TO THE EDITOR:
Prior to and after the election of Pope Francis newspaper articles and television reports have consistently referred to the election of the “Roman Catholic” Pope by the “Roman Catholic” Cardinals. The fact of the matter is that Francis is NOT the “Roman Catholic” Pope and he was NOT elected by the “Roman Catholic” Cardinals.
I wonder how our brother Eastern Rite Catholics feel about the apparent complete lack of recognition of their place in the Catholic Church and their beautiful contributions to it. The fact of the matter is that Pope Francis is the pope of the Catholic Church and he was elected to that position by cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church and cardinals/patriarchs of the Eastern Rite churches that are in full communion with the Catholic Church.
It’s sad that reporters don’t make such distinctions in their articles. It’s even more sad that most Roman Catholics have such a lack of knowledge of our Eastern Rite churches.
Raymond J. Rocchio
Greenville
