A critical website on Vassula Rydén and True Life in God

Illicit concelebration during Vassula's visit to Romania (May 2010)

Related news (March 2011): The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople condemns Vassula Ryden

    

I translate hereunder an article published on November 19th, 2010, on the French website www.orthodoxie.fr :

 

Romania: a priest is no longer allowed to exercise priesthood for having concelebrated with a Catholic priest

The Metropolitan of Banat, in Romania, has rejected the appeal of Father Daniel Crecan, priest of Bocsa Montana (diocese of Caransebes), who has been relieved from his duties as rector and from the exercise of priesthood by the Bishop of Caransebes, for having concelebrated with a Catholic priest on May 23, 2010, on the day of Pentecost, as stated in the press release published yesterday by the diocese of Caransebes. The matter created turmoil in the city of Bocsa Montana, because the parishioners, supported by the mayor, refused to let Father Daniel Crecan's successor enter the church (a report here). The problem rose when photographies of the concelebration (as those presented here) were published on the Internet. The concelebration took place during Vassula Ryden's visit to Bocsa Montana. She was present in Father Daniel's parish during the mentioned celebration. On Vassula Ryden: condemnations of her actions by the Orthodox Church. On her website: a report of her latest visit to Romania, including Bocsa Montana.

Source: press release of the diocese of Caransebes

(http://www.episcopiacaransebesului.ro/stiri/sentinta-definitiva-si-irevocabila-in-cazul-preotului-daniel-crecan-de-la-parohia-bocsa-montana-943912800.html)

 

Some Commentaries

By Maria Laura Pio, December 6, 2010.

According to the report published on the True Life in God website (http://www.tlig.org/en/mission/reports/2010/vassula-in-romania-2010/), Vassula had been invited to Romania for a series of conferences to promote her messages, which have recently been reedited in Rumanian language. The organizers had broadly promoted her conferences among the members of the clergy of the many Christian denominations present in Romania. According to a local source, only the catholic bishop of Latin rite asked the priests of his diocese not to attend Vassula's meetings.

The catholic priest mentioned in the article is Father Rolf Schoenenberg of the Triumph of the Heart Foundation. He invited Vassula to the orthodox parish of his friend, Father Daniel Crecan. The concelebration that was sanctioned by the diocese of Caransebes took place on the day of Pentecost in the presence of Mrs Ryden and the group of persons who accompanied her and had been invited to participate in the Divine Liturgy and receive communion. In this occasion, Father Crecan - who according to the TLIG report had already read the TLIG messages - presented to the faithful the book of Vassula's messages and invited her to briefly address the assembly.

  

Fr. Crecan presents to the assembly Vassula and the new edition of her messages in Rumanian language.

The TLIG official report does not include the incriminating photographies (see hereunder) of the Divine Liturgy showing both priests behind the iconostasis (where only the celebrating clergy can be) and which were later published on several blogs, in particular Rorate Caeli (http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2010/09/romanian-orthodox-and-roman-catholic.html).

    

In July 2008 the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church had to call to order the Metropolitan of Timisoara Mgr Corneanu, who had received communion during a Greek Catholic Mass. In that occasion, the Holy Synod reminded that it is illicit for members of the orthodox clergy to celebrate sacraments or blessings with ministers of other religions. Those who would not abide by these norms would be deprived of communion with the Orthodox Church and risk  canonical sanctions corresponding to their status within the Church. (http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/romanian_orthodox_synod_disciplines_bishop_for_intercommunion_with_catholics/)

The Holy Synod explained that:

"We believe it is right for every Church to solve its own problems according to its own principles and regulations. We are convinced that the dialogue between the two Churches will move on, towards a communion from the same chalice. (…) The Holy Eucharist is not a means and a stage towards the unity of the Christian Church, but the deepest manifestation of the unity of the Church, its highlight." (source: "Rumanian Orthodox Church decided to 'forgive' the metropolitan bishop Nicolae Corneanu of Banat", published on July 10, 2008 on the website of the Pontifical Oriental Institute: http://www.pontificalorientalinstitute.com/news/world-news-of-the-eastern-church/rumanian-orthodox-forgive-the-metropolitan-bishop-nicolae-corneanu.html).

This teaching is very close to that expressed by Benedict XVI in his apostolic exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis, point number 56:

"(…) the intrinsic link between the Eucharist and the Church's unity inspires us to long for the day when we will be able to celebrate the Holy Eucharist together with all believers in Christ, and in this way to express visibly the fullness of unity that Christ willed for his disciples (cf. Jn 17:21). On the other hand, the respect we owe to the sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood prevents us from making it a mere "means" to be used indiscriminately in order to attain that unity. (172) The Eucharist (…) implies full communio with the Church. (…) We hold that eucharistic communion and ecclesial communion are so linked as to make it generally impossible for non-Catholic Christians to receive the former without enjoying the latter (…)". (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20070222_sacramentum-caritatis_en.html#Actuosa_participatio )

Mrs Ryden is critical of this approach (which is biblical and faithful to Tradition). She affirms that "Jesus" revealed to her that the Eucharist has to be the means to attain unity: "Our Lord is calling us to live unity in our hearts, around one altar and sharing communion". She adds that ecclesiastical authorities don't understand this because they have to repent in order to be able to listen to what the Holy Spirit says to them (source: "Vassula speaks of unity and intercommunion", 2008, http://www.tligvideo.org/chich.html ).

During interreligious retreats and pilgrimages organized by True Life in God, intercommunion is expected from participants. During the 2007 TLIG pilgrimage in Turkey, Vassula declared in one of her conferences: "If anyone tells you that you are doing the wrong thing when you are living a spiritual unity or having intercommunion like today and in these past days, you should [say to] these people: (…) I am only following the commandment of Christ. So what's best for you to do, follow the Commandment of Jesus Christ or disobey it? (…) I will listen to our Lord's Command and I will remain in Him for I have read with the help of the Holy Spirit the Signs of the Times which call us for Unity, sharing around one Altar." (www.tlig.org/print/en/news/2007-06-29/2045 )

In 2007 the TLIG association launched a petition called "One Date" asking the Orthodox and Catholic Churches to unify the date of Easter, as requested by "Jesus" in the messages. According to Mrs Ryden, if the petition succeeds "Jesus" promises an era of peace (message of December 10, 2001). As explained by a close follower of Mrs Ryden in an article published on the main TLIG website: "If church leaders agree on the date of Easter, all wars on the planet will stop. We can have global peace; everything will fall into place. Everything will be better for everybody. This is what Vassula was explaining to me." ("My Valentine's Day Kitchen Table Talk with Vassula"  (http://www.tlig.org/en/news/2007-03-27/2035). During the 2007 TLIG pilgrimage in Turkey, Mrs Ryden affirmed in a video registration of her conference that: "The wars, [Jesus] says in a message, the terrorism, the natural catastrophes like the tsunami, all is because the Church is divided. He said it several times." (http://vimeo.com/11074886  at minute 4:50 of the video).

In the above context, it is easy to understand why some clergy members who listen to Vassula's messages may consider as legitimate to accomplish certain gestures contrary to the canonical dispositions of their own Church. Sadly the result is not more unity but more division, as shown by the events of Bocsa: a priest who can no longer celebrate the Sacraments and an assembly of faithful in conflict with their diocesan bishop. Not to mention the scandal caused in the Rumanian Orthodox Church and its repercussion in the media. In other words: a parish destroyed and several steps backwards on the way to unity.

See also: Bishop who gave nihil obstat reveals that he knew he was going against Church law

 

Fr. Daniel Crecan with Vassula during her visit to Romania (May 2010)

 

Fr. Abberton's puzzling letter to the American TLIG Newsletter readers

Following the publication of the above article, I received comments from several persons about a letter that they had received from the American True Life in God Association referring to "a Romanian Orthodox priest (…) severely disciplined by his bishop because of his involvement in a TLIG meeting where he celebrated an Orthodox Mass in the company of a Catholic priest". The author of the letter, which is reproduced at the bottom of this page, is Fr. John Abberton, one of the TLIG "spiritual directors".  

In the undated letter, which was sent at the very end of November 2010 by postal mail to all the subscribers to the American TLIG newsletter, Fr. Abberton wrote: 

"… at this time we need to take great care to avoid the possibility of anything remotely connected with clergy of different traditions standing together and dressed for the Liturgy getting into the wrong hands. To avoid any mistakes I have taken the view that we need to be VERY careful about the American Newsletter which contains a photograph of this kind. Therefore I am asking you to remove the photo from the Newsletter or to destroy the Newsletter itself. (…)" He also asks readers to "keep this matter entirely within the TLIG family – do not go around speaking about this to people who are not involved in TLIG." 

It would seem that the photograph in question would be that published on page 3 of the November 2010 Newsletter of the American TLIG association (see below). The photograph is not unusual at all, in the sense that as long as I can remember, it is the typical photo published in TLIG newsletters and websites to illustrate interreligious pilgrimages or retreats organized by Mrs Ryden: it shows clergy from different confessions fully dressed in each one's liturgical clothes posing together with Vassula around what seems to be an improvised altar. If this type of photo is to be "destroyed" in order to avoid it "getting into the wrong hands", then Fr. Abberton should also suggest the destruction of the reports of the TLIG interreligious pilgrimages and retreats of the last 12 years.  

But most puzzling feature of all is: why was this letter sent to all the subscribers of the Newsletter? An answer could be that since the Newsletter had already been sent, the idea was to warn subscribers not to show it to people who are not part of the "TLIG family". However, subscribers of the Newsletter include people who neither read nor believe in Vassula's messages, but who are sent the Newsletter anyway. In fact, it is common for TLIG followers to subscribe friends, family and local clergy to electronic and postal TLIG newsletters in an effort to "evangelize TLIG" (sic).

Copy of part of page 3 of the November 2010 Newsletter of the American Association of  True Life in God, with the photograph to be "destroyed" in order to avoid it ending in the "wrong hands". 

I wonder if the only real problem with this photo, the reason why it was singled out, is that the Romanian priest in question is on it, together with Vassula and all the clergy who participated in the TLIG retreat in Rhodos, Greece, from September 22 to 27, 2010, only a few months after Vassula's visit to Romania and at the moment when the illicit concelebration came to light, following the publication of Vassula's "Mission to Romania" report by the TLIG main website. 

According to the official English and Spanish TLIG reports of this retreat, two archbishops and about 20 clergy and religious persons participated in the Rhodos retreat, including Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of the Philippines (1) and Mgr René Laurentin. According to the report in Spanish, participants were Catholics, Orthodox and members of other Christian denominations. Activities included for instance Archbishop Arguelles concelebrating Mass with "12 Catholic priests and there were also 4 Orthodox priests present" (2), and 5 members of the Orthodox clergy administering the holy anointing to all the participants during a ceremony called "Efheleo" (3), as well as several conferences by Vassula and clergy. In other words, it was a usual TLIG retreat. 

Maria Laura Pio

December 28,  2010

NOTES

(1) Archbishop Arguelles of Lipa gave the imprimatur to Vassula's books in 2005. In September 2010 – that is during the same month of the Rhodos retreat – as Chairman of the Philippine Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, he sent a letter to "all the Filipinos overseas" encouraging them to read, pray and "evangelize" with TLIG, which he refers to as reflections offered by "God Himself" (http://www.tlig.org/en/testimonies/christian/catholic/arguel/).

(2) "Reporte del retiro de la Verdadera Vida en Dios, Rodas, Grecia, 23 a 27 de septiembre de 2010" by José Luis López de San Román, in Boletín de la Verdadera Vida en Dios of October 12, 2010, sent by email to subscribers. 

(3) http://molonlabe70.blogspot.com/2010/12/orthodox-catechism-topics-unction.html

 

Original letter of Fr. John Abberton sent by The American Association for True Life in God (P.O. Box 413, East Amherst, New York 14051) to the subscribers of their Newsletter in December 2010:

 

 

From Fr. John Abberton

Recent Problems and the U.S. TLIG Newsletter

Dear readers of TLIG,

You may have heard that a Romanian Orthodox priest has been severely disciplined by his bishop because of his involvement in a TLIG meeting where he celebrated an Orthodox Mass in the company of a Catholic priest (it was NOT a concelebration!). Unfortunately it seems that the enemies of TLIG are now trawling the internet and looking for anything they can use against us.

Although we have to avoid becoming paranoid about this, at this time we need to take great care to avoid the possibility of anything remotely connected with clergy of different traditions standing together and dressed for the Liturgy getting into the wrong hands. To avoid any mistakes I have taken the view that we need to be VERY careful about the American Newsletter which contains a photograph of this kind. Therefore I am asking you to remove that photo from the Newsletter or to destroy the Newsletter itself. All it takes is for one of these to get into the wrong hands and we are "off again". The attacks are particularly vicious at this time and although we are expected to deal with persecution, we have a priest in Romania who needs our help. His enemies will seize on anything they can to throw at him and his family, so please comply with this request.

At the same time, I ask your prayers fro him. He has not been defrocked, but at the moment has been told to leave his church and has no means of support. I would also ask you to keep this matter entirely within the TLIG family – do not go around speaking about this to people who are not involved in TLIG.

Let's hope we can quickly recover from this situation.

God bless. 

Fr. John Abberton