Contemporary Monasticism, God’s Will, and Everyday Life: A Conversation with Archimandrite Tikhon

Subsidiarity in the Tradition of Catholic Social Doctrine by Patrick Brennan (via MoJ)

By what definition of heresy?

The custodian of faith on the “heretical interpretations” of the Council

“There’s Plenty of Freedom, But Little Truth”: Solzhenitsyn Remembered by Archpriest Nikolai Chernyshev

TAC as an Example of Subsidiarity?

Fr. Joseph Illo, Subsidiarity

Vatican II: The History and the Narratives by Massimo Faggioli

Fr. Florovsky on St. John Chrysostom

Pravmir: St. John Chrysostom: The Prophet of Charity

More at Pravmir with Fr. Gabriel Bunge

Theological Study, the Spiritual Life, and Russia Today: A Conversation with Fr. Gabriel (Bunge)

Rome Reports: Benedict XVI homily for the ceremony to create six new cardinals

Orthodox Readings of Aquinas

Looks good.

Orthodox Readings of Aquinas by Marcus Plested (OUP US)

Via the FB page for the Fr. Georges Florovsky Orthodox Christian Theological Society

Vindictive Versus Rehabilitative

Vatican Insider: Pope: “Justice fails if prison fails to re-educate”

Should a punishment itself be meant to be rehabilitative? (In so far as it may be the occassion of repentence.) One must prepare the offender or criminal for reintegration into society, and supply the moral formation that he may not have received. But I would not consider this to be a part of the punishment itself, but a necessary supplement required by civic friendship and social justice.

Akathist of Thanksgiving

Dr. Glen Coughlin on Time

“Musings on Time”

New City Press

I was looking at the New City Press website since the company is the publisher of two books, one of which I mentioned on this blog. St. Augustine is prominent. There's another book from New City Press in which I am interested, but I can't remember the title - I think it is on economics. I'll have to look it up at the OLOP gift store. Anyway, I didn't know the company is associated with Focolare.

Orthodoxy by Paul Evdokimov

Focolare US
You Are Peter by Olivier Clément on sale now.

Rome Reports: Pope's book on the infancy of Jesus released

Eastern Christian Books: Bill Mills on Alexander Schemannn (via NLM)

Tracey Rowland on the Importance of Karol Wojtyla

Vatican II: A Hermeneutic of Continuity or Reform? by Tracey Rowland

One of the many areas which underwent a much-needed reform was that of the understanding of marriage and family life. This was in no small measure due to the interventions of the young Bishop Wojtyła from Cracow. He understood that the Church needed to develop a theology of marriage that went beyond the formulae of the scholastic marriage manuals that were widely used before the Second Vatican Council. He wanted to inject some of the insights from personalist philosophy into the Church’s teaching in this area. In other words, he wanted to draw into the Church’s theology of marriage ideas that are now presented to the world under the label of “Lublin Thomism.”

Did the vocation to the married life need to be clarified and explained for the laity? Perhaps, with the continuing onslaught by the modern state and the economic and political powers on Catholics and family life. Is theology of the body the best solution? I still have doubts. Love is the foundation of all Christian living, but in marriage one should not neglect the differences in function, psychology, or attraction that are rooted in sex differences, or overly-spiritualize conjugal love and married friendship. Perhaps the original theology of the body does not do that, but one also needs to take into account what else John Paul II said about relations between men and women and the role of women in society. Can the modern state be a proper starting point for an explication on the role of women? Or does a dialectical examination of the history of the modern state and social trends reveal that what we see cannot be purged of the influence of "liberalism" or "feminism" or some other error?

Alasdair MacIntyre's Presentation at the 13th Annual Fall Conference of the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture.

Alasdair MacIntyre "Catholic Instead of What?" Response by Sean Kelsey

Tracey Rowland on the New Latin Academy

The New Pontifical Academy for Latin by Tracey Rowland

Enthronement Liturgy of H.H. Pope Tawadros II

The Beatitudes (Pärt) — Choir of King's College, Cambridge

Who Supervises "Catholic" Universities?

The Upside-Down World of Catholic Higher Education by Anne Hendershott (via Insight Scoop)

The Principles of Theology

Dominicana: St. Thomas the Supernaturalist

Fr Peter Galadza on the Married Priesthood

Vatican Radio: Optional celibacy in the Eastern Catholic Church - mp3

More regarding the subject of this post.

Two videos for the Magnificat Day of Faith 2012

Ordo Praedicatorum

William Oddie Responds to Eamon Duffy

William Oddie: Eamon Duffy talks of ‘the Sovietisation of Catholic intellectual life’ and quotes Newman in defence of Tina Beattie: Newman would disagree

Related:
Another example of liberal panic
On Being a Catholic Academic
Prof. Tina Beattie’s US lectures cancelled because of her public dissent from Church’s moral teaching

Archbishop Di Noia on the New Evangelization

Athenaeum
Ordo Praedicatorum

Discussion Panel of the Third Volume of Joseph Ratzinger's Jesus of Nazareth

At the DSPT: Finally the Beginning: Reflections on the Final Volume of Pope Benedict XVI's "Jesus of Nazareth"

Wednesday, December 12, 7.30 pm

The momentous third and final volume in the Pope's international bestselling Jesus of Nazareth series, The Infancy Narratives , details the stories of Jesus' infancy and boyhood, and how they are relevant in the modern world. Our panel will engage and reflect on this final work as we prepare for the coming of Jesus at Christmas.

The event is free and open to all.

PANELISTS:
Thomas Cattoi, PhD, Associate Professor of Christology and Cultures, Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University, Berkeley

Fr. Bryan Kromholtz, OP, Assistant Professor of Theology, DSPT

Fr. Anselm Ramelow, OP, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Department Chair of Philosophy, DSPT

FB

Eastern Catholics explain tradition, value of married priests (viz Byzantine, Texas)


Related:
The Deacon's Bench
St. Elias Today!
Orthocath

Fr. C. Smith on the New Pontifical Academy

Pontificia Academia Latinitatis

Primates of Orthodox Church of Jerusalem and Russian Orthodox Church celebrate Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - more photos

Rome Reports: New Coptic pope talks about the situation of Christians in Egypt

Rome Reports: Kiko Argüello from the Neocatecumenal Way talks about plans for the Year of Faith


The local Church needs to "outcult the cults," addressing through cells of prayer, fellowship and action those human inclinations which ecclesial movements have been successful in satisfying but at the risk of distortion in doctrine, the order of charity, or praxis (or liturgical practice).

Alumni Philosophers Present at National Conference

"Latin? We don't need no..."

Rorate Caeli: Motu Proprio "Latina Lingua", establishing the Pontifical Latin Academy

St. Thérèse's True Teaching on Deification

The real Thérèse of Lisieux and those letters that were tampered with by ANDREA TORNIELLI

It is a story of true holiness and manipulated documents that told by Gianni Gennari in his new book “Teresa di Lisieux, il fascino della santità. I segreti di una “dottrina” ritrovata” (Thérèse of Lisieux, The appeal of Sainthood. The secrets of a rediscovered “doctrine” – Lindau publishers, 616 pages, 38 Euros). And one recounted in meticulous detail and inspired by documents that remained unpublished until now. The volume reconstructs the life of an extraordinary woman. Saint Thérèse of the Child of Jesus is remembered by faithful as the “little saint” and is identified with the “spiritual infancy” described in Matthew’s Gospel: “If you do not change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

And yet Thérèse Françoise Marie Martin who died in the Carmel of Lisieux at the tender age of 24 in September 1897 and was canonised by Pius XI in 1925, never used the expression “spiritual infancy” in her original writings.

The book demonstrates very clearly that the doctrine of “spiritual infancy” was the brainchild of Thérèse’s sisters who were disciples of the Jesuit, Almire Pichon. Gennari writes that for fifty years, the sisters led everyone, including the Popes, to see in her the prefect embodiment of the teachings of their spiritual director. And they managed this on their own.” They did so by spreading their faith, by presenting Thérèse’s writings, which were often altered and manipulated, and also through their testimonies and the correspondence they exchanged with the Holy See when Popes needed to prepare speeches on the saint.

Interesting - an even better Catholic spirituality, grounded in divinization or theosis.

Psalm 33 - Greek Byzantine Music by NEKTARIA KARANTZI

Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville

Byzantine, TX: Holy Trinity Monastery (Jordanville) in dire financial straits

Arvo Pärt, "Passio"

Hierarchical Divine Liturgy- Kazan Icon- Казанской иконы Богоматерь (November 4, 2012)

Compostela ad Vesperas Sancti Iacobi

Zenit: Between Tradition and the Modern World
An Introduction to the Thought of Fr. Bernard Lonergan

Chiesa: The "Credo" Against False Gods

This is the overriding objective of the year of faith desired by Benedict XVI. To bring men back to the one true God. And to depose from their thrones the false divinities that dominate the world

by Sandro Magister


Vatican Diary / What remains of the synod

Related: XIII Ordinary General Assembly

ordopraedicatorum: The Risk of Faith: The Example of the Saints

Fr. Lazarus El Anthony

A Monk's Life


Other parts can be found at these channels:
Coptic Youth Channel
tamav333

The Last Anchorite


Part 2

New Coptic Pope Elected

In pictures: Coptic pope chosen
New Coptic Pope is chosen in Egypt (Video)

Related links:
Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate
Coptic Church
Coptic Orthodox Church Network
Encyclopedia Coptica

More videos:

Valaam Monastery - Beatitudes

A summary of a paper given by Laura Hohman at the Charles Homer Haskins Society conference at BC: Christian Living Explained: Alcuin’s De virtutibus et vitiis liber in a Carolingian Instructional Manual

David Clayton

Divna Ljubojevic - We magnify Thee

DSPT Aquinas Lecture 2012- Dr. Michael Tkacz: Albert the Great and the New Aristotelianism

While I had blogged the announcement of the lecture, I apparently had not posted the archived video for it, so here it is:

DSPT Aquinas Lecture 2012- Dr. Michael Tkacz: Albert the Great and the New Aristotelianism from DSPT on Vimeo.

Requiem - Thomas Luis de Victoria

Some Familiar Names

TAC: Alumni Launch “The Charles De Koninck Project”

Zenit: ON THE ECCLESIAL NATURE OF FAITH
No one can have God as Father who does not have the Church as Mother.

Edward Feser, Hey kids! Free casuistry!

Byzantine, Texas: A new book on the theology of Alexander Schmemann

"Eucharist: A Prayer For Unity"

Archimandrite Robert Taft, S.J.


Parts 2, 3, 6 (4?)

Robert Louis Wilken's New Book

Yale University Press: The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity

Robert Louis Wilken's New Book

Yale University Press: The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity

The Cornerstone #5: Bl. John Duns Scotus

The Cornerstone #5: Bl. John Duns Scotus by AirMaria

K. Whitehead on the Common Good and the Federal Government

Does Paul Ryan Threaten the Common Good? by Kenneth D. Whitehead

Robert Spaemann on the Council

Spaemann: Konzil hat Niedergang der Kirche eingeleitet (via Eponymous Flower)

Some Videos With Roberto De Mattei

(alt)





Roberto De Mattei - Presentazione libro "Il concilio Vaticano II" 1 parte (Parts 2 and 3 and 4)

Monsignor Gheradini on Vatican II

Some links to articles on Monsignor Brunero Gherardini.

Obtaining a copy of the English translation of his book appears to be difficult. I hope there is a second printing.

ON THE PASTORAL NATURE OF VATICAN II: AN EVALUATION

Ο ύμνος της αγάπης

Al Kimel, formerly of Pontifications, doesn't really talk about his conversion to Orthodoxy but gives his view of Orthodoxy and Orthodox theology, while mentioning some personal tragedies: Why Eclectic?

Kyrie eleison.

Retreats at Holy Resurrection Monastery

Retreats at HRM 2012-2013

These two are of interest:

April 12-14, 2013, The Mass, East and West

• Presenter: Abbot Nicholas

How can we serve the New Evangelization through our liturgical treasures? This retreat will help the Mass come alive for you in new ways.

May 24-26, 2013, The Jesus Prayer

• Presenter: Father Maximos

How can we “rejoice always and pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17)? This retreat will be a practical introduction to prayer of the heart for lay people.

But the monastery is now located in Wisconsin... if I ever visit WI, I'd try to visit Providence Academy and the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe as well.

Novices (OP West): Ephrem the Syrian, Proto-Dominican

Vatican Insider: Russia: The Orthodox spring

Sarge and others are skeptical, but we should pray for rejuvenated local churches there (and the restoration of communion with the Bishop of Rome).

Thomistica.net: Weisheipl's Commentary on the Posterior Analytics Online

Ed Feser: The Charles De Koninck Project - the website.

Married Priests in the Roman Rite?

First Thoughts: UPDATED: John Haldane Calls for Married Priests

Despite the long history of the discipline of clerical celibacy in the Roman rite, I am not so attached to it. I would not be bothered if the rule was changed so that married men could be ordained to the priesthood. An increase in the number of smaller neighborhood communities (and their temples) would probably require an increase in the number of priests, and it is doubtful whether this would be financially viable for many urban areas in the United States. There would have to be a core group of members who could provide financial support for the community.

Is such a change necessary to increase the number of candidates to the priesthood? There is in the Western Patriarchate (or in the United States, at least) a crisis in authority rooted in a crisis in masculinity - admitting older married candidates may help alleviate certain problems in the exercise of authority and pastoral care, provided that they have the leadership qualities that the younger men lack (along with many bishops). Do we have a shortage of manly Catholic fathers?

Two on Natural Law

Thomistica.net: de lege naturae by Michael Pakaluk
Natural Law Ain’t About Falling Apples by Andrew Haines

"Eastern Catholicism," with Abbot Nicholas Zachariadis

Catholic Answers: (mp3)

Pope awards the 'Ratzinger Prize,' considered the Nobel of Theology

Pope on seven new saints: Their lives speak to the Universal Church


Pope's Homily on Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American Saint



NLM: The Return of the Papal Fanon


The occasion did help me think of a birthday present for my niece.

Joint Liturgy of the Eastern American Diocese and Moscow Patriarchate (Oct. 13, 2012) - PREVIEW

Modernist architecture done right... because there is no bare space on the inside...

Μεθ ημών ο Θεός - Kabarnos Νικόδημος

Agni Parthene (Complete) - Simonopetra Monastery

Living Tradition No. 152: A CANONICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE INFALLIBILITY OF THE TEACHING IN HUMANAE VITAE by Andrew Kong

ΚΥΡΙΕ ΕΚΕΚΡΑΞΑ ΠΡΟΣ ΣΕ - Lord I have cried to You

Mospat: Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk meets with Pope Benedict XVI

The Next Dumb Ox Event

At the DSPT, October 30 at 8 P.M.: Fr. Hilary Martin, OP - Does Theology Change Anything?

Money matters, but does theology? Power matters, but does theology? Fr. Yves Congar, OP matters. Fr. Yves Congar, a French Dominican spent his life working with theology. Before, during and after Vatican II he worked on the Faith and how to get it across to people. He was not a bishop at the Second Vatican Council, only a Peritus, but had a hand in a lot that went on there. His Journal, or Daybook, shows how deep a hand he had.

Are we different from the way we were, and the way we were from the way we are now?

The Morality of Dr. Yamanaka's Research

Why are Catholics Praising the Nobel Prize Stem Cell Technology? (via Fr. Z)

Archbishop Cordileone on World Over

The Synod of Bishops and Such

Zenit: Benedict XVI's Address To Second Vatican Council Fathers [2012-10-14]
Christianity Must not be Considered as 'Something of the Past'

Pope's Address at Luncheon with Synod Fathers and Bishops Who Participated in Vatican II
"The Lord Will Also Help us to Move Forward Exteriorly"

Pope Benedict XVI Gives Exclusive Interview for Documentary
"Bells of Europe" Highlights the History between Christianity and Europe

On Wealth
"The Church's History is Full of Examples of Rich People Who Used their Possessions in an Evangelical Way"

Kiko Argüello: 'We Are Spectators of the Works of the Holy Spirit'
Initiator of the Neocatechumenal Way Speaks on the Ecclesial Reality's Role within the Church

Archbishop Pagla's Intervention at Synod of Bishops
"The Future of Evangelization Largely Depends on the Domestic Church"

More

MosPat: Metropolitan Hilarion’s greeting to the Synod of Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church Rome, 16 October 2012

The Proper Interpretation of Vatican II

Dominicana: Conciliar Debates and the Desire for Unity

I received an e-mail from Loreto Publications that the translation of Roberto de Mattei's book on Vatican II is in the works, and it is hoped that it will be ready by the end of the year. If you are interested in purchasing a copy when it becomes available, please contact the publisher to let it know.

I still wonder, though, would it be necessary to force a reading of the documents that is orthodox and in harmony with Sacred Tradition if it were possible to admit that the documents are expressions of the Ordinary Magisterium, and hence not everything is on the same level, and that some tentative opinions were advanced which could be erroneous? An ecumenical council may be an "extraordinary act" as stated by the author of the above, but that does not mean that its documents necessary belong to the Sacred or Solemn Magisterium of the Church. If the second Vatican Council had not been so hyped, would we need to pay so much attention to it as a source of discord and division?

There is a video of the sedevecantist Fr. Cekada on the topic of the Ordinary Magisterium.

On the Hermeneutic of Continuity: Benedict XVI, the Reformer
See also The Five "Conciliar" Days of the Pope

Vatican Insider:
“Modifying the draft document on the divine Revelation”
"It taught us to live in a new world" by LUCA ROLANDI - Interview with Jesuit historian and theologian, John W. O’Malley

30 Giorni has had to suspend publication, with issue number 5. IN MEMORY OF DON GIACOMO TANTARDINI

Related:
Si Si No No: RELIGIOUS LIBERTY AND THE ORDINARY MAGISTERIUM Fr. Jean-Michel Gleize
Clear Ideas on the Pope's Infallible Magisterium

Rorate Caeli: International Theological Commission: Saint Thomas Aquinas and the Year of Faith

Fr. Joseph Komonchak to Speak in Berkeley Tomorrow

At the Newman Hall (still run by the Paulists?) at 7:30 P.M., as a part of this series.

Given that I disagree with him on ecclesiology and the council, plus the late notice, I doubt I'll attend.

FB event
Vatican II and Parish Life
Faculty profile.
He has a blog.

Novelty in Continuity
Benedict XVI and the Interpretation of Vatican II

Rorate Caeli: FIUV PP: Latin in Seminaries

Kristine Kalanges on William Cavanaugh

From State Soteriology to Eucharistic Anarchism: Cavanaugh’s “True Peace” (via MOJ)

Mount Lebanon Choir of Byzantine Music

The Divine Liturgy of the Greek Orthodox Church in English

Scaling for a Christian Community

Fr. Bouyer contrasted in his The Church of God two ideals of ecclesial "membership," the Church of believers and the Church of numbers. Might it be that the Church can be both, if we observed the proper scale to the local Churches (and parishes)? What is the ideal size of a [neighborhood] parish? How many people can a priest be a spiritual father to? Should he not be able to remember the names of all his spiritual children? How many Sunday liturgies can be said in a temple? Can we eventually achieve the Eastern ideal of one? (Given the time necessary to train priests, it seems that celebrating more than one Sunday liturgy at the [main] altar of a temple is a pastoral necessity.

How big should a local Church [diocese] be, in terms of both members and size? In the Western patriarchate at least, auxiliary bishops are given titles to dioceses that do not really exist any longer. What if, instead, the archdiocese was broken up? What if we had more bishops, instead of auxiliary/titular bishops, and more metropolitans (and provinces)? (Is attendance at an ecumenical council limited to metropolitans, in practice or in law?)

What is the basis for the inequality in status (and power?) between the metropolitan and the suffragan bishops, besides the link between his diocese and the political capital? I need to read up more on Church governance and the sacrament of Holy Orders.

Iconostasis and Ciborium

Excellent!


St. George

It is true that the iconostasis is less "solid" than traditional ones.

Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev at Mount Athos

From earlier this week: Metropolitan Hilarion arrives in Athos
Metropolitan Hilarion celebrates at the Russian Monastery on Mount Athos

St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral

Светлая Суббота 2012 г. Bright Saturday 2012


I didn't have the opportunity to visit the cathedral when I was in NYC in August, so I am glad to see its interior in the video. A little too westernized, the icons?

Another video

CWR: History’s View of Vatican II by Michael J. Miller (via Insight Scoop)
The who, what, where, when, and why of the Council

The Second Vatican Council: An Unwritten Story by Roberto de Mattei - it is supposed to be published by Loreto? I don't see it in the catalog.

Over at Chiesa:
The Five "Conciliar" Days of the Pope
With six statements on Vatican II, fifty years after its beginning. Followed by a commentary by Pietro De Marco on the "external paradigm" that influences the interpretation and reception of that event

Eastern Catholic Churches Encounter 2012

website - Main West Conference is coming up, November 2-4.






Traditions of the Eastern Catholic Church
Eastern Catholic Theology PART 1 with Fr. Abbot Nicholas of Holy Resurrection Monastery
Part 2

Greek Byzantine Choir - The Beatitudes (Liturgy of St John Chrysostom)


So has the singing of the Beatitudes been restored to the Greek rite?

Pope Benedict's Homily at Opening Mass of the Year of Faith

Zenit: Pope Benedict's Homily at Opening Mass of the Year of Faith
"Through Christ, God is the Principal Subject of Evangelization in the World"

Greeting by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I
"We Join in the Hope that the Barrier Dividing the Eastern Church and the Western Church Will be Removed" [2012-10-11]

Rome Reports


Bartholomew I recognizes before the Pope the capacity of uniting of the Second Vatican Council

Dr. Shinya Yamanaka

Great news about the Nobel Prize
Vindication for Opponents of Embryo-Destructive Research
Stem Cell Scientists Gurdon and Yamanaka Win Nobel Prize in Medicine


Gladstone Institutes

Do we care what Mayor Ed Lee and the City of San Francisco think? Everyone wants to claim a winner as one of their own.

Teacher of Teachers: Blessed John Henry Newman by Christopher Blum

Byzantine, Texas: The Liturgy in 13th century Constantinople

The chanting is splendid, but are the vestments accurate? I'm not understanding the headgear. I think that is supposed to be the emperor, rather than the bishop? NO barrier or ciborium or altar?

Misc.
Cultural Identity and Dress: The Case of Late Byzantine Court Costume

The Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute (PAOI)

Installation Mass of Archbishop Cordileone

Last Thursday.

Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone Mass of Installation Video
San Francisco's new archbishop seeks to rebuild God's house

Archbishop is 'collaborator' in helping lead the faithful to holiness

Archbishop Cordileone: 'Francis, rebuild my house'
In homily, Archbishop Cordileone calls for 'rebuilding from within'
More from Catholic SF.

NC Reporter: Cordileone's installation in San Francisco includes demonstrations

ΧΟΡΩΔΙΑ ΘΡΑΣΥΒΟΥΛΟΥ ΣΤΑΝΙΤΣΑ - ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥΠΟΛΗ

More from the Holy Father on the Liturgy

Zenit: ON THE ECCLESIAL NATURE OF LITURGICAL PRAYER
The Liturgy is the Act Whereby We Enter Into Contact with God

(The previous audience: On the Sacred Liturgy as a School of Prayer.)

From 2003:

Two New Doctors of the Church

Rome Reports: St. Hildegard of Bingen and St. John of Avila are now Doctors of the Church. Pope also welcomes the Synod of Bishops



Zenit:
POPE BENEDICT XVI'S HOMILY AT OPENING MASS OF SYNOD OF BISHOPS
"The Holy Spirit Has Nurtured in the Church a New Effort to Announce the Good News"

DECREE GRANTING PLENARY INDULGENCE FOR YEAR OF FAITH

SPECIALIST IN DOGMATIC THEOLOGY PROMOTES PASTORAL OF "AUTO-EVANGELIZATION"
Father Antonio Aranda Lomena Set to Attend Synod on the New Evangelization

ΒΥΖΑΝΤΙΝΗ ΣΥΝΑΥΛΙΑ ΒΡΥΞΕΛΛΩΝ - ΧΟΡΑΡΧΗΣ ΣΤΑΝΙΤΣΑΣ

How much of this is still true? From 1975: Some differences between Greek and Russian divine services and their significance
by Basil Krivoshein
Archbishop of Brussels and Belgium

How old is the inclusion of the Beatitudes in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom?

St. Hildegard of Bingen, Doctor of the Church

Jimmy Akin, Newest Doctor of the Church: Her Visions, Her Writings, and Her Secret Language
St. Hildegard of Bingen: A Visionary for All Time by Brennan Pursell
St. Hildegard of Bingen, Doctor of the Church by Leroy Huizenga

From the Wednesday audience talks by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010-
St. Hildegard: Cloistered Nun and Mystic
A Continuing Reflection on St. Hildegard

Back when I was in the seminary, a "cranky" (but lovable) Jesuit remarked that if St. Thérèse_of_Lisieux could be declared a Doctor of the Church, why not St. Ignatius of Loyola? We should honor St. Thérèse for her holiness and her "little way" has been influential as a model for our understanding Christian spirituality and by extension the lay vocation, but as a teacher (not necessarily as a writer) does she rank with the other Doctors of the Church? (Someone might claim that in terms of influence on contemporary Catholics, St. Thérèse surpasses them.)

Zenit: POPE TO PRESIDE OVER OPENING MASS FOR SYNOD
Sts. Hildegard of Bingen and John of Avila to be Honored by Pontiff

The corpus of St. Hildegard of Bingen is apparently larger, and she was also an authorized preacher. She did have an impact on the local church(es) of her time period. But is she so influential now? St. John of the Cross continues to be influential as a teacher of Christian spirituality. (The same is true of St. Teresa of Avila.)

I can't help but shake the suspicion that besides being influenced by his German heritage, the pope may be acceding to political pressures and considerations, the demand for women to be "better represented." While some women may have been especially gifted as teachers, one should distinguish between extraordinary and ordinary gifts, and how the office of theologian (or bishop) is tied more to the latter than to the former. Those who have a special mission from God (and the accompanying talents) should not be prevented by the bishops from following it, but this does not mean that women in general should be encouraged to be theologians.

Some may say that the rejection of scholasticism has been beneficial to the Church and allowed for the renewal of older methods of doing theology, but I would argue that the application of reason to understanding revealed truth has never been absent from theology, though it has been complemented by general life in Christ, prayer, and even mystical experiences.

Was St. Paul a sexist, limited by his culture? How should his stricture be understood? Some have limited to the confines of the temple. Anyone who teaches Christian doctrine, female or male, must do so with the permission of the bishop (via his priests) and under his supervision. One can argue for the strict separation of male and female spheres (and roles) in political society, but can this also be done for ecclesiastical society? There is also a somewhat relevant distinction between teaching of morals (and leadership) and teaching of other subjects. The teaching of morality for men should be left to men, because the roles of men and women are different within the family and society as a whole. But what of the teaching of things not pertaining to morality? The best argument for the this to be left to men as well is that while it does not touch upon morality itself, it is ideally an exercise for male communing, once boys come of age. (There is also the question of giving males their proper roles within the community as a whole, and protecting these assignments from encroachments by women. Women in general do not want as a husband a male who is perceived to be a loser, but this is what happens when women displace men.)

Are Saints Teresa of Avila and Hildegard of Bingen the exceptions that then prove the rule? I do not think that it will be possible to find an equal representation of men and women among the Doctors of the Church, though some may want this. Margaret Schatkin or Sister Vassa Larin could be examples from today - but it must be noted that both are single, one a religious. It would seem that those who have consecrated their lives to God as virgins and religious have a greater claim to be teachers of theology than lay women, because their function is no longer one of the political economy but of the ecclesiastical economy. Some may claim that this is unfair, that women should not have to choose between one or the other, that they can have it all, but it is a question of serving God as He sees fit.

Women do not teach their children on their own authority, but do so as willed by their husband. It is true that some men care nothing for how prospective wives will behave and raise their children; but those who do care look for someone who agrees with them and will follow them. Similarly, traditionally women do not manage or represent the household unless they are delegated that authority by their husband (or father). Arguably a catechists task is one that is proper to the laity or to the parents, and they do participate in the sensus fidei.

So how much of a catechist's task is proper to the laity or to parents, and how much is a delegation by the bishop? This is in contrast to the one who preaches in a parish, for to do so he must have permission (and authority) from the bishop? Is the task of the theologian is different, but
is the nature of the theologian's authority different from that of the catechist? Some have explained St. Paul's dictum by distinguishing the teaching authority of the apostles and their successors from that of authority of the lay teacher.

Apparently the title "Doctor of the Church" should be understood as referring to the Church Universal, but can this be problematic with respect to fostering a more ecumenical ecclesiology?

Cistercian Publishers has a translation of St. Hildegard's homilies.

Still More on Prayer Ropes

Using a Prayer Rope (via Byzantine, Texas)

ΑΡΧΩΝ ΘΡΑΣΥΒΟΥΛΟΣ ΣΤΑΝΙΤΣΑΣ

The Writing of Church History

A study group was considering starting Epic; is much of Church History written from a Latin perspective triumphalistic or ultramontane, or a version of Whiggism, resulting in more of a history of the Western Patriarchate, with the non-western churches an afterthought?

A Catholic version of Whiggism, in so far as Catholicism is equated with European civilization and its material advances are attributed in some way to the Catholic faith. Intellectual advances in science and knowledge may originally have been due to the mingling of the Christian focus on the Logos and Greek rationalism. But I am thinking more of the rise of the nation-states and empires - do we want to impute this "success" to the supposed Christian faith of those nation- and empire-builders?

We may not want to go so far as to embrace the ideology of those who declaim the appearance of the Constantinian Church, but what Church history would not incorporate an analysis of Church-state relations (not just in the former Western Roman Empire, but in the Eastern as well), making some sort of normative judgment on what existed? (I think the Church can be an effective means of localism, but has it ever been able to bring that about in the political sphere, apart from some sort of collapse?)

As for the non-Western churches, is it too early to reconsider their histories as part of that of the Church as a whole, as if their apparent separation from the Bishop of Rome was that, only apparent? Do we need a formal restoration of communion going beyond acts of doctrinal agreement first? In the past those non-Western churches not currently in full communion were viewed as heretical and schismatic and treated as such in works of Church history. But is it not only charitable but historically accurate to see the tragic separation as a result of [linguistic] misunderstanding and hardening due to a lack of proper fraternity charity and ill feeling because of other events?

Church history potentially can be more unified than generic world history, as it is centered on Christ and His Church. But can we rightly look forward to histories being written reflecting the diversity of the local Churches, a proper multiculturalism because it is grounded in Christ and the live that He gives to us?

ΠΕΤΡΟΣ ΜΠΕΡΕΚΕΤΗΣ - ΧΟΡΑΡΧΗΣ ΣΤΑΝΙΤΣΑΣ

Fr. Z: Prefect of CDF: No more talks with SSPX

The Lasting Legacy of Cardinal Daniélou by Rev. Brian Van Hove, S.J. (via Insight Scoop)

More on the Prayer Rope (Video in Greek)

The Prayer Rope - What Is It?