The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 2 of 3)

TONY HILLERMAN, RIP
Re: Larry Thornberry's Read His Books:

Though not a fan of mystery -- I consider Conan Doyle to be literature -- with hesitation I read Falling Man, since it featured mysterious Shiprock. When I looked up from the page, I discovered that I had read all 18 of his Leaphorn and Chee novels.

The timeless Desert Southwest, the ancient Navajo culture, gratuitous murder…What’s not to like.

So, here I sit, awaiting the next Leaphorn and Chee novel I know will never be published. At least I can pretend.
-- David Govett
Davis, California

Damn! We just lost a great on – RIP Tony.
-- M.J. Casey
North Miami Beach, Florida

UP FROM OPACITY
Re: Mike Dooley's letter (under "East vs. West, Dooley vs. Koehl") in Reader Mail's Barry for Barry:

Mike Dooley wrote:

"Personally, I am not convinced this guiding concept of 'substantial equivalence' actually works here on the ground; but it is clear Pope Benedict believes it does. The Pope has confessed the Nicene Creed minus the "filioque” along side the Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I in a special Mass at the Vatican; but I wouldn't count on the Western Church actually dropping the "filioque” anytime soon."

I understand Mr. Dooley's frustration trying to penetrate the opacity of numerous Vatican ecumenical declarations, but in regard to this one particular issue, there is nothing opaque at all. Both Pope Benedict, like his predecessor places the highest importance on reconciliation with the ancient Churches of the East. Aside from the matter of Papal perquisites, the Filioque is the only substantive issue involved, because it affects Eastern Christians in the area they consider the most important--the liturgical life of the Church. For the Orthodox, as for Eastern Catholics generally, the insertion of the Filioque distorts the balanced theological understanding in the Creed and creates opportunities for misunderstanding and error, even if (as Maximos Confessor noted) the meaning of the phrase is consistent with that used by the Greeks. The presence of the Filioque in the Creed as used by the Latin Church is a persistent irritant and reminder of this, both to the Orthodox and to many Eastern Catholics (who, by the way, don't use the Filioque), so the issuance of the Clarification was intended both as an explanation and a remedy. As I quoted from that document, the uninterpolated Greek text is considered "the only ecumenically-binding symbol of faith." And not only did Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI omit it when celebrating Mass in the presence of Eastern Christian audiences (both Catholic and Orthodox), both of them omit it in any Pontifical documents intended for Eastern Christian audiences: in one instance, a document was submitted to the Vatican printer, and the editor put the Filioque back in, assuming it had been omitted; John Paul II sent it back with the offending clause redlined. This is not a matter of substantial equivalence, but of a return to the doctrinal sources of the Church.

As someone who has been involved in the Orthodox-Catholic dialogue since 1996, through the organization of the Orientale Lumen Conferences (held annually in Washington, D.C., as well as in San Diego, Melbourne, Oxford and Istanbul), I have had ample opportunity to discuss this matter with leading theologians and Church officials on both sides. I have been briefed on the initiative of the USCCB to remove the Filioque clause from the Creed when recited in the vernacular in the United States. This has been justified, as I noted, "in order to bring liturgical usage into line with Church teaching." It doesn't get more clear or explicit than that.
-- Stuart Koehl

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THIS COULD BE THE START OF SOMETHING NEW
Re: Robert Stacy McCain's 'Stand Up and Fight':

The 2012 presidential race begins next week. I can hardly wait.

Who are the frontrunners?

What do the polls say?

Where can I donate?