Pope Benedict reaches out to the Orthodox

Story here.

While trying to suppress the image of emperor Palpatine that I see in Pope Benedict, I am glad to hear that he will continue to take the rift seriously and that healing that rift is a paramount goal for his papacy.

He's right, its' going to take God to do it...as well as letting go of a few things. For starters: supremecy. Give up the title of emperor Supreme Pontiff as well as the self-created emergency powers given to you by the false union councils in response to the invading seperatists Muslims. Thereby restoring the Republic conciliar nature of the Church in which you no longer reign sit as emperor Supreme Pontiff, but as the first among equals.

Secondly: Raparations. Return ALL stolen artifacts taken when your Clone Army Crusaders stormed the Jedi Temple Constantinople and nearly destroyed it...thankfully some Jedis Orthodoxy managed to escape harm through Dagobah Russia and Tatooine Georgia (the only two Patriarchates free from external control after the clone wars Crusades and invading Muslims hordes.)

Thirdly: Give up the Dark Side false doctrines such as Papal infallibility, the Immaculate Conception of Mary, Purgatory, Literal Hellfire, and the filioque to name just a few.

Now, let's talk about the details of healing the rift....

BTW, I really didn't like the movie all that much. I'm simply too much of an absolutist who realizes that if Emperor Palpatine can be evil, then indeed anyone not with you can be considered against you. Maybe I'm a Sith.

Comments

fdj said…
Naw it was more than the one line. May be some spoilers in this: There were poltical overtones that turned me off...even though Lucas denies the swipes he was taking. Of course a friend keeps reminding me that he had to get from democracy to facism somehow...I'm just waiting for someone to show the list of Bushisms that Palpatine and Anakin occassionally utter.

Overall though, let's face it: the lines and the acting that delivered them were simply awful.

"we don't know what's wrong, she's simply lost the will to live." (Even Robot's couldn't deliver such a lame line well.)

And was that Darth Vader or Frankenstein climbing off that table with absolutely NO time to heal from some horrific burns and multiple limb severing. And what was that lame-a@# line Palpatine gives Darth when he asks about Padme? "It appears your hatred killed her." (or something like that?)

The best part of the film is the first 15 minutes in which he makes a valiant effort at "wowing" us with special effects - a tough sell these days.

Overall though Lucas just didn't really get me attached to any of the characters. And I'm a pretty easy dupe for getting attached to characters.

I'm willing to have my opinion changed, often some of my most favorite movies started as ones I hated, waivered on, and then decided it was fantastic.

I have my doubts about this one though.
Anonymous said…
The line is "It appears your anger killed her."

I saw it and didn't like it either. Can't put my finger on why though. I thought the special effects weren't that great either. It seemed like more of a movie where Lucas was trying to convince us that Anakin was sexy or something. And how weird was it that Darth Vader's first words off the table were: "Is Pademe safe?" Huh? That didn't make any sense to me.

I should have waited for it to come out on DVD.
Todd said…
My Dear Brother,

The Holy Father is not a tyrant, but a safeguard against tyranny. Isn't it the Eastern Churches that have been ruled throughout history by emperors?

St. Theodore the Studite (A.D. 759-826) wrote to Emperor Michael:

"Order that the declaration from old Rome be received, as was the custom by Tradition of our Fathers from of old and from the beginning. For this, O Emperor, is the highest of the Churches of God, in which first Peter held the Chair, to whom the Lord said: Thou art Peter ...and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Bk. II, Ep. 86)
fdj said…
Hi Todd...

This was much more of a joke than anything. I was rather fond of JPII and I was very glad to hear of Benedict's election.

That being said...there are numerous eastern saint quotes upholding the importance of Rome. As an example St. Irenaios...but at the same time it was St Irenaios who rebuked Pope Victor for excommunicating (or attempting to) the churches of Asia Minor over the Paschal dating controversy (which still exists, curiously enough)

Anyway...many an eastern emperor or empress has tried to wield their power over the church...but let just offer this: in the conflict that John Chrysostom as Patriarch of Constantinople had with Empress Eudoxia - who became the saint? And was it not Eudoxia's son who cleared the way for St. John's relics to be brought back into the Hagia Sophia in triumph?

from chrysostom.org:

Saint John Chrysostom had the warm love and deep respect of the people, and grief over his untimely death lived on in the hearts of Christians. Saint John's student, Saint Proclus, Patriarch of Constantinople (434-447), making Divine-services in the Church of Saint Sophia, preached a sermon which in glorifying Saint John he said: "O John! Thy life was filled with difficulties, but thy death was glorious, thy grave is blessed and reward abundant through the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. O graced one, having conquered the bounds of time and place! Love hath conquered space, unforgetting memory hath annihilated the limits, and place doth not hinder the miracles of the saint." Those who were present in church, deeply touched by the words of Saint Proclus, did not allow him even to finish his sermon. With one accord they began to entreat the Patriarch to intercede with the emperor, so that the relics of Saint John might be transferred to Constantinople. The emperor, overwhelmed by Saint Proclus, gave his consent and made the order to transfer the relics of Saint John. But the people dispatched by him were by no means able to life up the holy relics -- not until that moment when the emperor realising his oversight that he had not sent the message to Saint John, humbly beseeching of him forgiveness for himself and for his mother Eudoxia. The message was read at the grave of Saint John and after this they easily lifted up the relics, carried them onto a ship and arrived at Constantinople. The reliquary coffin with the relics was placed in the Church of the holy Martyr Irene. The Patriarch opened the coffin: the body of Saint John had remained without decay. The emperor, having approached the coffin with tears, asked forgiveness. All day and night people did not leave the coffin. In the morning the reliquary coffin with its relics was brought to the Church of the Holy Apostles. The people cried out: "Receive back thy throne, father!" Then Patriarch Proclus and the clergy standing at the relics saw Saint John open his mouth and pronounce: "Peace be to all."

So you see Todd, for the Orthodox Church there is no head but Christ Himself and we have countless examples of the "powers that be" triumphing, but then withering as the Church rises and crowns her saints. The Church is bigger than any emperor, any Priest, any Bishop, any Patriarch, even any Saint...no individual in Orthodoxy speaks ex-cathedra in the sense that Rome claims they can.
Anonymous said…
The the force can't be very strong in the one who thinks it sensible to compare Benedict to the Sith Emperor and say that the Orthodox "escaped" through Russia. There was, after all, an "evil empire" centered in Moscow, which burned far more "Jedi temples" than ever the crusades did, and did so within much more recent memory. However, if our young Paduan friend still wants to see Russia as a refuge from the "Sith empire of the Tiber," I can only say that his attitude illustrates the wisdom of Dark Helmet (from Mel Brooks' Star Wars spoof Space Balls): "Evil will always triumph over good because good is stupid."
fdj said…
As with all analogies - particularly humorous ones - they can only be taken so far. As I noted...after the crusades and Muslim invasions, only Georgia and Russia had free Patriarchs....

On second thought though...I'm not sure Tatooine and Dagobah could be considered virtual paradises...but at least you could hide from Rome...I mean Mecca...crap, I mean the Empire.
:)
Anonymous said…
The more i think about Sith, the more I think it's too bad you don't like it. Lucas wrote these movies to be understandable by children, and so the dialogue isn't going to be adult, it's going to be hokey and lame to adults. But ask yourself, did you think so when you saw the originals wide-eyed and in awe in the theatre as a kid?

No...all you thought was "This is AWESOME". It connected, and that's why you loved them still when you were an adult. These movies have to seen through the eyes of a child to be loved.

That's what i mean...children relate to them...they're silly and fun and serious, but even the serious is on a level understandable to a child. Our parents didn't like these movies when they came out originally...we did.

My dad took me to see Episonde 4, but he wasn't into them the way I was. He went so I could see it. That's why so many, even myself, didn't like Jedi as much for a while...we were older, and we didn't relate to it the same. But once I was able to grasp it in a child's mind, it was brilliant.

As to the political overtones...well the story revolves around politics. The comparisons to modern thought are inevitable, even if unintentional. But the story has ALWAYS revolved around empires and democracy, so it would be unnatural for there NOT to be some discussion of it.

Yeah, I'm a fan. Yes, Episodes 1 & 2 we're less than awesome. But there was a lot of depth and wonder to be found for those who see through the right eyes, especially in this last installment. I think the Jedi, as portrayed in Episode three, are quite analogous to our monastics, in a number of ways.

And before you tell me it's silly to do so, remember, you're the one who gave a homily that drew analogies about salvation from The Untouchables.

Did I say I was a Star Wars fan?

Chance
fdj said…
Chance who?

:)

Dude the Untouchables was WAY better! In fact the message of that film is even more applicable as Orthodox...becasue it takes WORK to truly and honestly answer Sean's character's question: "And what are you prepared to do?"

I hear what you are saying though...but how old do you have to be to both appreciate it and NOT be scarred for life by watching someone being burned alive?

I'm still holding out hope for Narnia, but for now I have no plans of owning this one when it hits the DVD shelf.
Anonymous said…
I have a based business business free home
site. It pretty much covers based business business free home
related stuff. Check it out if you get time :-)
Anonymous said…
I just came across your blog about online casino sign up bonus and wanted to drop you a note telling you how impressed I was with the information you have posted here. I also have a web site & blog about online casino sign up bonus so I know I'm talking about when I say your site is top-notch! Keep up the great work, you are providing a great resource on the Internet here!"

Popular Posts