Eastern Catholic difference

[Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

Here are a few questions I have about the Eastern Catholic faith

• do they believe in filioque or at least the “through the son”
• do they have the same saints, I know they have some that are orthodox, but let’s say, would I find St. Francis of Assisi or Pope Urban II being venerated there
• Do they speak local languages or Slavonic and Greek, like if I went to one in the US, would they speak English?
• Do they believe in Purgatory
• Do they use rosary or prayer ropes, or both, if both, which one do they use more
• do they believe in the immaculate conception of mary

 

[Arkansan]

Dogmas of the faith are equally binding on all Catholics.

Likewise, a person either is or is not known with certainty to be in Heaven. I am not aware of how the liturgical rules on the subject work.

 

[Augustinian]

Do they speak local languages or Slavonic and Greek, like if I went to one in the US, would they speak English?

That really depends on the local group. Some Greek Catholics are immigrants from abroad, but here in Pennsylvania, there hasn’t been a wave of immigrants from the transcarpathian region for a hundred years. So yes, they speak English.

 

[ziapueblo]

do they believe in filioque or at least the “through the son”

We do not recite the filioque in our Liturgy.

do they have the same saints, I know they have some that are orthodox, but let’s say, would I find St. Francis of Assisi or Pope Urban II being venerated there

We have saints that are part of our eastern tradition but yes, we may venerate any saint from any rite if we choose to. It’s kind of like the rosary. It’s a western devotion but some eastern Catholics pray it privately. Likewise, the Jesus Prayer, an eastern prayer, that some Latin rites Catholics have a private devotion to.

Do they speak local languages or Slavonic and Greek, like if I went to one in the US, would they speak English?

I’m the United States the Liturgy is primarily in English. Depending on the parish you may hear some church Slovic, Greek or Arabic. Depending on what park of the country you might hear some Spanish.

Do they believe in Purgatory

We believe in purification after death but would not use the word purgatory. There is a thread about this somewhere.

Do they use rosary or prayer ropes, or both, if both, which one do they use more

Like I mentioned earlier, the rosary is a Latin tradition however eastern Catholics are free to have a private devotion to it. Although we have our own prayers to the Theotokos. We use a prayer rope and pray the Jesus prayer.

do they believe in the immaculate conception of mary

The Immaculate Conception says that at the moment of Mary’s conception she was free from all sin. We as eastern Catholics believe that the consequences of the fall are sin and death, not inherited guilt. From reading the CCC, my take anyway, is that the RCC has a similar teaching on original sin as the Eastern Churches. In our minds the IC makes no sense. It’s like declaring 2+2=4. You don’t need to make that dogma. There is a thread going on about original sin and the IC has come up. You might find some more answers there.

Hope this helps.

ZP

 

[Augustinian]

do they have the same saints, I know they have some that are orthodox, but let’s say, would I find St. Francis of Assisi or Pope Urban II being venerated there

You might. St. Therese of Lisieux is the patron of a Byzantine church in St. Petersburg and St. Pius X is a patron of one of the BC churches here in Pittsburgh.

 

[Brendan]

Do they speak local languages or Slavonic and Greek, like if I went to one in the US, would they speak English?

I live in an area with a large number of Chaldean Catholics. Divine Liturgy is offered in English and Arabic. One characteristic of the Chaldean Divine Liturgy is that the Eucharistic Prayer is said in Aramaic, the language that Christ would have commonly spoken. This is true even if the rest of the Liturgy is said in another language.

 

[Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

We do not recite the filioque in our Liturgy.

Yes, I am aware of the fact that the filioque is not outright stated, however I have heard that the BCs believe the spirit proceeds from the father and THROUGH the son… not sure about the legitimacy of this claim but it seems reasonable to me.

 

[dochawk]

ver I have heard that the BCs believe the spirit proceeds from the father and THROUGH the son… not sure about the legitimacy of this claim but it seems reasonable to me.

It’s the only position which is compatible with both Eastern and Western theology

The word used in the creed doesn’t simply mean “proceed”, but “proceed in origin”. Attach a filiqoue to that and you’re into heresy, East and West.

Very few, if any, in the East, wether Catholic or Orthodox, dispute that the Spirt proceeds temporally from the Son (i.e., through, after originating in the Father).

But I won’t digress further, there are a great many threads on this.

And those who want to call the Western phrasing “dogma” should go read the unions and treaties, and then shut their yaps :crazy_face:

hawk

 

[ziapueblo]

As hawk said there are many threads on this issue.

It is more theologically correct to say that Holy Spirit proceeds through the Son, but the Father is the origin. However, filioque means the Father and Son are both the source of the Holy Spirit.

The RCC has differing views on this. You have the traditionalist camp that say the Father and the Son are the source and the post V2 camp that say the Father is the sole source but the Spirit proceeds through the Son.

ZP

 

[Arkansan]

The word used in the creed doesn’t simply mean “proceed”, but “proceed in origin”. Attach a filiqoue to that and you’re into heresy, East and West.

Yeah no. The phrasing used in the Creed is certainly not heretical. It would only be heretical to assert that the Holy Spirit proceeds from each separately, i.e. in two spirations, and not as from a single principle.

Very few, if any, in the East, wether Catholic or Orthodox, dispute that the Spirt proceeds temporally from the Son (i.e., through, after originating in the Father).

I’ve been told by EOs that they don’t believe that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son in any sense except in the salvation economy (i.e. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to the faithful).

Also, there are no temporal relations in God.

 

[dochawk]

Yeah no. The phrasing used in the Creed is certainly not heretical.

The creed is in greek. Translate the Filioque back from Latin to Geek using the same greek word and you have an abomination.

I’ve been told by EOs that they don’t believe that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son in any sense except in the salvation economy (i.e. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to the faithful).

Yes, that is “temporal procession”

Also, there are no temporal relations in God.

Wrong meaning of “temporal”. As in “in the world”, not as in “time”

hawk

 

[Arkansan]

The salvation economy is besides the point when we’re discussing basic theology of the Trinity. Aside from being logically incoherent (since it would necessitate some difference between the Son and the Holy Spirit other than the relations between the Persons), it is also directly contrary to what the Church has taught to say that the Holy Spirit proceeds only from the Father (as far as theology proper is concerned).

 

[Margaret_Ann]

The Immaculate Conception makes perfect sense logically as well as theologically. God created Eve immaculate so why would He not do the same for the Theotokos? She is the Woman who shall crush the head of the serpent (c.f. Gen. 3:15) Since Mary was chosen to give birth to the only-begotten Son of God, Who IS Absolute Goodness and Purity, She had to be immaculate.