• He belittle the power of the Catholic Bishops as he considers his win as a clear referendum between him and the Catholic Church. 
• He boasts that although the bishops issued a Pastoral Letter"not to vote" for him (but the Bishops didn't name names), still he won among Catholics.
• He assumes his authority over Catholics with their bishops "iilan lang kayo!"
• He was "molested" by a Catholic priest according to him of which he laments because the priest already died 20 years ago and this is what he wants to start a fight against the Catholic priests and bishops.
• He wants to lecture Catholic bishops and priests of the sins of the Catholic Church since "institution of papacy" began.
• He dares he can drop names of bishops and priests who have fathered illegitimate children and that this is the "explosion" in the Catholic as a church.
• He wants a debate with any of the Catholic Bishops!
• Catholic bishops and priests are humans (still that's what we Catholics thought of our bishops and priests) prone to sin. And that this sin of clandestine priests will ultimately cause them "all fall down".
• The Catholic Church is just a "show" (pageantry).
• He curses Catholic bishops and priests living in "luxurious lifestyles" allegedly coming from politicians.
• Catholic bishops and priests who are soliciting donations from him, now barking at him.
• He believes in God but not in religion.
• He rejects Catholic rituals!
• He doesn't believe someone (like sinful human Catholic priests) could take away sins.  He said, priests / bishops aren't Gods (and we Catholic also believed that but they're given the authority to 'bind and loose')

A traditional diagram that explains in simple terms about the Blessed Trinity

The mystery of the Holy Trinity is the most fundamental of our faith. On it everything else depends and from it everything else derives. Hence the Churchs constant concern to safeguard the revealed truth that God is One in nature and Three in Persons.

In order to do some justice to this sublime subject, we shall look only briefly at the heretical positions that at various periods of the Church's history challenged the revealed Trinitarian faith. Our principal intention is to see in sequence the development of the doctrine, with emphasis on how the Church's authority has contributed to the progress in understanding the plurality of persons in the one true God.

There is also great value in seeing some of the implications of the doctrine for our personal and social lives, since the mystery was most extensively revealed by Christ during the same discourse at the Last Supper when He taught us the "New Commandment" by which we are to love one another as He has been loving us.

Trinitarian Heresies

There is a certain logic in the adversative positions assumed by those who called into question one or another aspect of the Trinity. Not surprisingly the human mind has wrestled with what God revealed about Himself in His inner Trinitarian existence. And depending on the willingness to recognize its limitations, the intellect has been enlightened by what God says about His mysterious being.

Thus we have, on the one hand, such extensive treatises as St. Augustine's De Trinitate that show how perfectly compatible is the mystery of the Triune God with the deepest reaches of human intelligence. Indeed, the better the Trinity is understood, the more the human mind expands its horizons and the better it understands the world that the Trinity has created.

At the same time, we have the spectacle of another phenomenon. Minds that are not fully docile to the faith have, in greater or less measure, resisted the unquestioning acceptance of the Trinity. From apostolic times to the present, they have struggled with themselves and in their misguided effort to "explain" the mystery have only rationalized their own ideas of what the mystery should be.

For the sake of convenience, we can capsulize the leading anti-Trinitarian teachings of Christian history. Although given here somewhat chronologically, they are all very current because one or another, or a combination of several, may be found in contemporary writings in nominally Christian sources. There is no such thing as an antiquated doctrinal error, as correspondingly there is no such thing as an entirely new heresy. Error has its own remarkable consistency.

Monarchianism

By the end of the first century, certain Judaizing Christians lapsed into a pre-Christian notion of God. According to them God is simply unipersonal. Such were the Corinthians and the Ebionites.

Within the next hundred years these theories were systemized into what has since become known as Monarchianism, i.e., monos = one + archein = to rule, which postulates only one person in God. In practice, however, Monarchianism affected certain positions regarding the nature and person of Christ; and these were the ones that finally had to be countered by the Church's Magisterium.

If there is only one person in God, then the Son of God did not become man except as the embodiment of an adopted son of God. According to the Adoptionists, Christ was a mere man, though miraculously conceived of the Virgin Mary. At Christ's baptism, He was endowed by the Father with extraordinary power and was then specially adopted by God as son. Among others, the best known Adoptionist was Paul of Samosata.

Another group of Monarchians took the view that Christ was divine. But then it was the Father who became incarnate, who suffered and died for the salvation of the world. Those favoring this idea were called Patripassionists, which literally means "Father-sufferers," meaning that Christ was only symbolically the son of God, since it was the Father Himself who became man. On this hypothesis, of course, the Father, too, is only symbolically Father, since He does not have a natural Son.

The best known Patripassionist was Sabellius, who gave his name to a still popular Christological heresy, Sabellianism. According to Sabellius, there is in God only one hypostasis (person) but three prosopa, literally "masks" or "roles" that the unipersonal God assumes. These three roles correspond to the three modes or ways that God manifests Himself to the world. Hence another name for this theory is Modalism.

In the Modalist system, God manifests Himself, in the sense of reveals Himself, as the Father in creation, as the Son in redemption, and as the Holy Spirit in sanctification. There are not really three distinct persons in God but only three ways of considering God from the effects He has produced in the world.

Subordinationism

Unlike the foregoing, Subordinationism admits there are three persons in God but denies that the second and third persons are consubstantial with the Father. Therefore it denies their true divinity. There have been different forms of Subordinationism, and they are still very much alive, though not all easily recognizable as Trinitarian errors in which the mind tries to comprehend how one single infinitely perfect divine nature can be three distinct persons, each equally and completely God.

The Arians, named after the Alexandrian priest Arius, held that the Logos or Word of God does not exist from eternity. Consequently there could not have been a generation of the Son from the Father but only by the Father. The Son is a creature of the Father and to that extent a "son of God." He came into existence from nothing, having been willed by the Father, although as "the first born of all creation," the Son came into the world before anything else was created.

The Semi-Arians tried to avoid the extreme of saying that Christ was totally different from the Father by conceding that He was similar to or like the Father, hence the name Homoi-ousians, i.e., homoios = like = ousia = nature, by which they are technically called.

There was lastly the group of Macedonians, named after Bishop Macedonius (deposed in 360 AD), who extended the notion of subordination to the Holy Spirit, who was claimed not to be divine but a creature. They were willing to admit that the Holy Spirit was a ministering angel of God.

Tritheism

At the other extreme to saying there was only one person in God was the heresy that held (and holds) there are really three gods. Certain names stand out.

According to John Philoponus (565 AD), nature and person are to be identified, or, in his language ousia = hypostasis. There are then three persons in God who are three individuals of the Godhead, just as we would speak of three human beings and say there are three individuals of the species man. Thus instead of admitting a numerical unity of the divine nature among the three persons in God, this theory postulates only a specific unity, i.e., one species but not one numerical existence.

In the theory of Roscelin (1120 AD), a Nominalist, only the individual is real. So the three persons in God are actually three separate realities. St. Anselm wrote extensively against this error.

Gilbert of Poitiers (1154 AD) said there is a real difference between God and the Divinity. As a result there would be a quaternity, i.e., three persons and the Godhead.

Abbot Joachim of Fiore (1202 AD) claimed that there is only a collective unity of the three persons in God, to form the kind of community we have among human beings, i.e., a gathering of like-minded persons joined together by their freedom to work together on a common enterprise. Joachim of Fiore is also known in doctrinal history as the one who projected the idea of three stages in Christian history. Stage One was the Age of the Father, through Old Testament times; Stage Two was the Age of the Second Person, the Son, which lasted from the time of the Incarnation to the Middle Ages; Stage Three began about the time of Abbot Joachim and will continue to the end of the world, as the Age of the Holy Spirit.

Anton Guenther (1873) was deeply infected with Hegelian pantheism and proclaimed a new Trinity. Guenther said that the Absolute freely determined Itself three successive times in an evolutionary process of development as thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. So the divine substance is trebled.

Post-Reformation Protestantism

The original Reformers affirmed the Trinity without qualification. Thus Luther and Calvin, and the sixteenth century confessions of Protestant faith uniformly attested to the Trinity of Persons in God. But the subjectivism of the Protestant principles paved the way to a gradual attrition of the faith, so that rationalism has made deep inroads into the denominations. The most common form of this rationalism takes the three persons in God as only three personifications of the divine attributes, e.g., divine power is personified by the Father, divine wisdom by the Son, and divine goodness by the Holy Spirit.

In this context, we may define rationalism as that system of thought that claims that the human mind cannot hold with certainty what it cannot understand. Since the Trinity cannot be fully understood, it cannot therefore be held to be certain.

Teaching of the Church

The history of the Church's doctrine on the Trinity reaches back to the earliest days of Christianity. Our purpose here is to see in review some of the leading statements of the Magisterium, while pointing out some features of each document.

Pope St. Dionysius in 259 AD wrote a public letter to Bishop Dionysius of Alexandria in which he condemned the errors of Sabellius and the tritheist Marcion. The significance of this document lies in the fact that it paved the way for the Church's later teaching, notably in the famous councils that dealt with the person of Christ. The popes led the way in defending the revealed mystery of the Trinity and in explaining its meaning, long before ecumenical councils entered the controversy. Even a few sentences from the pope's letter will show the intransigence of the Church and her sureness of mind about the Trinity:

Sabellius' blasphemy is that the Son is the Father, and the Father the Son. These men somehow teach there are three gods since they divine the sacred unity into three different hypostases completely separate from one another.

The teaching of the foolish Marcion who divides and separates the one God into three principles is a teaching from the devil, not the teaching of those who truly follow Christ and who are content with the teachings of the Savior.

At the Council of Nicea (325 AD), the Second Person was declared to be consubstantial with the Father, where the term homo-ousios became the consecrated word for expressing perfect numerical identity of nature between the Father and His Son who became incarnate.

But Nicea did not settle the controversy. Speculators, especially in the Near East, insisted on probing and rationalizing the Trinity so that in 382 AD Pope St. Damasus called a council at Rome in which he summarized the main errors up to his time. Called the Tome of Damasus, this collection of anathemas is a series of definitions on the Trinity that to this day are models of clarity. Twenty-four in number, a sample from the collection again reflects the Church's perennial faith:

If anyone denies that the Father is eternal, that the Son is eternal, and that the Holy Spirit is eternal: he is a heretic.

If anyone says that the Son made flesh was not in heaven with the Father while He was on earth: he is a heretic.

If anyone denies that the Holy Spirit has all power and knows all things, and is everywhere, just as the Father and the Son: he is a heretic.

The most extensive declaration of the Church's teaching on the Trinity was made at the Eleventh Synod of Toledo in Spain (675 AD). It is a mosaic of texts drawn from all the preceding doctrines of the Church. Its purpose was to assemble as complete a list of doctrinal statements as possible, in view of the still prevalent errors in nominally Christian circles, and (providentially) in view of the rise of Islam which struck with particular vehemence against the Iberian peninsula. Since the main target of Moslem opposition to Christianity was the Koranic claim that Christians were idolaters because they adored Christ as God, it is instructive to see how the faithful were prepared to resist the Moslem Unitarianism by a clear declaration of their own belief in the Triune God. The full text of doctrine at Toledo runs to over two thousand words. Only a few lines will be given to illustrate the tone:

We confess and we believe that the holy and indescribable Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one only God in His nature, a single substance, a single nature, a single majesty and power.

We acknowledge Trinity in the distinction of persons; we profess Unity because of the nature or substance. The three are one, as a nature, that is, not as person. Nevertheless, these three persons are not to be considered separable, since we believe that no one of them existed or at any time effected anything before the other, after the other, or without the other.

Two general councils of the Church formulated the faith in the Trinity in specific creeds, namely the Fourth Lateran and the Council of Florence.

The focus of Fourth Lateran was twofold, to reaffirm the faith in the face of the Albigensian heresy and to defend it against the vagaries of Abbot Joachim.

Since the Albigenses were Manichaens, for whom there were two ultimate sources of the universe, one a good principle and the other an evil one, Lateran declared the absolute oneness of God, who is at the same time Triune:

We firmly believe and profess without qualification that there is only one true God, eternal, immense, unchangeable, incomprehensible, omnipotent, and indescribable, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; three persons but one essence and a substance or nature that is wholly simple.

The Father is from no one; the Son is from the Father only; and the Holy Spirit is from both the Father and the Son equally. God has no beginning; He always is, and always will be. The Father is the progenitor, the Son is the begotten, the Holy Spirit is proceeding. They are all one substance, equally great, equally all-powerful, equally eternal. They are the one and only principle of all things – Creator of all things visible and invisible, spiritual and corporeal, who, by His almighty power, from the very beginning of time has created both orders of creatures in the same way out of nothing, the spiritual or angelic worlds and the corporeal or visible universe.

Abbot Joachim had a plurality of gods. In his effort to explain how the persons in the Trinity are distinct, he made them so separate that he ended up making them separate deities. Joachim's problem was transferring what happens in human generation, when something of the parent goes over to the offspring, and is thereby distinct. He pressed the analogy too far and fell into error.

In response to this, the Fourth Lateran Council used the most technical language to insist that there is no division in God just because there is a distinction of persons:

The Father in eternally begetting the Son gave Him His own substance as the Son Himself testifies, "What my Father has given me is greater than all." But it cannot be said that He gave Him part of His substance, and retained part for Himself, because the substance of the Father is indivisible, since it is altogether simple. Neither can one say that the Father transferred His own substance in generation to the Son, as though He gave it to the Son in such a way that He did not retain it for Himself; otherwise He would cease to be a substance.

The situation at the Council of Florence (1442 AD) was different. Here the need was to state the constant teaching of the Church with a view to reuniting the Eastern and Western Churches, separated by the Eastern Schism.

One feature of Florence, however, that needed to be clarified was brought about by the addition to the Nicene Creed of the expression Filioque, i.e. "and from the Son," which Rome had approved. The Roman Creed now read, "the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son." The Easterners were uncomfortable with the addition, saying that Rome had tampered with a general council. The issue at stake was the true divinity of the Holy Spirit and the true divinity of the Second Person. Consequently, the Council of Florence, in the long Trinitarian Creed that it issued, stated as follows:

The Father is entirely in the Son and entirely in the Holy Spirit; the Son is entirely in the Father and entirely in the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is entirely in the Father and entirely in the Son. None of the persons precedes any of the others in eternity, nor does any have greater immensity or greater power. From eternity, without beginning, the Son is from the Father; and from eternity and without beginning, the Holy Spirit has proceeded from the Father and the Son.

Human language could not be clearer, and there the faith of the Church stands to day and will until the end of time. Since the Council of Florence, popes and councils have simply drawn on the elaborate and absolutely unambiguous teaching of Sacred Tradition to offer the faithful for acceptance what is at once the glory of Catholic Christianity and its greatest revealed mystery.

Principal Implications

As we are learning today, faith in the Trinity is the basic test of our Catholic faith as Christians. This is not merely to say that objectively this doctrine is the most fundamental. It is. But subjectively, from our side, it is also the most crucial because it represents the hardest demand on our creedal assent.

All natural knowledge leads us to see only specific unity among human beings. We have one human nature, indeed, but we are only specifically one as distinct persons. We are really distinct as persons but we are also separate realities. Not so with the Trinity. Each of the divine Persons is the infinite God, and no one Person has only a "share" in the divine nature, a part of it so to speak. Yet they are not three infinities, but only one infinite God.

Relative to generation, all natural knowledge tells us that the parenthood and offspring imply a before and after generation, they imply a producer and a produced, a cause and effect. Not so in the eternal generation of the Son of God by the Father.

All natural knowledge tells us that while love is "outgoing" it does not literally give rise to a third person who is at once distinct from the two who love and numerically one with them in nature. Yet this is the case with God, where the Holy Spirit is declared by the Church as "the Love or the Sanctity of both the Father and the Son." He proceeds from them without being another god.

But the Trinity is more than a test of our faith. It is also the perfect model of our selfless love. As revelation tells us, within the Godhead is a plurality of Persons, so that God is defined as Love because He has within His own being, to use our language, the object of love which is an Other with whom each of the Persons can share the totality of their being.

We therefore see from reflection on this Triune Love that love by its essence is not self-centered, that love unites, that love gives, and that love shares perfectly within the Godhead. Love is therefore as perfect in us as it approximates the perfect sharing that constitutes the Trinity.

At the same time, we recall that, while perfectly selfless in their mutual sharing of the divine nature, the Persons in the Trinity do not thereby cease to be themselves. Again, this is a lesson for us. We are to give of ourselves generously and without stinting. Nevertheless we are also to give in such a way that we remain ourselves and not become, as it were, something else in the process of sharing. There is such a thing as calculating charity, when a person gives of himself but "not too much" because he fears that his love may be too costly. This is not the teaching of Christ, who told us to love others not only as much as we love ourselves but as much as He loves us.

Saying this, however, is not to say that charity should not be wise. It would be unwise if it deprived us of that which God wants us to be and made us less than we are expected to be. Charity must, therefore, be enlightened; it must be guided by the standard of the Trinity, where each of the divine Persons gives and shares perfectly, yet without ceasing to be what each Person is to be. The Father does not become less the Father in begetting the Son and thus totally sharing the divine nature; nor do Father and Son cease to be themselves although they completely share their divinity with the Holy Spirit.

We thus have a confluence of two mysteries, of the Trinity in heaven and of liberty on earth. The Trinity is the pattern for our liberty. If we use our freedom to love others as we should, modeled on the Triune God, we shall reach that God in eternity. This is our hope, based on our faith, and conditioned by our love.

Rodrigo Duterte, the Filipino president-elect, who is expected to take office June 30, 2016. Credit: Malacañang Photo Bureau/Public Domain via Wikipedia

Manila, Philippines, May 26, 2016 / 04:25 pm (CNA).- The president-elect of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, recently described the country's bishops as corrupt and “sons of whores” for allegedly resorting to seeking favors from politicians.

During a May 20 press conference, the president-elect described the Catholic Church as “the most hypocritical institution” and insulted the Filipino bishops: “You sons of whores, aren't you ashamed? You ask for so many favors, even from me.”

It is estimated that more than 80% of Filipinos are part of the Catholic Church.

Duterte won 38.5 percent of the vote for president of the Philippines, which was held May 9. While the nation's congress has not yet declared the result official, his lead is unassailable.

Currently mayor of Davao City, Duterte has built his political image as a tough leader. Nicknamed “the Punisher” by Time Magazine, Duterte brought law and order to Davao – known in the '70s and '80s as the murder capital of the country – with drastic measures which included, according to various human rights organizations, allowing death squads to operate.

He has served as mayor of Davao since 1988, except a three-year period when he was term-limited, and another three-year period when he served as vice mayor, while his daughter Sara was mayor.

During the election campaign, the Church in the Philippines expressed its opposition to several of Duterte's proposals, such as re-instituting the death penalty.

Duterte admitted to cursing Pope Francis during his January 2015 visit to the Philippines, because he was upset by the traffic jams caused by the Roman Pontiff.

According to the president-elect himself, he said at that time, “Pope, you son of a whore, go home, don't visit us again.”

Duterte said he met with the Archbishop of Davao in December 2015, where he was admonished for his habit of cursing, and lectured on Christian values. He claimed he would curse less, and donate 1,000 Philippine pesos ($21) to Caritas Davao each time he did.

Within hours of his attacks on the Filipino bishops, Duterte announced a call for a three-child policy across the Philippines.

“I only want three children for every family,” Duterte said May 21. “I'm a Christian, but I'm a realist so we have to do something about our overpopulation. I will defy the opinion or belief of the Church.”

He was a supporter of the Reproductive Health Law passed in 2012, and has been supportive of LGBT initiatives in Davao. He has stated his opposition to abortion, however.

Duterte, who was raised Catholic, says he has ceased going to Mass and that he could not be both mayor and a good Catholic: “If I obey the Ten Commandments or listen to priests, I would not be able to do anything as a mayor,” he said in January.

According to the BBC, Duterte “has promised to continue his tough stance as president, but has offered few specific policies.”

Duterte won the Filipino election despite his incendiary comments. He has openly admitted to being a womanizer, and vowed to execute large numbers of criminals and dump their bodies in Manila Bay.

And while campaining in April he commented on the 1989 rape and murder of a Protestant missionary from Australia, which had taken place in Davao, saying: “Was I mad because she was raped? Yes, that's one of the reasons. But she was so beautiful, the mayor should have been first.”

After Duterte's inflammatory comments about the Church, the Archdiocese of Davao responded by saying that it “respects and listens with humility to the views and statements of our incoming President Rodrigo Roa Duterte about the Church, including those that may be difficult to accept and things that may be contrary to our teachings,” according to GMA News, a Filipino television network.

Msgr. Paul Cuison, the Davo archdiocese's spokesman, also said that the archdiocese has “always maintained a peaceful relationship with him and our doors are always open to him,” and added that “we are one with the people of Davao in acknowledging all the good things that he has done especially to the poor and the marginalized.”

But Archbishop Oscar Cruz, the Archbishop Emeritus of Lingayen-Dagupan, responded to Duterte's claims of hypocrisy in the Church by asking for evidence.

“He should say who did something, what was committed and where we can get evidence … He really should expose those sins because the Church will not just accept it. The Church has laws against such sins along with proper punishments,” Archbishop Cruz said, according to The Standard of Manila.

Duterte will be sworn into office June 30 for a six-year term as president.

Year	Event
300’s A.D	At the end of the imperial persecutions of Christianity (c. 313), the universal Church is administered by three major ecclesiastical sees: Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch (in that order of primacy). However, by the mid 300’s, there are already significant differences developing between East and West: * The Roman Empire splits in two: a Western Roman Empire and an Eastern Roman Empire * The Roman Rite is used in the West; the Antiochian and Alexandrian Rites are used in the East. * Unleavened bread is used in the Western Eucharist; leaven bread is used in the East. * The West begins a process toward an all-celibate clergy, based upon the growing East-West trend of electing only celibate monks as bishops. * The East begins to view the Roman Emperor as the supreme Church authority; even over the primacy (in however one defines it) of the Bishop of Rome. This is somehow related to the influence of the Arians at the imperial court; and most likely developed as a modified form of the old, pagan Emperor worship.
342	At the height of the Arian struggle, the Council of Sardica acknowledges the supreme ecclesiastical authority of Rome, and gives the Roman bishop the right to judge cases involving episcopal sees. The presiding bishop at this council is St. Athanasius himself, who had previously been restored to his see of Alexandria by the authority of Pope Julius I --an authority that is even recognized by the Arians, then in power at Constantinople. Thus, Sardica merely codified Rome’s Traditional primacy as a matter of imperial law.
365	The pious, young Western Emperor Gratian relinquishes the pagan imperial title of Pontifex Maximus (head of the Roman state religion) --a title retained by Emperor Constantine I and his four immediate “Christian” successors. Emperor Gratian bestows the Pontifex Maximus title on Pope Damasus of Rome, making it clear that Christianity is now the official “state cult” of the Empire.
381	With the Arians defeated, the Council of Constantinople proclaims the Bishop of Constantinople (the imperial bishop) second in status to the Bishop of Rome --a decision which Rome refuses to endorse, calling it unTraditional. Rather, citing Canon 6 of Nicaea, Rome upholds the authority of Alexandria as the Traditional second see, and that of Antioch as the third see. It claims that this order of primacy was established by St. Peter himself. Thus, Constantinople is denied the status of a Christian patriarchate. With the Council’s decree rejected, Eastern Emperor Theodosius I tries to imitate the policy of Western Emperor Gratian by making St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Bishop of Constantinople, the Pontifex Maximus of the Eastern Empire. St. Gregory, however, refuses to accept the title, and soon after resigns the bishopric.
c. 400	The Western Church uses the Athanasian Creed as well as the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds. The East uses only the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds. Around this time, the imperial court of Constantinople moves to make Jerusalem an honorary patriarchate, a status denied to Jerusalem (aka Aelia) by the Council of Nicaea in 325. Although not one of the three original patriarchates established by St. Peter (i.e., Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch), the universal Church gives its approval to the imperial decree so as to venerate the Holy City where Christ died and rose again.
431	The Council of Ephesus deposes Bishop Nestorius of Constantinople for his heretical teaching that Mary was only the mother of Christ’s human nature, but not of His Divine Personhood. Nestorius’ followers break off from the Church and form communities in the Persian Empire known as the Chaldean church --a Nestorian communion, which later spreads into India, forming the Malabar church as well.
449	The Monophysites, who claim that Christ only had one nature --that of God (as opposed to two natures: God and man) are powerful in the Eastern Church. Gaining the Emperor’s support, the Monophysites triumph over the so-called “Robber Council of Ephesus,” and Monophysism is declared to be orthodox doctrine. Numerous orthodox Eastern bishops are deposed, including Bishop Flavian of Constantinople, and appeal to the Pope of Rome to be restored to their sees.
451	Pope Leo the Great urges the new Emperor, Marcianus, to call the Council of Chalcedon to condemn the decisions of the Robber Council. The Pope’s teaching, called the Tome of Leo, is read at the Council, which proclaimed: “This is the Faith of our fathers! Peter has spoken in the person of Leo.” However, Patriarch Dioscorus of Alexandria refuses to accept the Council’s decision and withdraws, taking the entire Egyptian and Ethiopian delegation with him. Because of this, numerous Monophysite communities in the Middle East break off to form independent bodies. Among them are the Coptic (Egyptian) church, the Abyssinian (Ethiopian) church, the Jacobite (Syrian) church, the Armenian church, and the Syro-Malankar (Indian) church. With the see of Alexandria plunged into heresy, the Byzantines at the Council of Chalcedon make another attempt to declare the Bishop of Constantinople second in status after the Pope of Rome. However, this innovation, known as Canon 28, is unilaterally rejected by Pope Leo, and struck from the canons of the Council (in both East and West) by Papal decree. Bishop Anatolius of Constantinople writes to Pope Leo to apologize for the attempted innovation. Thus, Constantinople is again denied the status of a patriarchate, and Rome displays its final authority, even over the decrees of Ecumenical Councils.
455	Pope Leo releases an Edit declaring the Bishop of Rome’s authority over the universal Church.
476	The Western Empire falls to Germanic tribes while the Eastern Empire remains intact. The Eastern Emperor is recognized as sole Roman Emperor; and easterners begin to view the West as a bunch of ignorant, uneducated barbarians, whereas they themselves are truly “Roman.”
484	FIRST SCHISM: Acacius, Bishop of Constantinople, persuades Eastern Emperor Zeno to issue the Henoticon (“Act of Union”) to appease the Monophysites --a doctrinal compromise and a contradiction of Chalcedon, which all the Eastern bishops sign. Pope Felix III (II) excommunicates both Acacius as well as the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch --in essence, excommunicating the entire East!
500	Greek begins to replace Latin as the official tongue of the Eastern Empire.
519	Eastern Emperor Justin I, an orthodox Christian, tries to heal the schism, sending a party of Eastern bishops to Rome to confer with Pope Hormisdas. All of these Eastern bishops (including the patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and the Bishop of Constantinople) sign the “Libellus Hormisdae,” which clearly defines the primacy of the Roman See based on the Pope’s succession from St. Peter.
526	FIRST SCHISM HEALED when Pope John I travels to Constantinople and obtains a profession of orthodox faith from Emperor Justin I --a significant achievement considering the strength of the Monophysites in the East. Pope John is praised by the Byzantines as the “successor of Peter,” and is called upon to re-crown Justin as emperor --a precedent that will later lay the foundation for the crowning of Charlemagne (i.e., the Pope as “king maker.”)
550	About this time, the imperial court of Constantinople begins a policy of placing Byzantine Greek bishops on the episcopal thrones of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem to guard against the heresy of Monophysism. The native Christians of Egypt, Syria, and Palestine (most of whom are Monophysites) resent this “imperial intrusion,” and call these foreign bishops “Melchites” (a Syrian term, meaning “of the king ”). The Monophysites then appoint their own bishops in Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem; and the East is plagued by all manner of disputes and schisms.
589	The Council of Toledo in Spain adds the “Filioque clause” to the Nicene Creed, but later withdraws it (at the Pope’s request) to appease the East. The West, as well as the Cappadocian fathers of Asia Minor (i.e., St. Basil, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. Gregory Nazianzus), have accepted the clause’s theology since the mid-300’s.
590’s	The Western Church continues the process toward an all-celibate clergy.
600’s	The Greek Church gives an even greater role to the Emperor, calling him the “Christ on Earth” (evidently to compete w/ Islam’s Caliph, “The Defender of the Faith”). The Eastern Church/government begins to pattern itself after the Hughic Kingdom of Israel, with the Emperor possessing an essential Church office. About this time, the Byzantine Emperor tries to secure the title of “Ecumenical Patriarch” for the Bishop of Constantinople. This would give the Bishop of Constantinople the power and authority to call ecumenical councils; however the Emperor’s request is solemnly denied by Pope Gregory the Great, who calls the title haughty, proud, and unTraditional. Gregory still defends the three-patriarchal system of Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch as it was established by St. Peter. Also about this time, the Monophysite Christians in Egypt, Palestine, and Syria begin to form alliances with the rising power of Islam against their Byzantine (“Melchite”) rivals. The Arab Muslims promise the Monophysite Christians freedom of worship; and, with Monophysite help, the Muslims are able to capture Egypt, Palestine, and part of Syria from the Byzantine Empire.
c. 640	While living in Rome, St. Maximos the Confessor (a native of Constantinople) defends the orthodoxy of the Filioque clause and writes to his Byzantine peers, explaining what the Romans really mean by it.
654	SECOND SCHISM: In a desperate attempt to re-unify his Christian Empire and bring the dissident Christians of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria back into the fold, Emperor Constans II tries to impose the doctrine of Monothelitism (“Christ had only One Will”) on the Empire as a compromise with Monophysism. The heresy is rejected by the West, but temporarily embraced by the Maronite church in Syria and Lebanon.
655	After condemning the heresy of Monothelitism at a synod held in Rome, Pope Martin I is arrested by Byzantine troops and taken to Constantinople, where he is publicly abused by the mob and then exiled to Crimea, dying as a martyr for orthodoxy.
681	SECOND SCHISM HEALED when the Council of Constantinople III condemns Monothelitism, reuniting the Church. (This council also condemned Pope Honorius for heresy --42 years after the Pope’s death --based on one letter he wrote to the Monothelites, where he seems to have tolerated their views. The Pope’s position in the letter is unclear, however; and Honorius’ condemnation was most likely a Byzantine attempt to marginalize the authority of the Papacy. Rome never declared Honorius a formal heretic, but charged him with negligence for “assisting in the base assertions of the heretics.”) The Council of Constantinople III also calls Pope Agatho “the head of the Church.”
701	--The legal code of the Quinisext (or Trullian) Council of Constantinople (which, among other secular innovations, dispensed with the Apostolic discipline of sexual continence for married priests) is rejected by the West, but eventually accepted by Pope John VII, who needed Byzantine support against the Lombard invaders of Italy. Around this time, Rome recognizes Constantinople as a patriarchate. With the two great Eastern sees of Alexandria and Antioch reduced to minor Christian communities by the Muslims, Constantinople remains the only Christian capital in the East.
736	THIRD SCHISM: Pope Gregory III excommunicates the Iconoclasts, infuriating Emperor Leo III, who --evidently influenced by Islamic sensibilities --promoted the heresy.
787	THIRD SCHISM HEALED by the Council of Nicaea II, which condemns the Iconoclasts and restores the use of images in Church worship.
800	Pope Leo III crowns Charlemagne Emperor of the West (i.e., Holy Roman Emperor). This act marks the end of Papal dependence on the Eastern Emperor, but the Pope still refuses Charlemagne’s pressure to include the “Filioque clause” in the Nicene Creed, so as not to alienate the East. The East takes offense at the Pope’s crowning of a “barbarian” as Emperor.
859	Boris I, the Bulgarian Khan, withdraws his acceptance of the primacy of Rome when Pope Adrian II refuses to make Bulgaria a patriarchate. Bulgaria shifts its allegiance to Constantinople -- a Byzantine political coup, since Constantinople needed to “control” the Bulgarians to protect their northern frontier.
865	The Byzantine court sends Sts. Cyril and Methodius into the Balkans to convert the pagan Slavs. Though originally part of the Eastern Empire, this region falls into the Pope of Rome’s Western patriarchate; and Roman Rite missionaries from Germany conflict with the Byzantines, who are adapting the Liturgy into Slavonic, and thus achieving more conversions. To get to the bottom of this conflict, the Pope calls Cyril and Methodius to Rome; and Rome gives its blessing to their ministry. Cyril and Methodius also recognize the universal primacy of the Pope of Rome. Thus, the Slavic Balkan kingdoms embrace the Byzantine Rite as opposed to the Roman Rite --another coup for the court of Constantinople which, as with Bulgaria, needed to establish religious /cultural ties with the Slavs so as to safeguard the Empire’s northern frontier.
867	FOURTH SCHISM: Photius, the brilliant but illegally-elected Patriarch of Constantinople, conflicts with Pope Nicholas I and Pope Adrian II over his election to the see of Constantinople. He challenges the authority of the Papacy, and bashes the “Filioque clause.”
869	FOURTH SCHISM HEALED when Emperor Basil I calls the 6th Council of Constantinople to depose Photius.
886	After being reinstated to the See of Constantinople with Rome’s blessing in 878, Photius conflicts with Pope Stephen V over Papal prerogatives, and is deposed by Emperor Leo VI.
891	Photius dies in communion with Rome.
928	Pope John X tries to bring the Bulgarians back into communion with Rome.
988	Prince Vladimir I of Russia embraces the Byzantine form of Christianity, making it the official religion of the Russian people. He also marries a Byzantine princess.
1020	The West unilaterally adopts the “Filioque clause” into the Nicene Creed.
1025	Pope John XIX refuses the Eastern Emperor’s request to recognize the Patriarch of Constantinople as “Ecumenical Patriarch.”
1050	Michael Cerularius, Patriarch of Constantinople, launches an anti-Latin campaign. He closes all the Latin churches in Constantinople and attacks the “Filioque clause” and Papal authority, claiming that the Pope has no authority to adapt the Creed. His army enters latin Churches in Constantinople and throws Eucharists into the street.
1054	THE FIFTH (GREAT) SCHISM: Differences come to a head as Cardinal Humbertus, Papal legate of Leo IX excommunicates Patriarch Michael Cerularius and all his communicates (something he does without Papal approval, since Pope Leo had died shortly before). The Patriarch, in turn, excommunicates Humbertus and his fellow Papal delegates.
1071	Crushing Byzantine defeat at Manzinkert, Armenia. The Byzantine army is completely destroyed, and the Muslim Turks take Asia Minor and the entire Middle East.
1096	Pressed by the Turks, the Byzantine Emperor turns to the Pope for western aid. He actually just wants mercenary troops, but Pope Urban II launches the First Crusade as an attempt to heal the Schism. Urban also lifts the ban of excommunication on Emperor Alexius I Comnenus.
1100’s	The Maronite church of Syria and Lebanon abandons what’s left of its sympathies for Monothelitism and reestablishes full communion with Rome.
1150	Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus tries, but fails, to conquer Italy so as to reunite the Church on the Byzantine mode
1171	At the order of Emperor Manuel, thousands of Italian merchants (and other Westerners) living in the Byzantine Empire are killed, mutilated, or arrested and held for years in prison.
1180's	Crusader atrocities against Byzantine Christians in Cyprus.
1187	Byzantine Emperor Isaac II Angelus writes a letter to the Muslim Sultan Saladin congratulating him for successfully recapturing Jerusalem from the Western crusaders.
1188	Emperor Isaac betrays the German army of the Third Crusade. After promising Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa safe passage for his troops through Byzantine dominions on the way to the Holy Land, Isaac uses Turkish mercenaries to ambush and destroy the German army. Informed of his Eastern colleague's treachery, Emperor Frederick sends word to his son Henry in Germany to seek Papal approval for action against the Byzantines. The Pope refuses to give his consent. In the same year (1188) Patriarch Dositheus of Constantinople offers unconditional absolution to any Greek killing a Westerner.
1204	The armies of the Fourth Crusade are persuaded by the Venetians to violently sack Constantinople (their commercial rival). This act of savagery perpetuates hostilities between East and West. At first, the Pope excommunicates the crusaders; but later gives his blessing to the Latin Empire of Constantinople.
1250’s	Roman Catholic missionaries take advantage of the newly-open trade routes of the Mongol Empire, and begin to evangelize central Asia and China. Many Nestorian Christians in these regions re-enter into communion with Rome.
1261	Greeks recapture Constantinople.
1274	FIFTH SCHISM TEMPORARILY HEALED at the Council of Lyons II, called by Pope Gregory X. Soon after, in 1276, Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologos and Pope John XXI affect a reunion of East and West. The East accepts the orthodoxy of Filioque, Unleavened Bread in the Eucharist, and the Western understanding of Purgatory.
1281	SIXTH SCHISM: Temporary reunion is destroyed when Pope Martin IV excommunicates Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologos.
1371	Emperor John V Palaeologus offers to submit to Papal authority in exchange for Western aid against the encroaching Turks.
1439	SIXTH SCHISM HEALED as Emperor John VIII Palaeologos travels to Italy with all four Eastern Patriarchs and submits to Pope Eugene VI. The Act of Union is drafted by the Council of Ferrara-Florence. The East accepts the “Filioque clause” in the form: “From the Father through the Son,” as well as the other Western doctrines approved at Lyons II. Other Eastern churches, such as the Armenians, Jacobites, and some Nestorian bodies re-enter into communion with Rome. This is the beginning of the Eastern Catholic Uniates, which also include Copts, Ethiopians, Maronites, Melchites, Syrians, and Syro-Malankars.
1443	The decisions reached at Ferrara-Florence are bitterly opposed by most of the Byzantine populace and clergy. Partly due to this, the crusade launched by Pope Eugene VI to relieve Constantinople from the surrounding Turks is a dismal failure.
1453	Constantinople falls to the Turks. But, as a touching gesture in the city’s last moments, both Byzantine and Roman Christians receive Holy Communion together in the Church of Hagia Sophia, before facing slavery or death.
1461	The Trebizond Empire (last pocket of the Byzantine Empire) falls to the Turks. The Turks want no contact between Byzantines and the West. They exploit the doctrinal differences, persecuting Western Christians; and naming the Patriarch of Constantinople as head of the Christian community within the Turkish domain (i.e., the bishop of Byzantium finally gets the title of “Ecumenical Patriarch” --from Muslims).
1463	The Greek Orthodox scholar and Roman Catholic Cardinal, Johannes Bessarion, is made Latin Patriarch of Constantinople by Pope Pius II.
1464	A crusade organized by Pope Pius II to rescue Constantinople falls apart before leaving Italy, and Pius dies en route.
1472	SEVENTH SCHISM: The Greek bishops nullify the Ferrara-Florence Act of Union at a synod in Constantinople. Coincidentally (?), in the same year, Grand Duke Ivan III of Moscow marries Zoe Sophia, the niece of the last Byzantine Emperor. Moscow is now considered the “third Rome,” the successor to Constantinople, and the center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The prince of Moscow takes the title of Czar (“Caesar”).
1500’s	Protestant churches of the Reformation break off from Rome. The Church of England is established as a supposedly autonomous “Catholic” body. Also in the 1500’s, Spanish and Portuguese missionaries bring many of the Malabar (Nestorian) and Syro-Malankar (Monophysite) Christians of India back into communion with Rome.
1582	Pope Gregory XIII introduces the new, Gregorian calendar; whereas the East still uses the old Julian calendar. Consequently, East and West celebrate Easter on different dates.
1596	The Union of Brest is formed, as a party of Ukrainian bishops appeals to Rome to be readmitted into communion with the Western Church, while being allowed to retain their specific Eastern Liturgy, theology and discipline.
1667	The Russian Orthodox Church adopts the Athanasian Creed (minus the “Filioque clause.”) The adoption of the Athanasian Creed is somehow related to the liturgical reforms conducted under Patriarch Nikon of Moscow (1605-81) after Russia recaptured the Ukraine from Poland in 1667. Formerly a metropolitan district under Constantinople, certain conditions had to be met before the Ukraine could accept the leadership of the Moscow Patriarch. To this end, Nikon introduced reforms into the Russian ritual adhering more closely to the original Byzantine Liturgy which, he discovered, had been distorted in the Slavonic translation from Greek. His reforms, however, caused a schism, with most of the Russian clergy refusing to abandon rituals which were followed for centuries. But, at a Russian synod in 1667, the dissenters were declared schismatics.
1646	The Union of Uzhorod is formed, in which another group of Eastern Orthodox clergy and laymen (this time from the Transcarpathian region of what is now Slovakia, Ukraine, and Hungary) also request acceptance into communion with Rome.
1724	After a dispute over patriarchal succession in the Antiochian Orthodox Church, a party of Melchites in Syria seeks to re-enter into communion with Rome. Rome recognizes the Melchite Catholic Patriarch in Damascus.
1780	The Greek Orthodox Church adopts the Athanasian Creed, but drops it soon afterward.
1800’s	The Roman Catholic Church defines both Papal Infallibility and Mary’s Immaculate Conception to be dogmas of the universal Church. Numerous Byzantine-Rite communities in Eastern Europe and the Ukraine enter into communion with Rome, forming the greater part of the Byzantine Catholic Church.
1950	The Pope defines Mary’s Assumption (aka Dormition) as a dogma.
1965	Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagorus of Constantinople meet and nullify the mutual excommunications. Although better relations are established, the East-West Schism continues.
1991	Pope John Paul II works to bring about reunion with the East. He says, “The Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church are two lungs within the same Body.” ...and how “we must learn to breathe with both lungs.” He also declares that “ignorance of the Eastern Rite is ignorance of the Church.”
1993	John Paul II affects a reunion with the Nestorian Patriarch, welcoming the Nestorians of Syria and Iraq back into communion with Rome after their acceptance of the “Theotokos” dogma. The Nestorian schism of 431 is largely healed; and the Apostolic Christians of Iraq are now called Chaldean Catholics.
1994	A significant number of Anglican communities re-enter into communion with Rome.
2000	March 12th, 2000, at the Vatican in Rome, Pope John Paul II formally asked forgiveness for the various sins committed by the Catholic Church over the last two millennium. In his "Day of Pardon" homily, the Pope confessed: "... we cannot fail to recognize the infidelities to the Gospel committed by some of our brethren, especially during the second millennium. Let us ask pardon for the divisions which have occurred among Christians, for the violence some have used in the service of the truth and for the distrustful and hostile attitudes sometimes taken towards the followers of other religions."
2001	Pope JP II addresses the Archibishop of Athens and Primate of Greece. He said: "Clearly there is a need for a liberating process of purification of memory. For the occasions past and present, when sons and daughters of the Catholic Church have sinned by action or omission against their Orthodox brothers and sisters, may the Lord grant us the forgiveness we beg of Him." "Some memories are especially painful, and some events of the distant past have left deep wounds in the minds and hearts of people to this day. I am thinking of the disastrous sack of the imperial city of Constantinople, which was for so long the bastion of Christianity in the East. It is tragic that the assailants, who had set out to secure free access for Christians to the Holy Land, turned against their own brothers in the faith. The fact that they were Latin Christians [Roman Catholics] fills Catholics with deep regret. How can we fail to see here the 'mysterium iniquitatis' at work in the human heart? To God alone belongs judgment and, therefore, we entrust the heavy burden of the past to his endless mercy, imploring him to heal the wounds that still cause suffering to the spirit of the Greek people." - Pope John Paul II, May 4th, 2001 ADDRESS TO HIS BEATITUDE CHRISTODOULOS ARCHBISHOP OF ATHENS AND PRIMATE OF GREECE

Other topics on Catholic Orthodox relations

1. Home
2. Orthodox/Catholic Timeline
3. Discussion on the Pope, the Bishop of Rome
4. Filioque
5. Married Priests
6. Holy Fire
7. Decomposed bodies of Saints
8. Mary's Assumption
9. Immaculate Conception
10. Was Peter the Rock?
11. Nicene Creed Text
12. Purgatory
13. Purgatory dialogue with an Orthodox Christian
14. Does the Orthodox Church predate the Catholic Church?
    
15. The Orthodox Bible. Did the Council of Nicea II confirm the Council of Carthage
16. The 1054 Split between Catholic and Orthodox
17. Orthodox position on divorce
18. Orthodox position on Contraception
19. The Crusade sack of Constantinople
20. Did the Apostle Andrew establish the Church in Constantinople?
21. Why can't babies receive communion in the Catholic Church?
22. Why can Orthodox Christians receive Catholic Communion but Catholics can't receive Orthodox Communion?
23. The history of the Church in Bulgaria
24. Protestant Reformation
25. Heresies - listed
26. Has the Orthodox Church changed on significant issues?
27. If Peter had primacy, why did James make decision (Acts 15)?
28. Is Papal infallibility a "one man council"?
29. Is Peter the Rock of Matthew 16:18?
30. Are the other Patriarchs dependent on Rome?
31. Did Rome force Latin on the Eastern Churches?
32. Why did the Pope have a Kingdom?
33. Evangelicals becoming Orthodox
34. Did Catholics force "Mortal Sin" on eastern churches?

• “From the hotel to the airport, alam mo inabot kami ng…dito lang…niyaya ako…limang oras. Sabi ko bakit? Sabi pinasarado daw,” the politiko said. He then asked, “Eh sino darating?” “Si Pope (Francis),” answered his companion.“Gusto kong tawagan, ‘Pope putangina ka umuwi ka na. Wag ka nang magbisita dito,'” Duterte said.

• "The most hypocritical institution is the Catholic Church."

• "For the record, I believe in God, but I do not believe in religions."

• “I will destroy the Church and the present status of so many priests and what they are doing,” he said. “You priests, bishops, you condemn me and suggest I withdraw, but then I will start to open my mouth. There are so many secrets that we kept as children. Do not force (me to speak) because this religion is not so sacred.”

• “Ang hindi kasi nakuha ng Simabahan, napaka-bobo naman kasi itong Katoliko. Tapos ngayon, nagsabi pa, hindi daw sila nagkampanya. Eh ‘yung tatlong bishop na nagsalita against me?”

• Do not f*** with me, Cruz! Iparinig mo sa kanya 'yan!”.

• “Di na ako miyembro ng Katoliko....May bago ako, lipat na lang kayo dito sa Iglesia ni Duterte,"

1. The support of 2/3 of Congress to stop President Duterte from making anti-life laws detested by the Catholic Church, such as death penalty, divorce, and population control
2. The impeachment of President Duterte in case he tries to establish Martial Law to suppress Catholic dissent against his administration.

Marysville church's Catholic priest brings along his wife

By Julie Muhlstein
Herald Writer
Published: Saturday, May 28, 2016

Karin McMicheal with her husband, the Rev. Tom McMichael, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Marysville. McMichael converted from the Lutheran Church and has served St. Mary's for a year.

MARYSVILLE — When the Rev. Tom McMichael arrived at St. Mary Catholic Church in January, he had already introduced himself in a “Pastor's Page” letter on the parish website. In his note, he wrote of looking forward “with joy and hope” to serving at the church. And he added a surprising detail: “I am a Catholic priest and I am married.”

In his office at the Marysville parish, the 55-year-old McMichael talked Thursday about his journey, from serving 17 years as a Lutheran pastor to a time of deep spiritual discernment. That led him, along with his Lutheran wife, Karin McMichael, to convert to Roman Catholicism. On Jan. 10, 2009, he was ordained as a Catholic priest at St. James Cathedral in Seattle.

“I attribute it to the Holy Spirit,” McMichael said. “I truly felt a call to the priesthood.”

Greg Magnoni is a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Seattle, which oversees all of Western Washington's Catholic parishes. He said it's not unprecedented for married men to serve as priests. In the past, Magnoni said, several widowers have been ordained.

The first married clergy to make the transition in the United States were Episcopalian priests who petitioned Pope John Paul II about 35 years ago. McMichael is now one of about 200 Latin rite married priests in the United States. Most are former Lutheran and Episcopal clergy.

He was appointed to serve at St. Mary's after the Archdiocese of Seattle reassigned the Rev. Dwight Lewis, a popular priest administrator at the Marysville parish. McMichael said his tenure in Marysville will last at least until June 30, 2017.

Just before coming to Marysville, McMichael served five Catholic churches in Skagit County, primarily St. Charles in Burlington and Sacred Heart in La Conner.

It was 2005 when McMichael told his congregation at Hope Lutheran Church in Lynden that he was resigning as their pastor and converting to Catholicism. There was no guarantee he would ever lead a congregation again. “I was raised in a Lutheran family, and was confirmed in the Lutheran Church,” he said.

He and Karin, who is from Germany, were married in 1985 and have two grown sons and four grandchildren. McMichael was ordained as a Lutheran pastor in 1988 after earning an undergraduate degree at the University or Oregon and going to the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California.

What caused McMichael to leave the church where he was raised and to become Catholic?

He said he began to move toward the change after the 1987 merger of three Lutheran churches, which created the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. While he said Lutheran worship is closest of any Reformation church to Catholicism, after the 1987 merger he began seeing changes that made him less comfortable. “The Lutheran Church became more Protestant,” he said.

Rather than move to a breakaway Lutheran church, he gravitated to the more sacramental Catholic faith.

In his letter to St. Mary's parishioners, McMichael wrote that before he was ordained as a Catholic priest, then-Seattle Archbishop Alexander Brunett petitioned Pope Benedict XVI for a dispensation from the norm of celibacy. McMichael also spent time at Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon.

He commutes from La Conner, where he and his wife live. Karin McMichael is an estate-planning attorney who works in Bellingham. She attends Sunday Mass in Marysville.

“Everyone is very warm and ready to welcome us. This is a whole new world, with incredible diversity,” she said.

Before her husband's ordination as a Catholic priest, Karin McMichael met with the Seattle archbishop and signed a consent form. “It was similar to what a deacon's wife is asked to do,” she said.

Both of the McMichaels' sons also became Catholics.

“It wasn't anything I ever would have dreamed of growing up,” Karin McMichael said. “I ended up with a husband who is very busy.”

She is sometimes asked what her husband does. “When I tell them, they think I'm confused,” Karin McMichael said.