Because of the specific natures of the claims of universal jurisdiction and infallibility held by the Bishop of Rome, the Orthodox churches must submit. The Orthodox churches likewise insist that the Pope must relinquish these in order for union to happen.
There is a major difference. While the West favors union in which Eastern tradition is kept, the East favors union in which Western tradition is thrown out.
I have, on multiple occasions, seen Orthodox saying that they have these “problems” with Rome:
- Universal Jurisdiction
- Papal Infallibility
These two are understandable, because the East has always had a different understanding of them than the West.
I don’t understand this one, because while it is theological, it’s not as controversial in nature as say, Arianism or Nestorianism, because both of those have profound implications, whereas the Filioque does not have very profound implications.
- Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Unleavened Bread for Holy Communion
- Communion under one species
- Statues instead of icons
- Baptism by pouring
- Ad populum
- First Holy Communion before Confirmation
- Not immediately conferring Confirmation after Baptism (in the case of little children)
- Not permitting children to receive Holy Communion
- Permitting priests to be clean-shaven
- Not permitting married men to be ordained to the priesthood
- Not using of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
- Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion
- Altar girls
Many of the Orthodox I have spoken to and have observed complaining about the Western church list these as objections. The Immaculate Conception is the most ridiculous, because they believe that Mary was immaculate, yet occasionally an Orthodox Christian will be found arguing that she had sinned, simply to combat the Western “innovation”.
All of the other ones are regional issues and small
t traditions. We are willing to accept them back into communion, and we want them to retain their liturgical and disciplinary diversity without compromising our own. They will only accept Catholics if we surrender wholly to “Byzantinizations”.
I, for one, think that it would be better for us to give Holy Communion by intinction, Confirm infants and give them Holy Communion, disallow altar girls and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, offer Mass
ad orientem, and baptize by immersion. However, I recognize that these things are not fundamentally wrong. I think that in many ways they are inappropriate, but they are not fundamentally wrong.
Many of the Orthodox, however, seem to want us to abandon the things that make us Western Christians, and they forget that we are just as ancient as they are. They want us to abandon the Pauline Mass and the Tridentine Mass. They want us to abandon statues and the rosary. They want us to change many nit-picky liturgical things.
It is incredibly ironic, because they want to force Byzantinization upon us and force us to change our liturgies to suit what they deem appropriate. Is this not what they left for in the first place? Because the West was forcing “innovations” upon them?
Yes, there are innovations in the West. They are not necessarily wrong. Yes, at times, Popes and Western bishops have behaved incorrectly and tried to Latinize Easterners. That was wrong. However, things are different. The Western Church is attempting to preserve all apostolic styles of Christianity. The Eastern Catholic churches do not have the Filioque, they do not preach Original Sin, and they do not understand Purgatory the same way. However, they are Catholic, and the Westerners and Easterners united under the Pope acknowledge each others differences as identical understandings of the same things.
I do not mean this to offend many of the Orthodox who are anxious for restored communion and the mutual respect and elevation of each other’s religious traditions and understandings. However, many Easterners view only Eastern Christianity as being valid, and they forget that in asserting that our form is invalid, they are asserting a jurisdiction over us that they claimed we tried to assert over them and caused them to schism (or rather, caused us to schism, in their eyes).
) but because I for one do not remember any Orthodox around here saying this.