The Byzantne Chapel in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC |
As I have gotten older and studied a bit I have found that there are even doctrinal differences among the various rites. Purgatory, for example, is not a universally held doctrine among the rites for there are different eschatologies in the East than in the West. The Doctrine of the Assumption (or what we Catholics call the Assumption) is formulated differently in the Byzantine Rites, stressing Mary’s “Falling Asleep” or death. And my friends among the clergy in the various Eastern Rites keep telling me that it is fine with them if I keep original sin where it belongs—in the Western Church—as they want nothing to do with it. Yet united in charity and mutual respect and around the See of Peter we are one Church—unified in our diversity.
No comments:
Post a Comment