Orthodox painter says Pope John Paul 11 "changed her life"

This is on the Pope John Paul 11 Foundation site (see below). I thought it was very interesting.

Praying for Christian Unity? - Why Not One Date for Easter?

The Greek Orthodox calendar for the 21st century shows that the Western Church and the Orthodox will celebrate Easter on the same date 31 times. The last time East and West will celebrate it together in this century will be 2099. After that it will be 801 years before there is a common date! This will be in 2900.

Why is this important? Why worry about Easter? Clearly, one of the main reasons for pursuing Christian Unity is so that we can all witness together. How can we present a credible witness to the world when we can't even agree to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection on the same day? It is true that not all Christians celebrate the Birth of The Lord on the same day (for example the Copts celebrate in January), but Easter is the central feast of the Christian life, and it would be a great sign of our common faith and our desire to be "one" if we could share the proclamation of Easter morning.

The above banner is from a web site where you can sign a petition to urge the major Christian leaders of East and West to continue working towards an agreement on this. Some work has already been done between Orthodox and Roman Catholic representatives, but we need to move ahead. I know that most of us (who can read and walk upright) will not be around for 2099, but we surely have a duty to do something to advance this cause. This coming Easter we will be celebrating on the same date. If you don't think that is very important, just think of Pope John Paul II's words about the Church "breathing with both lungs" and the present Pope's committment to the cause of unity. Think back to that extraordinary meeting between Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Paul VI in the '70's. Can we do something to push towards the dream of unity? Will God bless our efforts to unite around the empty tomb, the upper room and the Mount of the Ascension? Why not sign that petition (here)?

Henry VIII and the Divine Right of Kings

I have put an essay on my other blog on the subject of Henry VIII, the Theory of the Divine Right of Kings and the beginning of the Church of England

The Pope of Christian Unity?

I was at the new Carmelite Monastery (new building that is) at Thicket Priory near York, when I heard the news about the Anglican provision offered by Pope Benedict. I was deeply moved and thank God for this wonderful grace. I saw on one "Anglican Use" blog (from the U.S.A.) that this Pope is being called "The Pope of Christian Unity". What a wonderful thought, and how fitting it is that this should be his special mission following Pope John Paul the Great. What could be a better or more fitting follow-up to the last pontificate?

Of course, not to be too starry-eyed, there is still much work to do with the Russian Orthodox and with some other Eastern Christian communities, but the great work begun by Pope Paul VI, the Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, and the much revered Archbishop Michael Ramsey, and especially taken up by the late JP11 and others such as the Romanian Patriarch, is bearing much fruit in our own day. My prayer, regularly, is, "Lord, grant Christian Unity in our day". Deo Gratias.

Return from the TLIG Pilgrimage

I returned home from my pilgrimage last Saturday, and I am still recuperating! I was one of over 800 pilgrims from 17 different Christian denominations and 63 countries. The photo above is of Cardinal Toppo (on the right) and Bishop Toppo (on the left - and no relation!). They look a bit solemn, but that is my fault. Like many of the clergy, and especially the bishops (we had 13 I think) they were constantly being asked to stop and stare into a camera.

Some Catholics (including many clergy) still treat "True Life in God" with suspicion and many condemn it. The Notification issued by the Vatican did much to encourage this negativity. Yet, as Cardinal Ratzinger (as he was) said, the Notification is NOT a condemnation but a "warning". When asked by more than one bishop how they should react to Vassula's writings, the Cardinal said they could continue reading them, with care. Since then Vassula has answered ALL the problems raised by the Notification. The Cardinal called her answers, "useful clarifications", but then gave an important signal by asking that these answers be published ONLY in her books, thus suggesting that anyone who wanted to read her reply to the Congregation for The Faith should obtain or borrow one of her books. This obviously means that it is OK to read the books. Since then these answers have been published elsewhere. The Cardinal only insisted that her answers should be in the TLIG books at the outset.

There is still much misinformation and many half-truths circulating about Vassula and TLIG. One of the problems is that there is at least one very negative web site which is read by most people searching on Google, and there seems no way to dialogue with the author, since all attempts to present a positive case are immediately rebuffed. Much damage has also been done by a well-known Jesuit at EWTN. I understand why he is so negative. He had such a bad experience with New Age nonsense that ANYTHING that even remotely smacks of that (in his eyes) is suspect. I know for a fact (because I know the author) that ALL his concerns have been answered, point by point. So far he has failed to reply, in any satisfactory way, to that article (it was sent to him).

For those wishing more information about TLIG or Vassula I have various links on the right. But just to make another point about the Notification I post, once again, a video statement of a Bishop who was working in Rome at the time and who personally spoke to Cardinal Ratzinger about the writings known as "True Life in God".