That the Church’s Newest Doctor May Remind Us of an Old Truth: Rome Is Home

I recently kicked up some dust about the recent elevation of Gregory of Narek, a tenth-century Armenian monk, to the status of a Doctor of the (entire Catholic) Church.

The debate drags on at my own blog, and my own efforts to make sense of this decision are still underway.

The finer points of dyotheletic and miaphysite Christology aside, my basic quandary remains the following:

Every article I’ve read about Gregory’s elevation has admitted that he was not a Catholic.

I repeat: the consensus so far is that the newest Doctor of the Catholic Church was not a member of the Catholic Church–and yet somehow that’s just-oh-kay-bruh. 

What happen? Someone set up us the Council.  

Meanwhile, I am researching the exact canonical status of Grigor Narekatsi’s monastery and life as a Christian who lived and died among those who rejected the Council of Chalcedon and any formal union with Rome.

I was also inspired to take a fresh look at a hobby of mine, namely, a collection of quotations from Eastern Catholic authorities which emphasize the unique authority of the bishop of Rome.

As I continue to cogitate, I invite you to take an hour or so (yes, it’s long and dense–but amazing and inspiring!) to peruse this “florilegium”, and to remind yourselves why you persist in your fellowship with Rome, despite the perplexed and perplexing peccadilloes of her more recent captains.

Most of our current pastors may not be willing to embrace their God-given authority, but our Eastern predecessors certainly got the message.