Peter and the Church of East and West

On May 14 Our Holy Father Pope Leo XIV held an audience with the participants of the Jubilee of Oriental Churches. He addressed them in inspiring and encouraging words. He said, “You are precious in God’s eyes. Looking at you, I think of the diversity of your origins, your glorious history and the bitter sufferings that many of your communities have endured or continue to endure.” The Holy Father also made references to the support of his predecessors on the Throne of Peter, Pope Leo XIII and Pope St. John Paul II, to the Eastern Rite Churches.
            
He went on to say, “The Church needs you. The contribution that the Christian East can offer us today is immense! We have a great need to recover the sense of mystery that remains alive in your liturgies, liturgies that engage the human person in his or her entirety, that sing of the beauty of salvation and evoke a sense of wonder at how God’s majesty embraces our human family! It is likewise important to rediscover, especially in the Christian West, a sense of the primacy of God, the importance of mystagogy and the values so typical of Eastern spirituality: constant intercession, penance, fasting, and weeping for one’s own sins and for those of all humanity (penthos). It is vital, then, that you preserve your traditions without attenuating them, for the sake perhaps of practicality or convenience, lest they be corrupted by the mentality of consumerism and utilitarianism.”  
            
Dear Brothers and Sisters, here in our own diocese’s territory, we are blessed to have a strong presence of Eastern Rite Churches. The Byzantine (Ruthenian) Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, many Ukrainian Catholic parishes, and Maronite Catholic parishes can be found here in Pittsburgh. I invite you to participate in their Divine Liturgies (Masses) and get to know our Eastern Rite brothers and sisters and their incredibly beautiful traditions and ways of praying. They will enrich our spiritual life and inspire us to see that the Catholic Church is truly universal and like a rich and colorful mosaic. The sense of mystery that their liturgy communicates emphasizes the transcendence of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The rich singing using only the human voice, the beauty of the vestments, the pervasive using of icons, incense and ancient ritual does not alienate the people of today, but, rather, embraces them and elevates them to the presence of God giving them hope and solace. If you want to truly feel to be part of a communion of believers, go to a Eastern Rite Divine Liturgy and know that in the Eucharistic Sacrifice heaven and earth are wed and believers are united in the Mystical Body of Christ. Pope Leo in his great wisdom and love for the beauty of the treasure of the Faith reechoes what Pope St. John Paul II taught, “The Church breathes with two lungs – that of the East and that of the West.”  

So, Friends, take a deep breath and let our Eastern Rite brothers and sisters help us to be renewed in our love for the majesty of God, our celebration of the Sacrifice of the Mass, and the need for penance, prayer and fasting.  

Thank you, Pope Leo!!
 
Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh