Light of the East 1086R The Catholic Church Breathes with Both Lungs

·27 min·2 clips

Father Thomas Loya explains how the Catholic Church breathes with two lungs—Eastern and Western—like complementary lungs in one body.

Father Thomas Loya, pastor of Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Church, hosts this educational episode about Eastern Catholic Churches. He begins by explaining the program's name comes from St. John Paul II's document 'Oriental Illumine.' The episode uses the metaphor of the Church breathing with two lungs—Eastern and Western—comparing them to complementary lungs in one body or to masculine and feminine approaches in marriage. Father Loya outlines the historical development: the Church took on Eastern or Western cultural characteristics based on where apostles evangelized. He describes the 'Great Schism' of 1054 AD as a divorce between East and West, with the East becoming Orthodox churches and the West the Roman Catholic Church. About 500 years later, parts of the Orthodox churches began reuniting with Rome, creating what are now Eastern Catholic Churches. The episode clarifies terminology, noting that 'Christian' and 'Catholic' emerged as designations during conflicts, with 'Catholic' emphasized during the Protestant Reformation. Father Loya emphasizes that unity is the norm, with differences being in style and emphasis rather than belief. He gives the example of the Jerusalem church being called Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the West (emphasizing Christ's death) and Church of the Resurrection in the East (emphasizing resurrection). The episode characterizes Eastern churches by their focus on mystery, the Trinity, and describing God through negative theology. Father Loya contrasts this with the Western Church's strength in rational explanation, citing St. Thomas Aquinas. He values the Western Church's ability to clearly address contemporary moral issues like women's ordination and same-sex marriage. The episode concludes that both traditions work together to articulate God's teachings, with the Church having no teachings of its own but only articulating what God has designed.

As heard by us

A simple church-door image opens into Byzantine Catholic identity, Eastern rites, and Catholic unity.

Light of the East frames Catholic unity with a simple church-door image: enter from the front or the side and the view changes, even as the destination holds. Fr. Thomas J.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want to understand how East and West can face the same church from different doors? Start with Fr. Thomas Loya's side-door analogy.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Light of the East