The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1958-07-04
In Near East:
American Catholics Learn
From Eastern Church Rites
by Erik v. Kuehnelt-L eddihn

: AOA4 0AA 49, A&AG00 #
by Erik v. Kuehnelt-Leddih
Until the Moslems are ripe for conversion, what
should DE the most immediate ann OF the Cnurcn In
the Near East? The conversion OF the Scnsmatlc
land HeretlcSJ. OF course.
Many OF the small Oriental Christian Churches
with valid ORDERS have never been in Communion
with kome. There is, needless to Say, for every such
separated Chvren an Oriental Rite within our church
as counterpart. Nine of our eleven Eastern Rites are
presented IN the Near and Middle East.
Some of the wonderful experiences l had in
Asia and Egypt could be had by many, it not my most
American Catholics either In their home town or in a
nearby city. 1t would help them to understand the
universally of the Church and to see what is truly
essential in our faith and ritual and what is not. They
might even make gueSSes concerning possible future
changes in our Church at least In theory.
ANY American Catholic might attend Mass t"HoIy
Liturgy. as it is eaIIed) in several Eastern Rites
tUkraInian, Armenian, Rumanian, Syro-Maronifa)
where the chant is anything but Georgian, Trsnsvb-
sfantiation takes place behind . veil or q wall, Holy
Communion is administered in both forms with !
spoon or with leavened bread dipped in wine u the
picfuresl, may be prohibited, benches outlawed, kneei.
ing and sitting not Usfomary Even Holy Commur.
ion is taken s~tanding.
In the United States these Eastern Rites have
been introduced by immigrants, but in the Near East
they are on their native soil. There, so near Christ'S
birthplace, they were formed, there they were reform
ed, Weaned away from error, protected and fostered
by the Holy Mother Church.
unfortunately did not Attend, in Southern India,
. Mass in the Syro-Maabarific Rite, in the ancienf
Chaldean language but in Baghdad, in the chapel Of
the American (Jesuij College | had The opportunity.
to receive Holy Communion from the hands Of Father
Moses pronounced Mohsayss) at the end of a Mass in
the Syro-Chaldean Rite.
1t was a most memorable experience partly be-
cause of the alternating chant between the priest and
the cantor who was only IA years old.
This boy holding the music in his hands, faced a
large crowd of students and without wavering or
blushing sang, with short intermissions, for whole
hour.
No European or American y~oungster could have
done it.
In the afternoon l toured the city. accompanied
by an American Jesuit, and we visited the very mod
ern church of Father Moses as we'll as the one of the
Greek Rite Catholic community which is, under con-
struction. The priest was Just making corrections in
the plans.
We spoke about the costs and was amazed to
hear that the parish Of 200 odd souls had to subsisf
solely on its own income. No outsider contributed .
parishioners must be extremely generous" remark
cd. They are" the priest replied. "BUf, after all,
thsir faith is their most precious possession"
In Beyrouth | attended Mass in the Latin Rite
Church of the Capuchins. The sermon was in French
and through the vast majority of the congregation
was Lebanese you could hear them speaking French
after the service.
Later, in Luxor, Egypt, l visited a very poor Cop
tic parish in union with Rome. The "Copts" are raci-
ally the non-Arab descendants of the ancient Egyp-
tians. Their name, actually, means: Egyptian. They
are the true heirs of the great culture from the time
of Pharaos. Among the 2 million odd Copts only less
than 8 per cent have ties with Rome.
After visiting the simple but clean church |
climbed the stairs to Father Jeremiah Kyriaeos' abode.
I introduced myself to the bearded and very cultured
priest who had studied in Rome, and spent . most
delightful evening with him.
He also invited the Sexton land c~atechist, a blind
man, to sing us some hymns. Then we drank coffee
and talked about the Church all over the world-in
Japan, India, Russia, Spain, Scandinavia.
was profoundly moved. Outside the modest
room, in the cool light Of The moon, one could see
the ruins Of the magnificent temples BULL by the
priests ancestors and on some Of fhe remaining walls
one could still recognize the pale eolors Of Christian
paintings from . happier period before the Arab con-
quest, the time when Saint AthanasiUs preached in
Alexandria.
Right here on the fringe of the desert, monastic-
ism was born. | also thought about my Catholic
friends in America, my people in Austria, the splen-
dor of the Eternal City and the suffering of the
Church east of the Curtain.
Here, a stones throw from the River Nile, where
the child Moses had been exposed, / felt the true Cath
olicity of our Church, her power to transcend nations,
to transcend time, and to unite the whole earth in
a common heartbeat.
practical defense of consttu