Byzantine Rite of Ordination for Minor Orders

Orthochristian: “WE CANNOT RE-CHRISTIANIZE EUROPE BY JOINT RESOLUTIONS ONLY”
An English Orthodox priest on the UK, Anglicanism, and Orthodoxy
Sergei Mudrov, Archpriest Gregory Hallam

Orthochristian: MIRACLES OF ST. MARK OF EPHESUS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

If Excommunication Is Not a Remedy, Then What Is?

What ecclesial punishment exists for the senators who voted against the bill to outlaw abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy?

CWR Dispatch: The Bloody 14 and the question of excommunication by Edward N. Peters

Preparing for the Great Fast

CWR: “Exceeding glad shall he be of thy salvation”: On Handel and preparing for Lent in the East by Dr. Adam A. J. DeVille

Given that our Lord and His Apostles and Evangelists transmitted very little about political life and political arrangements (beyond the importance of obedience), would it be erroneous to conclude that political life is not important? Yes. It would also be erroneous to think that Catholic Social Teaching is not subject to change or correction, as its moral theology is only as good as the one doing it.

How useful for a discussion with the Orthodox?

Subdiaconal Ordination at St. Peter

Psychological Impediments to Marriage

What would be considered as such in the Byzantine canons?

In the west there is a consideration of factors that would eliminate consent or voluntariness. But what of broader psychological impediments to contracting marriage, i.e. moral or spiritual impediments?

And deception is not the same as the lack of good judgment on the part of the person who doesn't really know the other person.

Is lack of moral maturity (which is different from emotional maturity but may include it?) sufficient to nullify the marriage? If one of the parties is selfish or narcissistic and cannot make a real commitment despite a verbal willingness to state that intent, can that party truly marry? Or can the law only limit itself to cases in which one deliberately lies about making a permanent and stable commitment to be with the other person?

What of other personality disorders?

How would one prove that a party never had the properly intentionality with respect to marriage? The mere fact that the party left the marriage? But someone could just change his mind and break his vow. It seems to me that it is psychologically possible for someone to merely mouth the vow without intending it; saying the words in order to attain some goal other than a true marriage. Would that be a conscious lie? Perhaps.

And what if the parties are psychologically or morally unable to fulfill the roles in marriage; i.e. the male is unable to lead and care for the other, or the female is unable to follow/obey and care for the other?

Latin Sacramental Theology

Were there any alternative explanations by the schoolmen for the Real Presence in the Sacred Species, other than that offered by St. Thomas? Or was his the "standard" explanation?

Is it possible to formulate an explanation of the Real Presence without relying on Aristotle's metaphysics, and at the same time acknowledging that the Sacred Species is a sign (sacramentum) and a symbol, but not a symbol that refers to something else completely apart from itself? The Sacred Species conveys or signifies the Real Presence of Jesus Christ, localizes and realizes this Presence. Can the Real Presence be explained through participation? It is more than the causal presence of Christ in the natural matter or artifact of bread, nor is it the accidental conjunction of two different things.

Can the Real Presence be explained by other than an analogue to the Hypostatic Union?

It does not seem that if bread is not a substantial unity but an accidental unity that this would pose a problem for a "Aristotelian" explanation -- we would hold that the Real Presence is in all of the parts of bread which are substances.

NLM: Announcing the 2018 Norcia Summer Theology Program by Peter Kwasniewski

More info.

Making Books During the Middle Ages

Rorate Caeli: The Franciscans of the Immaculate: A courageous voice speaks out by Father Paolo M. Siano

St. Agnes

Carrie Gress

CWR Dispatch: The East, the West, and Simon Leys by Gerald J. Russello

A new biography and a new collection of essays provide details into the fascinating life and wide-ranging thought of author Simon Leys, who may have been the last great Catholic man of letters.

What does the pope mean by casuistry?

CWR: The Pope’s misuse of “calumny” distracts from deeper, more troubling questions by Christopher R. Altieri

The problem with Pope Francis’ defense of Bishop Juan Barros is not just that Francis has a poor grasp of technical legal terminology or that he misuses certain words, but that he thinks he knows better and refuses to listen to the people who do.

This would not be the first time Pope Francis’ lexical idiosyncrasies were cause for confusion. I still have not met anyone trained in the sacred sciences who can tell me what Francis means when he speaks of “casuistry” – or “abstract casuistry” – though it is clear he does not mean what is generally meant by the term, i.e. the resolution of moral problems by investigation into the specifics of the case and careful application of the general principles of moral science to the specific case, from within the specifics of the case, themselves.

CWR Dispatch: An evening with William Lane Craig by Bishop Robert Barron

CWR: Cardinal Burke: It is a “source of anguish” to hear suggestions “that I would lead a schism”

“The truth of the matter is marriage is not an ideal. It is a reality,” says Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke in a lengthy new interview with Chris Altieri. “What frightens me a great deal about the present situation of the Church,” he adds, “is what I would call a politicization of Church life and of Church doctrine.”

podcast

What is going on at the OSC at Fordham?

British Council Awards Grant to Orthodox Christian Studies Center for LGBTQ Research

Both faculty members in question are Greek Orthodox, I believe, solidifying the impression that their jurisdiction is the laxist in the U.S. Even if they weren't sincere believers in their project, this would still be scandalous to the faithful.