This is a spin off of my last thread, please don’t anybody be offended at all these questions but I really need to know.
To me it does not make any sense for an Orthodox to become Catholic unless you tell me that he will recieve a greater sacramental grace (from the eucharist) in the Catholic Church. The Othodox person will benefit more from receiving Communion in the Catholic Church as opposed to in his own Church.
Is this true? Can you provide some Catholic documentation that says so?
I was reading a document that said that venial sins deprive a person of some of the benefits of the eucharist. Could that apply?
What about what the fathers said about a heretic not benefiting at all from Communion.
Why would it? What is more likely to apply is that the Eucharist is given for the remission of sins and the forgiveness of faults.
Yeah, OK, but what is “heretic” supposed to mean? Who are they? If it’s intended to mean the Orthodox, the answer is clearly no. They’re not heretics (and please, folks, don’t start in with the “papal supremacy” and “papal infallibility” stuff 'cause that’s not the point here, and I won’t addresses such remarks anyway) so such an admonition wouldn’t apply.
The Eucharist is valid in Orthodox Churches, however, the benefit to being Catholic is that we know that we share in Christ’s prayer for His Church only to the extent that we are united with Peter.
"Simon, Simon, Satan demanded to have you (the plural i.e. My Church), that he might sift you (again the plural) like wheat. But I have prayed for thee (singular i.e. For Peter) that thy faith fail not; and when thou have turned back to Me (after My Resurrection) that thou (Peter)
shall strengthen thy brothers.” (Luke 22:31,32)
The closer we are united to Peter, the more efficacious our prays with the Eucharist become.
Staying outside of the Catholic Church is objectively schism, which is a mortal sin. The Eucharist does no good for one who is in mortal sin. Also, non-Catholics cannot receive indulgences.
Well said. But if someone is not sure the Catholic Church is the true Church, doesn’t his ignorance make it a venial sin? PLEEEESE ANSWER. I really want to hear your answer because you sound like you know your stuff
For everyone else, I use the word heretic loosely. The fathers were actually talking about schismatics not heretics.
Malphono are you saying that you think that it would be of better benefit to receive in the Catholic Church? PLEESE ANSWER
Hi nightrider009. It sounds to me that you’ve gotten quite the wrong idea about Catholics. (I can’t say I’m entirely surprised, because there’s a heck of a lot of garbage on the internet.) Take for example:
“Pastoral activity in the Catholic Church, Latin as well as Eastern, no longer aims at having the faithful of one Church pass over to the other”
If a person is in doubt then he has an obligation to attempt to resolve his doubt. While he is doing so he is not subjectively committing sin. However, if a person negligently failed to investigate his doubt then he would commit mortal sin by remaining outside of the Church.
Since this particular schism wasn’t around during the Church Fathers, there won’t be documentation on this particular matter.
In my opinion, you would be better served by developing virtues and a strong prayer life. If God wants you to join the Catholic Church I’m sure that will become clear. If you are married or discerning a vocation you may want to think about the implications joining the Catholic Church would have on that vocation.
My interpretation is that, if an Eastern Orthodox is considering becoming Catholic, we don’t encourage him/her to do it, although we don’t discourage it either.
P.S. Granted, I don’t assume that you’ll take my word for it (going back to what I said about there being a lot of garbage on the internet). In fact, many Catholics have told me flat-out that they disagree with the Balamand Statement.
It is a dogmatic teaching of the Church that all are objectively bound to become Catholic. The Church encourages people to comply with their objective obligations. The logical conclusion is that the Church encourages everyone to become Catholic. The Balamand statement, a declaration that was not officially accepted by either Church, is contrary to the theology of both, if interpreted as you do.
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