Maronite bishop to speak on East

Chorbishop Seely Joseph Beggiani believes that many of today's Latin-rite Catholics have forgotten their roots. With a little digging, he hopes to help those in the Albany Diocese find them again.

On Oct. 5, Chorbishop Beggiani, rector of Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Seminary in Washington, D.C. and chair of the Commission for Lebanon of the Diocese of St. Maron, will speak on the spirituality of the Eastern Fathers of the Christian Church in a "people's dialogue" sponsored by the Albany diocesan Ecumenical Commission.

The presentation will be his second in the Diocese. Having spoken here two years ago, he said he was "impressed with the [ecumenical] group in Albany. They're very active, very open in terms of trying to find common ground" among different faith traditions.

Amnesia

"People forget that Christianity, in its origins, came from the East," explained the chorbishop, author of three books on the subject. (A chorbishop is an auxiliary bishop in the Maronite Catholic tradition.) "The Blessed Mother and the Apostles, in the first years of [Christian] worship, worshipped in the Eastern way. The Catholic Church started off as the Eastern Church."

However, he sees most Latin-rite Catholics as having little or no knowledge of that history -- a shame, he told The Evangelist, since they have much to learn from the rich traditions of Maronites and other Eastern-rite churches.

The Eastern Fathers' "approach to the sacraments came out of a real intimacy with the Scriptures, especially the use of typology in the Scriptures," Chorbishop Beggiani stated. "The New Testament was seen as fulfilling various types [presented] in the Old Testament."

In his talk, he hopes to explore that approach to the sacraments, particularly as held by Eastern Fathers belonging to the Antiochean (Syrian) tradition, such as St. Ephrem, a fourth-century theologian and Doctor of the Church.

Similarities

The speaker confessed that he is often frustrated that national efforts at reconciling the Eastern and Western traditions in the Church focus on differences rather than on similarities.

"Sometimes, there's real progress, but sometimes, we get distracted," he said. "The real differences between East and West are not large ones."

Chorbishop Beggiani applauded Pope John Paul II's ecumenical efforts, saying: "The Holy Father is anxious to reach an understanding by the new millennium, and I think he's made some great efforts."

Understanding

He hopes that his own talk will foster that understanding and would like to see more emphasis placed on learning about Eastern churches at priests' workshops and other events.

"Most Catholics -- and here in the U.S., of course, the Latin Church is the large majority -- have very little knowledge of the Eastern churches," the chorbishop stated. "I wish there was a way to get people to become more aware. [Eastern churches] help us to get a much broader approach to the sacraments."

(Chorbishop Beggiani's talk on Eastern spirituality will be held Oct. 5, 7 p.m., in St. Teresa of Avila's Social Center, Albany. The talk, which will be followed by a social hour, is sponsored by the Ecumenical Commission's Orthodox/Roman Catholic Dialogue Committee. For information, call 453-6660.)

(10-02-97)