In 2006, the Pope dropped the use of the Title of the "Patriarch of Rome and All West" to emphasized the very fact that he is not only the Head of the Latin Rite or the Western Church but the Catholic Church as a whole.
"The cardinal (Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches) urged care in helping young people discern their vocation, "maintaining formation programs, integrating immigrant priests (and) embracing celibacy in respect of the ecclesial context" of the United States where mandatory celibacy is the general rule for priests."
I think this may result into uproar(IMO) for the ranks of the Greek Catholics particularly in the US, for the Cardinal "urged" them to embrace the discipline of the Latin Church, which is celibacy. Noah doesn't want his Eastern brethren to follow the footsteps of Saint Alexius Toth who was outraged with the Archbishop Ireland's decision to impose Latinized policies(such as clerical celibacy) in the Byzantine Church which resulted to the Saint's schism with Rome. The saddest event which followed by another schism like in 1935. We in ERCF don't want to see events repeated in the past. We pray for understanding between these parties, including those who are hurt on reading my friend's post about it.
I hope the good Cardinal will read the letter written by Bishop Isidore (Borecky) of Toronto to Blessed Pope John Paul II about clerical celibacy:
From the September 1989 issue of the Corpus Canada Journal, we take the following:
Eparch Isidore Borecky pleads with the Pope for married priests
(excerpt from a letter to Pope John Paul II, April 15, 1989 protesting Vatican attempts to prohibit married Ukrainian Catholic clergy from exercising ministry in Canada)
"Over the last century, the attempt to impose celibacy has not succeeded, but it has provoked at least three schisms in North America, as follows:
1. The schism led by Archpriest Alexis Toth commencing in Minneapolis in 1891. The vast majority of members of the Russian Orthodox Churches in the U.S. and Canada are descended from former Catholics who left the Church through this movement;
2. The schism which formed the Ukrainian Greek-Orthodox Church of Canada during and after the First World War. Except for new immigrants, virtually all the members of this denomination are former Catholics and their descendants;
3. The celibacy schism of the 1930's in the U.S. led by Father (later Metropolitan) Orestes Chornock, which resulted in the formation of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Diocese and its reception into the Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople.
These schisms were attended by acrimonious court battles, disgraceful public spectacles which resulted in many enduring wounds to the body of Christ, the Church, and serious scandals to the detriment of the Catholic cause. They are still a major obstacle to ecumenical relations....
Hierarchs of Ukraine have been ordaining married priests and sending them to us for a century, from Metropolitan Sylvester Cardinal Sembratovynch, through Metropolitan Andrew Sheptytsky, Joseph Cardinal Slipyj (who in Rome itself ordained at least 46 such priests for the diaspora without any objection from the Holy See) and now the present Eastern Catholic hierarchs in Ukraine.
At the very least, Your Holiness, surely it is not improper to ask for an explanation of this complete innovation. Since Pope Pius Xll established the Eparch of Toronto we have received married priests who were ordained in Ukraine or elsewhere in Europe on the instruction of Cardinal Tisserant, and until today there has been no objection.
How, When, and Why has this policy changed?
Any attempt to prevent the priests ordained in Ukraine from exercising the sacred ministry would provoke an immediate and vehement protest from the faithful, and even from the reverend clergy. These priests have been received with very great joy, and they are carrying out much needed pastoral work. Suddenly interrupting that work now would do irreparable harm to the peace of the Church here."
Everyone who have read this Blog and even Visit our Facebook Fan Page, are aware that i am Attending Church Services in the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Annunciation in Paranaque, the Seat of the Philippine Exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the first among the ranks in the Eastern Orthodox Communion. So does it mean that i am already leaving Catholicism?!! I do not need to answer this question myself because deep in my heart I have only one conviction: that the Pope is the Universal Pontiff Head of the Church and the Vicar of Christ on Earth, This conviction of mine will not be moved even by the majesty and grandeur and solemnity of Eastern Rite spirituality and worship as I experienced and witnessed myself in the Orthodox Church." I am just there to Attend and Appreciate Eastern Spirituality and the Solemnity of their Divine Liturgies, which i cannot describe how it looks like, unlike the Liturgy of the Roman Church, i can truly say whether i am in Earth or Heaven, as the Envoys of St. Volodymyr of Kyiv have acclaimed on witnessing the same Liturgy i have witness. The very first time i see a Iconostasis and lost of Icons in my whole life :)
From the Website Religious Information Service in Ukraine:
