James Likoudis | |
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Born | Lackawanna, New York, US [1] | 11 December 1928
Occupation | Catholic theologian, author, journalist, and seminary professor |
Alma mater | Honorary Doctorate of Divinity – Sacred Heart Major Seminary M.S. – Elmira College B.A. – University of Buffalo |
Subject | Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, traditionalism, liturgy, doctrine, papacy, sex education, catechetics, pro-life, American politics, conservatism, liberalism, history, church history, Vatican II |
James Likoudis (December 11, 1928) is an American Catholic theologian, author and former lecturer in religious studies. [2]
A convert to the Eastern Catholic Churches in 1952 from the Greek Orthodox Church, [3] the Christian faith into which he was baptized, [4] Likoudis has since devoted a great deal of his apologetical and polemical efforts to foster reunion and submission of the Eastern Orthodox Churches to the See of Rome and the Papacy. In his essay, To be Truly Orthodox is to be in Communion with Peter's See (1988), Likoudis gives an account of his personal journey from to the Greek Orthodox Church to the Greek Byzantine Catholic Church.
In 1977 Likoudis's translation of Renée Casin's St. Thomas Aquinas: Orthodoxy, and Neo-Modernism in the Church from French to English was published. [5] He has also authored several books dealing with sex education, the Eastern Orthodox Church and its teachings, liturgical issues and controversies following the Second Vatican Council, and articles and commentary about prominent Catholics. He is the president emeritus of the Catholic lay organization Catholics United for the Faith (CUF) and the founder of Credo of Buffalo.
While working with CUF, Likoudis led the charge to remove ecclesiastical approval from the theologically problematic "Christ Among Us" Catechism, a campaign that was eventually heard by the Vatican's CDF head, Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI), which took action to remove the Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat before eventually requesting that Paulist Press cease further production and sales of the book. Similarly, Likoudis played a prominent role in bringing to the Vatican's awareness the theological Modernism being taught at Catholic University of America by Fr. Charles Curran. After many years and many more reports, Fr. Curran was removed from his teaching position by the Church hierarchy.
Mr. Likoudis is also the former president of Morality in Media, an organization now known as The National Center on Sexual Exploitation - an organization that campaigns against pornography, sex education and sex trafficking. The organization describes its goal as "exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation". In its beginnings, the organization was primarily Catholic. He is also the former moderator of the New York TV series "Sex and Morality."
Another significant contribution of Likoudis is his work with the late Dietrich von Hildebrand and his wife Alice von Hildebrand in their work on sex education, through the organization Veil of Innocence. In addition to being involved with “Veil” through writing and lecturing, Likoudis additionally served the organization as one of its board members. One of his accomplishments during this time was his contribution of an essay to the published work of Dietrich's: “Sex Education: The Basic Issues and Related Essays” which contains a personally penned letter of recommendation inside the front pages, from St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
Likoudis also helped to found the late Father John Hardon S.J.'s organization, Eternal Life, as well as contributing to some of Father Hardon's books, most notably, penning the foreword to the published dissertation of Fr. Hardon which he completed at the Gregorian in Rome on the topic of "Bellarmine's Doctrine of the Relation of Sincere Non-Catholics to the Catholic Church".
Likoudis' book Ending the Byzantine Greek Schism (2nd revised edition, 1992) aims to answer historical criticisms as well as theological objections raised by apologists for Orthodox Christianity.
In Likoudis' The Divine Primacy of the Bishop of Rome and Modern Eastern Orthodoxy: Letters to a Greek Orthodox on the Unity of the Church, he refutes the objections of Orthodox and Protestant critics to modern Roman Papal claims. An earlier edition of this book – The Divine Primacy of the Bishop of Rome, Reply to a Former Catholic – was written particularly to refute Eastern Orthodox writer, Michael Whelton's arguments, put forth in his book, Two Paths.
His last book in this trilogy is Eastern Orthodoxy and the See of Peter in which he outlines some current controversies, as well as identifies pathways forward for reconciliation of both sides and shows a portrait of a saint who devoted his life to this ecumenical endeavor and modeled it in his personal life.
His latest book is Heralds of a Catholic Russia – Twelve Spiritual Pilgrims, from Byzantium to Rome. This book contains portraits of saints, philosophers, and royalty, who all found their way from Orthodoxy to Catholicism through intellectual engagement with the arguments for and against Catholicism. The book ends with a pertinent section on Our Lady of Fátima's apparitions and messages and their relevance to the future for the Catholic Church in Russia.
Likoudis co-authored The Pope, the Council and the Mass (Christopher Publishing House, 1981 and 1982; Rev. Ed. Emmaus Road Publishing, 2006), a defense of Pope Paul VI's Ordo Missae and the liturgical reforms envisaged by Vatican II. L'Osservatore Romano noted in 1981, "This book has been sorely needed for well over a decade."
Likoudis has lectured extensively on issues affecting education, family life, and the role of the laity in the Catholic Church. He has also written for The Wanderer (see below). Additionally, he is a contributing author to the Encyclopedia of Catholic Social Thought, Social Science and Social Policy as well as the widely acclaimed Faith and Life children's catechetical series published by Catholics United for the Faith which is used as a primary resource in many Catholic schools.
He has appeared on numerous shows including EWTN's Journey Home network, the Mother Angelica show, the Geraldo Show, the Phil Donahue show, and most recently, the Reason and Theology show. He has been a part of conferences hosted by and with the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Dr. Robert Fastiggi, and Mother Angelica, among others.
In 2020, Likoudis received an honorary doctorate from Detroit's Sacred Heart Major Seminary for his work in Catholic apologetics, catechetics, ecumenism, and Catholic – Eastern Orthodox relations. He is a member of Aleteia's Board of Experts, a former member of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars and the Society of Catholic Social Scientists, and has worked as a consultant for Catholic Answers’ apologetics website.
In 1957 Likoudis received a Summer Scholarship in Middle East Studies from the University of Rochester.
He is the 1968 Harvest Yearbook Dedication Recipient for his philosophy of life, and inspirational approach to critical thinking.
In 1973 he received the Morality in Media award.
He is listed in the American Catholic Who's Who: Bicentennial edition.
In 2002, he received the Blessed Frederick Ozanam Award for Catholic Social Action, which was presented at the October 18, 2002, annual meeting of the Society for Catholic Social Scientists.
December 2020, Mr. Likoudis had conferred on him by Sacred Heart Major Seminary an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree.
James Likoudis married Ruth Hickleton who together have six children: Therese, Paul (in memoriam), Mark, Celine, Cathy and Margaret. They have 35 grandchildren and 44 great-grandchildren.
While Ruth passed away at the age of 91, James, a few years her senior, currently resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan. [6]
A small sampling of his essays can be found below. However, Dr. Likoudis has authored over 300 additional essays. He also has an extensive list of books he has contributed to, in addition to the books he has written personally.
Many of his essays can be found on his website.
An ecumenical council, also called general council, is a meeting of bishops and other church authorities to consider and rule on questions of Christian doctrine, administration, discipline, and other matters in which those entitled to vote are convoked from the whole world (oikoumene) and which secures the approbation of the whole Church.
Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in the Eastern Mediterranean region or locations further east, south or north. The term does not describe a single communion or religious denomination. Eastern Christianity is a category distinguished from Western Christianity, which is composed of those Christian traditions and churches that originally developed further west.
Ecumenism – also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalism – is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjective ecumenical is thus applied to any non-denominational initiative that encourages greater cooperation and union among Christian denominations and churches.
The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous particular churches of the Catholic Church, in full communion with the Pope in Rome. Although they are distinct theologically, liturgically, and historically from the Latin Church, they are all in full communion with it and with each other. Eastern Catholics are a distinct minority within the Catholic Church; of the 1.3 billion Catholics in communion with the Pope, approximately 18 million are members of the eastern churches.
Leo Allatius was a Greek scholar, theologian, and keeper of the Vatican library.
The East–West Schism, also known as the Great Schism or the Schism of 1054, is the break of communion between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches since 1054. A series of ecclesiastical differences and theological disputes between the Greek East and Latin West preceded the formal split that occurred in 1054. Prominent among these were the procession of the Holy Spirit (Filioque), whether leavened or unleavened bread should be used in the Eucharist, iconoclasm, the coronation of Charlemagne as Emperor of the Romans in 800, the Pope's claim to universal jurisdiction, and the place of the See of Constantinople in relation to the pentarchy.
In Christian theology, ecclesiology is the study of the Church, the origins of Christianity, its relationship to Jesus, its role in salvation, its polity, its discipline, its eschatology, and its leadership.
Papal primacy, also known as the primacy of the bishop of Rome, is an ecclesiological doctrine in the Catholic Church concerning the respect and authority that is due to the pope from other bishops and their episcopal sees. While the doctrine is accepted at a fundamental level by both the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church, the two disagree on the nature of primacy.
John Anthony Hardon, SJ was an American Jesuit priest, writer, teacher and theologian. A candidate for sainthood since 2005, he is recognized by the Catholic Church as a Servant of God.
Catholicity is a concept of pertaining to beliefs and practices that are widely accepted by numerous Christian denominations, most notably by those Christian denominations that describe themselves as catholic in accordance with the Four Marks of the Church, as expressed in the Nicene Creed formulated at the First Council of Constantinople in 381: "[I believe] in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church." The English adjective catholic is derived from the Ancient Greek adjective καθολικός, meaning "general", "universal". Thus, "catholic" means that in the Church the wholeness of the Christian faith, full and complete, all-embracing, and with nothing lacking, is proclaimed to all people without excluding any part of the faith or any class or group of people. An early definition for what is "catholic" was summarized in what is known as the Vincentian Canon in the 5th century Commonitory: "what has been believed everywhere, always, and by all."
Papal supremacy is the doctrine of the Catholic Church that the Pope, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, the visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful, and as pastor of the entire Catholic Church, has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered: that, in brief, "the Pope enjoys, by divine institution, supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of souls."
Branch theory is an ecclesiological proposition that the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church includes various different Christian denominations whether in formal communion or not. The theory is often incorporated in the Protestant notion of an invisible Christian Church structure binding them together.
Pastor aeternus was issued by the First Vatican Council, July 18, 1870. The document defines four doctrines of the Catholic faith: the apostolic primacy conferred on Peter, the perpetuity of the Petrine Primacy in the Roman pontiffs, the definition of the papal primacy as a papal supremacy, and Papal infallibility – infallible teaching authority (magisterium) of the Pope.
The Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church have been in a state of official schism from one another since the East–West Schism of 1054. This schism was caused by historical and language differences, and the ensuing theological differences between the Western and Eastern churches.
The historical roots of Papal primacy can be traced back to the early centuries of Christianity, wherein the bishop of Rome, commonly referred to as the Pope, gradually accrued increasing authority and recognition. A confluence of historical, theological, and political factors contributed to this development.
The Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church was established by the Holy See and 14 autocephalous Orthodox churches.
Several differences exist within the organizational structures and governance of the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. These are distinguished from theological differences which are differences in dogma and doctrine. A number of disagreements over matters of ecclesiology developed slowly between the Western and Eastern wings of the State church of the Roman Empire centered upon the cities of Rome and New Rome/Constantinople respectively. The disputes were a major factor in the formal East-West Schism between Pope Leo IX and Patriarch Michael I in 1054 and are largely still unresolved between the churches today.
The history of Eastern Orthodox Christian theology begins with the life of Jesus and the forming of the Christian Church. Major events include the Chalcedonian schism of 451 with the Oriental Orthodox miaphysites, the Iconoclast controversy of the 8th and 9th centuries, the Photian schism (863-867), the Great Schism between East and West, and the Hesychast controversy. The period after the end of the Second World War in 1945 saw a re-engagement with the Greek, and more recently Syriac Fathers that included a rediscovery of the theological works of St. Gregory Palamas, which has resulted in a renewal of Orthodox theology in the 20th and 21st centuries.
The Eastern Orthodox Church is opposed to the Roman Catholic doctrine of papal supremacy. While not denying that primacy does exist for the Bishop of Rome, Eastern Orthodox Christians argue that the tradition of Rome's primacy in the early Church was not equivalent to the current doctrine of supremacy.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Catholic Church: