Praise God! Independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church created today

Thanks and praise be to the Lord Our God, and to his servant, Saint Vladimir the Great. It was he, the grand prince of Kiev, who converted to Christianity in A.D. 988, was baptized in Chersonesus and proceeded to baptize his family and people in Kiev, in what is now known as the Baptism of Rus' (Хрещення Русі).

Not long after the Baptism of Rus', in 1054 A.D., the Church founded by Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ split apart, as the churches of the east separated themselves from Rome in the Great Schism. This was the culmination of a gradual process of estrangement that began in the first centuries of the Christian era. Linguistic and cultural differences, as well as political events, contributed to the estrangement. The eastern Orthodox churches, although holding similar beliefs to the Catholic Church, because they do not acknowledge the primacy of the Roman Pontiff, are therefore schismatic.

In the centuries that followed the Great Schism, the Orthodox Church divided itself into a number of national churches -- Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Romanian Orthodox, etc. For the last 330 years or so, the so-called "Great Russians" have dominated their cousins, the Ukrainians, whom they disparagingly call "Little Russians". In matters religious, the Russian Orthodox Church has denied the distinctness of the Ukrainian believers, claiming that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is nothing more than a branch of the Russian church.

Today, all that has changed! An independent Ukrainian Orthodox church was created today at a signing ceremony in Istanbul, formalizing the split with the Russian church to which it had been tied since 1686. In front of scores of clerics and Ukrainiaqn President Petro Poroshenko, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, signed the "Tomos" forming the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

In his address, Patriarch Bartholomew said, "The pious Ukrainian people have awaited this blessed day for seven entire centuries." The patriarch, considered "first among equals" in Orthodox Christianity, said Ukrainians could now enjoy "the sacred gift of emancipation, independence and self-governance, becoming free from every external reliance and intervention."

Walt's readers, and the world at large, must not forget that not all Ukrainians are Orthodox believers. There is a large and vibrant community of Ukrainian Catholics -- loyal to Rome and followers of the Byzantine rite of Catholicism -- well-established in the western part of the Ukraine, and even more so in the communities of the Ukrainian diaspora, particularly in Canada. Let us ask our Lord, through the intercession of Saint Vladimir, to bless all Ukrainian believers -- Catholic and Orthodox -- and hasten the reunification of all believers in His one true Church.

UPDATED 14/12 - Pope Francis - losing it or already lost it?

A few weeks ago, Francis Cardinal George, on his retirement as Archbishop of Chicago, said he was struggling to understand Pope Francis and the latter's puzzling and often contradictory pronouncements. In a November interview with Crux ("Covering all things Catholic"), the prelate posed a series of questions he’d like to ask Pope Francis, including whether the pontiff fully understands the way some of his statements "leave people wondering if he still holds the doctrine."

Francis did two things this week that could only have increased the wonderment -- perhaps we can even say "doubt" -- of Cardinal George but 1000s of other churchmen and faithful Catholics.

The Dalai Lama visited Rome this week, and, like most tourists, had a yen to visit the Vatican and meet the Pope. But Francis -- the great apostle of ecumenism -- refused! How strange! In the name of ecumenism, this pope has met with leaders of our separated (Orthodox) brethren, going so far as to bow low to Patriarch Bartholomew I and ask for his blessing.

Strange behaviour for someone who is supposed to be the successor of St. Peter, and head of the Church established by Our Lord Himself.

Pope Francis has also met with Jewish leaders and (of course) Muslim leaders, in the name of the false ecumenism which he preaches nowadays. (What he's promoting is actually a form of syncretism, the heretical notion that all religions are equal, all leading towards the same God. This is contrary to Catholic dogma.) But for the spiritual leader of millions of Buddhists? Errr, sorry, no. That might upset the Chinese Communists, with whom the Church is trying to coexist peacefully, in spite of the fact that they keep killing our clergy and faithful.

Further reading on WWW:
"China -- not a good place to be a democrat or a Catholic"
"Archbishop of Chicago talks about the high price of US citizenship"

But wait, there's more! Mysteriously unreported on Jeff Mirus's Catholic World News website -- I call it "The Daily Pope" -- was Francis's pronouncement this week that... wait for it... all dogs go to heaven!

"One day," the Pope said, "we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ. Paradise is open to all of God's creatures." Amazing! It may be a popular sentiment -- great news for all animal lovers -- but it's completely contrary to Catholic dogma, which teaches us that only human beings can go to heaven, because only humans have souls!

We really must wonder, with Cardinal George, if, in his quest for praise and popularity from the world at large, the Humblest Pope Ever has abandoned completely the Catholic Faith which it is his solemn obligation to protect. God knows.

Comment from Ed.: Perhaps Francis intends  his pronouncement to be the new "dog"ma. Geddit?! 

UPDATE AND CORRECTION! - Apparently there was much soiling of shorts at the Vatican over reports that Pope Francis said all creatures can go to heaven.  Deputy Spokesthingy Fr. Ciro Benedettini said he received a number of calls on the story on Friday, and was taken by surprise because he didn't recall the Pope saying anything like that in remarks at his weekly general audience on Nov. 26.

The New York Times, which ran a story on Thursday about the purported comment, acknowledged its mistake in a correction on Friday that it had misattributed a remark made by Pope Paul VI. So that's OK then because we know that Paul VI is only a step from sainthood, so he must be in heaven and he hasn't sent down a correction.

Another comment from Ed.: Sadly, the misquote may dog Francis' papacy for years.