Pope's General Prayer Intention for November

(October 31, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI in his general prayer intention for the month of November urges our prayers for the Eastern Catholic Churches, that they and their venerable traditions may be known and esteemed as a spiritual treasure for the whole Church. We often think of the Roman Catholic Church as the only Catholic Church, but in fact there are 21 other Churches that are just as Catholic as the Roman Church. Some of them, with their roots in the Holy Land, go back further than the Church of Rome. These are the Eastern Catholic Churches. Their traditional structures and liturgies differ from those of the Roman Catholic Church. Among the 21 Eastern Catholic Churches are two that are based in southern India’s Kerala state - the Syro-Malabar and the Syro-Malankara Churches. The Second Vatican Council said that all these Catholic Churches come under the authority of the Pontiff and have equal dignity. Blessed John Paul II in 1987 urged Roman Catholics to experience the riches of Eastern Christianity so the Church can breathe fully with her “two lungs,‟ the East and the West.” And again in 1995 he declared that the Eastern Churches are an integral part of the heritage of Christ’s Church. Pope Benedict also shares this desire of his predecessor. Let us therefore join the Holy Father during November in praying that these eastern traditions of the Catholic Church may be better known and esteemed as a spiritual treasure of the whole Church.