Can my new Russian Orthodox friend attend Mass and commune?

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SheilaVR

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Can someone explain (as simply as possible) the difference between Roman Catholicism and Russian Orthodoxy? I have a new friend, new to the USA, and there is no church for her to attend here in our area. Can she attend the Catholic church and recieve communion and/or reconciliation?

thnx,
Sheila
 
I presume you mean no Russian Orthodox church.

Given that she is Eastern Orthodox and not Latin Catholic or Eastern Catholic, you should probably first find a list of Orthodox churches in your area. Although she is Russian Orthodox, she can receive communion at a great number non-Russian Orthodox churches: be they Greek Orthodox, Romanian Orthodox, Antiochian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, etc.

The Latin Church canonically allows Eastern Orthodox to receive communion, but this has to be established between the respective hierarchies. The Orthodox, on the other hand, do not allow members to participate in the communion of non-Orthodox churches, which includes the Catholic churches, both Latin and Eastern.

The Catholic Church has its own communion, understood as unity with the Pope of Rome. The Eastern Orthodox has her own communion, understood as holding firmly to the teachings of the Apostles.
 
SheilaVR said:
Can someone explain (as simply as possible) the difference between Roman Catholicism and Russian Orthodoxy? I have a new friend, new to the USA, and there is no church for her to attend here in our area. Can she attend the Catholic church and recieve communion and/or reconciliation?

thnx,
Sheila
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If you are looking to talk about the differences here, your question would be better asked on the Non-Catholic Religions forum. Discussion of Orthodoxy is not allowed in the Eastern Catholicism forum.

As to the communion question, Madaglan gave a great answer. In short, the RCC allows Orthodox Christians to commune in Catholic churches but the Orthodox Church does not allow it.
 
Thank you for your reply. There is not any Russian Orthodox churches in the area but mostly Protestant. I am Roman Catholic and was just looking to help her find a way to go to mass and receive communion but as a Catholic I completely understand that if she should not receive communion in a Catholic church as an Orthodox THEN SHE SHOULD NOT RECEIVE COMMUNION… I know if you ask at a Protestant church they will tell you that everyone is welcome to receive communion but as a Catholic I cannot.

Again,
Thank you,
Sheila
 
SheilaVR said:
Thank you for your reply. There is not any Russian Orthodox churches in the area but mostly Protestant.
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She (or you) might try this website: orthodoxyinamerica.org/

It is a website that lists the closest Orthodox parishes for a given area. As Madaglan said, a Russian Orthodox Christian does not have to go to a Russian Orthodox church. He or she can go to any canonical Orthodox church.
 
SheilaVR said:
Thank you for your reply. There is not any Russian Orthodox churches in the area but mostly Protestant. I am Roman Catholic and was just looking to help her find a way to go to mass and receive communion but as a Catholic I completely understand that if she should not receive communion in a Catholic church as an Orthodox THEN SHE SHOULD NOT RECEIVE COMMUNION… I know if you ask at a Protestant church they will tell you that everyone is welcome to receive communion but as a Catholic I cannot.

Again,
Thank you,
Sheila
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You are to be commended for your love and charity but if your friend wishes to remain Orthodox they should not commune in a Catholic Church.

As to the rest of the issue is there an Orthodox Church in America parish near you? If so your friend would be likely to find a number of Russian speakers in an OCA parish as the OCA was planted as a Russian mission in the 18th century, follows Slavic liturgical practices and maintains a very close relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Yours in Christ
Joe
 
Others gave good explanations re: The Eucharist and Orthodox.

If looking to the OCA doesn’t give you results, please try thinking outside the box. Is there a Greek Orthodox parish? Romanian Orthodox? Serbian Orthodox? If the word “Orthodox” is in the parish name, there’s a good chance they are part of the OCA.
 
I dont have any citation, but it seems i read at one point that if an Orthadox person is attending a Latin rite Mass, they should ask permission of the Priest before the Mass in order to recieve communion
 
Yes, if any parish in the area has “Orthodox” in it’s name, it doesn’t guarantee that they’re in full communion with the Russian Orthodox Church, but it’s at least worth looking into. (For example, there’s also the Oriental Orthodox.)

Regarding your friend coming to your parish, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that if she can’t receive communion there’s no reason for her to come.

Blessings,
Peter.
 
As a practicing Roman Catholic I would not like if someone took me to their church and told me I could take communion if it not right for them whether they know it or not. That is why I came here to ask the questions before offering to bring her to a mass. It’s just that she misses going to church and I was hoping to help her out but I don’t intend to take her away from her church and faith because I wouldn’t appreciate if I moved to a new country and someone did that to me. I will not be responsible for harming anyone’s soul. We live in a very rural area in the upper midwest and although there is a small community of Russians in the area that she has connected with (about 20 to 30 in the surrounding area) that are Russian Orthodox, I guess she will have to find her way. We have been talking and compairing our faiths and they seemed to be so similar that I was thinking that just maybe it would be OK but I fully understand that it would not be. She told me her soul aches and I was just trying to imagine what I would feel like in that same position and I know that my soul would ache for mass and the eucharist. I miss it from one Sunday to the next. I cannot imagine going months. I will look to find out what I can for her about the closest Russian Orthodox church but I’m afraid it’s not going to be close. The Russian community has a Bishop come from Chicago and that’s a 10 hour drive to here confessions and to give communion.

Thank you again to all of you for all of your (name removed by moderator)ut. I so greatly appreciate it.
Sheila
 
SheilaVR said:
Thank you for your reply. There is not any Russian Orthodox churches in the area but mostly Protestant. I am Roman Catholic and was just looking to help her find a way to go to mass and receive communion but as a Catholic I completely understand that if she should not receive communion in a Catholic church as an Orthodox THEN SHE SHOULD NOT RECEIVE COMMUNION… I know if you ask at a Protestant church they will tell you that everyone is welcome to receive communion but as a Catholic I cannot.

Again,
Thank you,
Sheila
Click to expand...
The Catholic Church allows Orthodox Christians to receive Communion in Catholic Masses. The Orthodox Church prohibits Catohlics from receiving Communion at Orthodox services. Orthodox Churches instruct Orthodox Christians to not receive Communion in Catholic Churches, although an Orthodox bishop has publicly done so recently.

If you explain to your friend that the policy of the Catholic Church is that she is welcome to go to Mass and receive Communion, but that the Orthodox Church tells its members not to do so, she can decide for herself what she will do.

You are not trying to trick her or take advantage of her by telling her the truth about the policies of both Churches. I am a Catholic. If I were in an area with no Catholic Church and there was an Orthodox Church I would want to particpate there, but would not be allowed. I would respect and follow their rules. They do not want Catholics receiving sacraments with them. We are not invited. We recognize the validity of their sacraments, but are not welcome. Its their Church, so they make the policy.

If your friend is going to be here for a long time and will be without the sacraments that is not good.
 
If your friend goes to mass with you but decides not to receive communion because it would be against the regulations of her church, it would still be good for her. She would be present for the Sacrifice of the Mass, Jesus’ sacrifice, same as in the Divine Liturgy in her church. She could make a spiritual communion. If I were in the reverse situation, I would surely want to attend Divine Liturgy even without being able to receive communion. I would offer up the pain of not being able to receive for the unity of our churches. Until you can find an Orthodox church for her, be sure that she knows she is welcome at mass.
 
Can someone explain (as simply as possible) the difference between Roman Catholicism and Russian Orthodoxy?

**Books have been written on the differences between ORthodoxy (of any ethnicity) and Roman Catholicism.

You actually expect this to be addressed adequately in computer chat?**
 
Someone mentioned this earlier but I’ll re-iterate.

While the Orthodox Churches don’t want their members to receive Communion in other Churches, I am not aware of them forbidding members from *attending *other churches if they don’t receive communion. So the friends could attend Mass.

(But I don’t pretend to be any kind of expert on Orthodox Churches.)
 
Another place to look would be in the phone book. There should be a list of churches, especially in the yellow pages. You can find the ones that are Orthodox Churches. Maybe you could even call them and ask if they’re in communion with the Russian Orthodox Church.
 
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