Joseph Raya (1916–2005)

Archbishop Joseph Raya was a passionate lover of his Melkite Catholic traditions; and although this book is an introduction to Greek Catholic spirituality, it is also a passionate "open love letter" to God for the gift of the Eastern Church.

The book is clearly written to reach a hand out to non-Catholics - at one point he quotes Martin Luther; one imagines he was well familiar with Protestantism from his time in Birmingham, Alabama. He also gives much space in the second half of the book to promote the love of persons between the various religions of the Middle East. Yet he is never syncretic - it is always clear that Christ is the source of all love.

Now His Eminence does occasionally hyperbolize, expressing blunt opinions about cherished historical figures and philosophies with which he takes umbrage, notably, Medieval scholasticism. However, a close reading of several of his works shows - in my opinion - that these statements are designed to jar his readers into questioning certain Western shibboleths, and not meant to be dismissive of another person's whole tradition or life's work.

On the technical side, the edition is not always well-edited, with the occasional spelling error or sentence printed twice, etcetera.

I had originally purchased this book trying to find a short "introductory text" that I could give to the curious to explain Eastern Catholicism. Because of the typos, and the archbishop's occasionally combative writing, it may not always be useful as a "first impression" for Roman Catholics. But for non-Christians, and also those already familiar with Eastern tradition, it is a passionate and joyful expression of one man's love for his Church and his neighbor.… (meer)