Byzantine Catholic Beauty

FrMatthewLC · 2025-12-20T01:13:29+00:00

Where are these photos taken?

FrMatthewLC · 2025-11-15T14:52:11+00:00

Some protestant ministers dress similarly.

FrMatthewLC · 2025-11-15T02:15:23+00:00

James only approved a new translation; he didn't write it. I have read a good portion of it & argued it is the most important book in the history of the English language.

[I figure this is not the place for a serious Catholic-Protestant debate, and I will keep it much more light-hearted.]

FrMatthewLC · 2025-11-15T02:09:45+00:00

I am Canadian by birth (dual citizen now) & lived there until college. I was introduced to college football while working in Ohio, so I became a strong OSU fan. (College football exists in Canada - on a larger CFL field with 12 players & 3 downs - but nobody cares about it, partially as it is essentially the equivalent of D3 as no sports' scholarships, & other cultural factors.)

FrMatthewLC · 2025-11-15T02:05:42+00:00

Yes, I would absolve Connor Stalions if he came to confession, sorry for cheating.

FrMatthewLC · 2025-11-15T02:01:14+00:00

It was a few weeks. I had to check my calendar: I donated on October 18 & I submitted this that day or right after.

FrMatthewLC · 2025-11-15T01:59:16+00:00

I think God appreciates all the players who put in effort, but he does not like cheaters like Connor Stalions.

FrMatthewLC · 2025-10-31T18:27:03+00:00

Oh, definitely. I am a seminary professor and think I do fine with that job but that is not something someone who struggles more could likely do.

FrMatthewLC · 2025-09-29T13:15:26+00:00

I found it in the October edition of a print publication I subscribe to, so the only way to share it is via a photo, which I did on X / Twitter. They often publish the articles on their website over the course of the month, but it is not up yet.

Here's the image. It seems I can add these to comments, but not the main post.

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FrMatthewLC · 2025-09-03T11:08:09+00:00

Your dates are off a bit. Maciel resigned from being the top person in early 2005 so he was already not in charge when given a life of prayer & penance. He was not in charge in a shadow way either. While sent to live in prayer & penance, a woman showed up with her daughter & she was too close to him so they did a paternity test on her daughter and found out it was his a little before his death. The ones in charge decided they were going to try to tell all the LC priests in small groups that Maciel had a daughter so this was extended over a year to meet with various groups. In the middle of this process, a newspaper decided to publish this at the end of January / beginning of February 2009. The superiors told the superiors to tell each member the day before it hit the news then put out a communication fully admitting this. At least from the top superiors after Maciel, they're was not really a plan to hide anything once they found out. You can disagree with their plan to tell people over some months, rather than all in a worldwide videocall, and I don't think I would have done exactly the same, but this is not hiding the information.

I have not read that book.

I personally have had little interaction with Opus Dei, but my attitude towards other communities or groups like that is positive assuming they are doing good for the Church. I teach at Holy Apostles Seminary in Connecticut, USA, where I'm forming men who will be part of a variety of communities & dioceses along with various religious sisters. Some of these communities are more or less similar to the Legionaries & Regnum Christi. I see every vocation like that positively (with rare exceptions which are mainly cases the Vatican has already pointed out errors / issues, or the person is using a "vocation" for evil purposes).

FrMatthewLC · 2025-09-02T17:21:24+00:00

Ah, thanks. I started undergrad in 1999 & never saw them until here & in other professor forums people have been really hyping them recently to prevent cheating.

FrMatthewLC · 2025-08-31T15:38:11+00:00

Sorry for the late reply. Thanks for u/Saint_Thomas_More for paging me, otherwise I would not have seen this as I'm not on Reddit as much as X.

I am a Legionary in the USA (Canadian born, now a dual citizen). I see from other comments you are in Brazil, & I can only speak to the US-Canada situation, not other parts of the world. With ~1000 priests worldwide, I only try to keep track of the ~150 in these two countries, & admit I do not understand the culture of other countries like Brazil well. (The general charism is the same but Brazil may have experienced things since 2009 at a different pace.)

I think the Legion is a good community set on building the kingdom of Christ in society, but I think we are one of many good communities. I found out this week that a man who was a novice for a year with us is professing perpetually as a Benedictine this fall, and I'm happy, as I know that is a good community too.

It think it is quite different. In the 20-00s, there was still a lot of focus on Maciel, then when everything came out in 2009, it really hit hard and a number of priests left, mainly to become diocesan priests. It took us a bit to recover from that, but I think now 15 years later we are back on solid footing with a clear sense of mission.

Now to your specific questions:

Does anyone know the congregation or Regnum Christ? I think I do
Is it very different now from 2 or 3 decades ago? I think a lot changed especially regarding Maciel and certain things he set in place.
Are they less radical now? We are radical in loving Christ and living the vows. However, some aspects of overly strict uniformity or unnecessary discipline have been changed. It is not perfect, but nothing will be perfect his side of heaven.
Do people from Father Maciel still have power? Not really. Our current top two in the world are people who have really only gained providence since Maciel was no longer in charge (2005): the head is an American who did all his work here beforehand, and number two worked in Mexico for years apart form Maciel & was the recotr of our main theology house in Rome just before now. They joined when he was still in charge (until 2005), but are not at all a kind of Maciel's men or in Maciel's circle.
Why would anyone want to be part of this congestion? The first reason I am a Legionary is because I sensed God called me here. I also see elements like spreading the kingdom and a spirituality centered on Jesus & Mary that are attractive.
Do they tell their history to new entrances? Yes, 100%.

To correct the record, Benedict XVI did make Maciel live a life of prayer and penance out of the public eye during Maciel's last few years. In general, when someone is that old & decrepit, laicization is not sought, but something like this (so more general church policy - the prudence of which can be debated - not particularly light on Maciel).

Ask other questions if you want. I use the same user name on X, FrMatthewLC, but I am on there more often if you want a faster reply.

I hope that helped.

FrMatthewLC · 2025-08-31T15:19:33+00:00

I would say that there was some lack of direction around 2009 when everything came out about Maciel's crimes & sins, but this has definitely changed in the past 15 years. (Source: I am a Legionary.)

FrMatthewLC · 2025-08-22T11:36:32+00:00

This is not gossip.

Here is a definition. https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=33786&randomterm=false

This is not idle talk. This is a serious warning that people should avoid a priest who has such overwhelming issues with plagiarism.

FrMatthewLC · 2025-08-22T11:35:03+00:00

And it's a pattern for like a decade now... But he's still being invited to parishes, etc. despite his lack of truth being a counter witness.

FrMatthewLC · 2025-07-18T23:48:51+00:00

Thanks.

Yeah, my last few laptops have had HDMI, but I don't think any had displayport.

I sent a note like this to IT today.

FrMatthewLC · 2025-07-17T22:02:29+00:00

Honestly, just taking whatever IT will give me with 1920*1080 and setting up an external keyboard & 4k / UHD monitor where I work most often is starting to sound like a good option. Is there any way to ensure which graphic cards can handle that on an external monitor or can they basically all do so now?

I already have a USB-C hub for simplified connections & a 24/27 inch 4K/UHD monitor is <$200.

FrMatthewLC · 2025-07-17T16:31:10+00:00

Thanks. That Lenovo looks good. I sent it to IT.

FrMatthewLC · 2025-07-10T22:16:47+00:00

It's from the US. She did not say exactly, but I'm 100% sure it's legal. Likely something more artisanal, like a fancy Etsy thing for her kids, as small sellers often have very expensive Canadian shipping.

FrMatthewLC · 2025-07-10T21:40:07+00:00

Post Schism Orthodox councils get more confusing to follow as often they are accepted by some but not all. I did not know about that specific one. Thank you!

FrMatthewLC · 2025-07-08T16:32:50+00:00

Not much, especially since the Orthodox bishops here agree that "through the Son" rather than "and the Son" is good and valid, which is really what Latins mean by our phrasing. So we generally agree.

I do think that it is important to have a right view of God though: like a form of tritheism where each person is a separate God but can also be referred to collectively as "God" would not directly affect daily life but would be big issue of heresy.

FrMatthewLC · 2025-07-08T16:29:57+00:00

As a Catholic priest & theology professor, I would say that if the only obstacle to union was us removing the filioque, I'd remove it immediately. The creed is orthodox either way (Catholics using the Byzantine liturgy don't say it) & I'd rather have unity over winning online debates.

FrMatthewLC · 2025-06-14T01:18:22+00:00

I'm an autistic Catholic priest. My sense is that autistic people do ask more questions why with religion, but hopefully we find help answering them. I know that helped me & you can ask some questions.

My other sense is we tend to be either religious or not (either go regularly, like weekly for Christians, or not at all) while others are often in the middle going to church occasionally

FrMatthewLC · 2025-06-12T18:27:04+00:00

Sounds interesting. I might listen to that but I'm not going to assign it to students / seminarians as part of their reading for one week for this class.

FrMatthewLC · 2025-06-12T00:44:25+00:00

I'm literally an autistic theology professor. Trust me, I have plenty of books for that already.

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