A rare video of the Servant of God, Father Walter Ciszek. Fr. Walter was an American Catholic priest who served Russian Catholics within the Soviet Union. He was captured, tortured, and spent over twenty years in the prisons, concentration camps, and in Russian cities. He was exchanged for a Soviet spy in the 1980s. I believe that he is a Saint and will be recognized by the Church in the future.
Tag: Russia
Ecclesiology and Ideology
There is an internal debate going on in the Orthodox Church. It centers on the role of primacy in the universal Church. The two major players are the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate. For me, the arguments from the Ecumenical Patriarch make more sense but then again, I’m a Catholic and I believe in a strong universal primacy. I found this article to be very helpful in understanding the issues going on within the Orthodox Church.
When I wrote for my old Pontifications, I often blogged on ecclesiological topics. Ecclesiology had been a strong interest of mine for several years, especially after being introduced to the eucharistic ecclesiology of Met John Zizioulas. Back in the 90s I even dared to write an inconsequential article commending a kind of eucharistic ecclesiology for Anglicanism (“Being Church: Theological Theses on Parish and Diocese,” Sewanee Theological Review 37 [1994]: 54-69). Oh the arrogance of middle age!
When I started Eclectic Orthodoxy, I made a provisional decision to avoid ecclesiology, except when occasions invited reflection on eucharistic ecclesiology, which I still strongly affirm. Why the avoidance of ecclesiology? Because of all theological topics ecclesiology is the most susceptible to ideological construction. We tend to invent our understandings of Church in order to defend, advance, and secure our institutional and political agendas.
I thought of this when the Russian Orthodox Church released…
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Byzantium on Brew 