On Roman Catholics and Roman Catholicism
Q: What do you think of Catholics?
A: I presume that by this you mean Roman Catholics. I do not wish to offend you, but I think that your question is meaningless. It is a bit like asking me what I think of human-beings! First of all, which Roman Catholics? Those in Poland or those in Uganda? Those in Brazil or those in England? Old or young? Rich or poor? Black or white? Traditionalist or modernist? Papist or anti-Papist? I have met some very devout and righteous Catholics who would never harm anyone and also love our Church. But I also know of Catholics in the far west of what is for the moment called ‘the Ukraine’, who go around carrying a portrait of their fellow-Catholic, Hitler, commemorating their grandfathers who were in the Waffen SS and slaughtered Jews, Poles and Russians, and today beat up Orthodox grandmothers and steal Orthodox churches. Why the Vatican tolerates such people who totally discredit it, I have no idea.
We could turn your question around and ask: ‘What do you think of Orthodox?’ I can think of Orthodox who go to church every day and others who only go three times in their life, if that. The apostle Paul was Orthodox, but so was Stalin. Of course, I would never compare them. However, if your question really concerns Roman Catholicism, then I can answer you.
Roman Catholicism is an offshoot of Christianity, often called Orthodox Christianity, which is the faith of the (Orthodox) Church. Roman Catholicism split away from the Church and Christianity 1,000 years ago and soon began to split into various other protesting sects, the best known of which are indeed called ‘Protestant’. Roman Catholicism was founded on two novel ideas:
The first novel idea, which appeared in the eighth century in what is now Germany, but was rejected officially in the ninth century, and then finally accepted in the eleventh century, was that the Holy Spirit, the source of truth, inspiration and authority can come from human nature. This was the beginning of humanism, the worship of fallen humanity and so of sin. In its religious form, this led to the morbid worship of suffering human nature, blood, death and guilt, and the intolerant condemnation of others. Later, in its secular form, it led to the deification of all who confess this humanism and so to atheism (the extraordinary superstition that man was created and exists without God!). It inherently rejected the Church and (Orthodox) Christianity, attempting to make them irrelevant by reducing them to some mere exotic, ‘eastern’/‘Byzantine’/ ’Greek’ folklore or else to an offshoot of Platonism.
The second novel idea, resurrected from Roman paganism, was that the Bishop of Rome had universal power, being the infallible replacement for God (‘vicar’) on earth! In other words, both Christ and the Holy Spirit were replaced by a sinful man. Extraordinarily, this concept of the automatic deification of a man by his office was enforced and some people actually believed it! Later, in it secular form, during the sixteenth century, this led to the deification of anyone who took on himself the mantle of Roman paganism, resulting in assorted exploitative Atlantic European empires, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Dutch, British etc. All these fell, having failed to become completely global, and today have been replaced by the American Empire. Centred in the White House in Washington, facing the Atlantic and Europe, with its purely pagan architecture, it is the first attempt to create a truly global and unopposed empire.
Roman Catholicism, the ultimate source of atheist secularism, continues to exist. However, this is only outside the Western world, which it gave birth to and has since rejected it, in Western colonies in Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa and the Philippines. As for atheist secularism, its illegitimate grandchild (a grandchild through Protestantism), it thrives.
Interesantă poveste pentru un englez.
Interesant de ce:
Why I Love My Parishioners
My three parishes in Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk cover an area of over 5,000 square miles (13,000 square kilometres). That is why we have long needed and, at last have, two assistant priests. How big is my main parish in my native town of Colchester, in the biggest Russian Orthodox church building in the British Isles and Ireland? Well, there are about 100 people I can depend on to be there almost always. Then there are about another 400 parishioners, whom I know I will see within the space of a month. So there are 500 parishioners, of 25 different nationalities, born on four continents.
However, in addition to these 500 there are about another 4,500 people, scattered all over this region and up to 60 miles (100 kilometres) outside it, occasionally attending one or other of the three parishes. I may see them only once or twice a year, and some even less often than that. Many of them only come to church for baptisms and weddings, but when they do come, they come to us. Many of them I hardly know. So, not parishioners as such, but they are still in my mind and heart. There are all sorts of reasons why I see them only rarely, and it is not just a matter of distance. But I will not go into that here.
I want to tell you about two of them. With a title like ‘Why I love my parishioners’, you may think that I want to tell you about two of the 500 regulars. Since I do not want to embarrass anyone, I do not. I want to tell you about two of the other 4,500. They are of two different nationalities.
The first one is a real Orthodox man. In his forties, he is married with two lovely children. He has a business with employees. I first met him when he was in prison. Yes, in prison. Unfortunately, he had criminal competitors who tried to attack him and were jealous of him and his family. They threatened to throw acid in his wife’s face, if he did not take the blame for a crime of fraud which they had committed. He had no doubt that their threat was real. They were capable of it and had already done it to another. So, in order to protect his beloved wife, he went straight to the police and told them a lot of lies about himself. He went on trial and was sentenced. His only ‘crime’ was to lie in court in order to protect his wife. He had to go to prison for one year, but his wife was protected. There was such happiness and rejoicing in his house when he came home.
What a man. No, he has never studied theology, he has never heard of any modern ‘theologians’ (though he does know something of the Lives of the Saints), he cannot tell you about the history and structure of the services, has never met a bishop, does not know the Bible backwards, will not give you lots of pious talk about prayer and fasting, has never heard of ‘the Council of Crete’ and knows nothing about Catholicism and Protestantism. As a real Orthodox, he does not believe in God, he knows Him. So he has humility and there is no self-loving question of proud people about ‘Why has God allowed this to happen to me?’ Just acceptance of God’s will. He has protected and defended what is most precious to him. An example. He sacrificed himself, but has one of the best families in the world. They love each other. That is God’s reward to him. A real Orthodox man.
The second one is a real Orthodox woman, a lady with dignity and self-respect, which has become so rare these days. I first met her when I was making a pastoral visit far away. She married in her early 20s and had two children. But then her husband began drinking. And beating her. She was patient. They only divorced when he began harming the children. (He has since died). So she, then aged 34, brought up two children alone, struggling to pay her bills. She has made a good job of it too. The first went to University and now has a good career. A lovely person. The second, a girl, is finishing school. She has a very noble and idealistic disposition and is not afraid to stand up for the truth. She stands out from the others of her generation. (She has had her mother’s example). A year ago this Orthodox woman, who had shed so many tears for her broken dreams and broken heart these last 25 years, quite downhearted, came to church and there she met a man. The man. Within a week they had fallen in love. It was her dream, the one which she had wanted as a romantic teenager. She had been waiting all those years and then it all came true. Out of the blue.
What a woman. No, she has never studied theology, she has never heard of any modern ‘theologians’ (though she does know something of the Lives of the Saints), she cannot tell you about the history and structure of the services, has never met a bishop, does not know the Bible backwards, will not give you lots of pious talk about prayer and fasting, has never heard of ‘the Council of Crete’ and knows nothing about Catholicism and Protestantism. As a real Orthodox, she does not believe in God, she knows Him. So she has humility and there is no self-loving question of proud people about ‘Why has God allowed this to happen to me?’ Just acceptance of God’s will. She has protected and defended what is most precious to her. An example. She sacrificed himself, but has one of the best families in the world. They love each other. Her new husband adores her – as she deserves. That is God’s reward to her. A real Orthodox woman.
Now you know why I love my parishioners.
Mi-am adus aminte de aceste lucruri urmărind pe youtube câteva întâlniri cu Pr. Răzvan Ionescu al Parisului.