Eastern Orthodoxy and Catholicism; Does it matter?

  • Thread starter Thread starter CapitalistCatholic
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

CapitalistCatholic

Guest
Does it matter whether I choose between EO and Catholicism? I know Catholics can receive communion at Orthodox churches and vice versa. I’m pretty torn between both.
 
Right. But that’s a big thing to be wrong about lol
 
Jesus Christ’s Body is the Catholic Church. If you want to be closest and radically intimate with Him, be One with Him in His Body.
 
No it’s not okay to reject the pope or be in schism. To be in schism is a sin
 
But how do we know that the EO isn’t right and the Catholics are the ones in schism?
 
CapitalistCatholic said:
Does it matter whether I choose between EO and Catholicism? I know Catholics can receive communion at Orthodox churches and vice versa. I’m pretty torn between both.
Click to expand...
Have you spent some time at both an RC church and an EO church? If not, you really need to do that before you decide. Even though there are many points of agreement, the “community feel” of EO is very different from the “commuity feel” of the RC church.

And to be totally honest, it might depend a bit on your nationality, ethnicity, and your native language(s) too. The EO churches are definitely more “tied” to certain nationalities, languages, and ethnicities, than the RC church. Not that they won’t welcome you if you’re not “one of them” – they will. But realistically, the RC church is really more accessible regardless of one’s background. It’s also much more ubiquitous.

So, no theological arguments from me, more practical ones. Who knows, I might have swung to EO myself long ago if I’d spoken Russian and felt completely at home with their rituals. (No sarcasm intended.)
 
Last edited:
That’s about personal culpability. And I think you’re stretching it a bit. Many orthodox i know try to convert Catholics away. Thats not at issue. What is at issue is that the person asking wanted to know the difference between the two. And objectively there can be one truth. The orthodox share much of that truth but fall short.
 
CapitalistCatholic said:
That sounds reasonable.
Click to expand...
Yeah, make sure you feel at home. Often that matters just as much as an intellectual appreciation of the theology – EO’s theology is truly awesome, if you ask me, though RC’s is no lamer either.

P.S. If you do visit an EO church, don’t tell them you are considering “Catholicism” as an alternative. They will tell you “We are Catholics, and the alternative you have in mind is called Roman Catholicism!” Point being: EO considers itself just as “Catholic” as the RC Church, and they use the word “Catholic” in their creed the same way the RCC does.
 
Last edited:
AugustTherese said:
Illicitly in the Eucharist, yes. But, the EO has broken off from the Church Christ founded.
Click to expand...
You’re being a bit more Catholic than the Pope here. The joint anathema was lifted in 1965:
http://w2.vatican.va/content/paul-v.../hf_p-vi_spe_19651207_common-declaration.html

Since they are certain that they express the common desire for justice and the unanimous sentiment of charity which moves the faithful, and since they recall the command of the Lord: “If you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brethren has something against you, leave your gift before the altar and go first be reconciled to your brother” (Matt. 5:23-24), Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I with his synod, in common agreement, declare that:

A. They regret the offensive words, the reproaches without foundation, and the reprehensible gestures which, on both sides, have marked or accompanied the sad events of this period.

B. They likewise regret and remove both from memory and from the midst of the Church the sentences of excommunication which followed these events, the memory of which has influenced actions up to our day and has hindered closer relations in charity; and they commit these excommunications to oblivion.

C. Finally, they deplore the preceding and later vexing events which, under the influence of various factors—among which, lack of understanding and mutual trust—eventually led to the effective rupture of ecclesiastical communion.

The declaration is well worth reading.

Having said that, there are rather serious differences between the two sides of our sadly separated Church. This isn’t something to just flip a coin over. Keep investigating with due diligence. Choose not out of feeling but out of what you honestly find to be the most true. Anything but the truth is an accident, a human tradition.
 
Last edited:
Thank you all for the replies. This will help in my decision.
 
PetraG said:
Having said that, there are rather serious differences between the two sides of our sadly separated Church. This isn’t something to just flip a coin over. Keep investigating with due diligence. Choose not out of feeling but out of what you honestly find to be the most true. Anything but the truth is an accident, a human tradition
Click to expand...
I am not exactly sure what you’re trying to say. However, I can assure you, the Catholic Church is not “separated”. She is One, always has been, and always will be. The gates of division and hell will never prevail. Just because there exists a True Church that is separated from the Catholic Church, i.e. EO, that does not divide and separate Our Eucharistic Communion.
 
Last edited:
I would suggest there are degrees of subtle difference, but they’re big differences that really affect how our salvation is viewed. Not to say they are not being saved, of course not, but I believe the RCC has the fuller truth. One doctrine that I find hard to believe without is purgatory; what a beautiful and salvific place it is! Also I find the mystical theology behind Christ himself is pretty different from the Mother Church. To extend the olive branch, I love orthodoxy, I love iconograohy, Byzantine chant, etc. So, for me, the RCC is and contains the immutable truth. God bless, brothers and sisters!
 
AugustTherese said:
I am not exactly sure what you’re trying to say. However, I can assure you, the Catholic Church is not “separated”. She is One, always has been, and always will be. The gates of division and hell will never prevail. Just because there exists a True Church that is separated from the Catholic Church, i.e. EO, that does not divide and separate Our Eucharistic Communion.
Click to expand...
No, you are right: it doesn’t divide and separate in that manner. It is an ecclesiastical schism. This can be contrasted to denominations that have recently separated from Rome (and others from Constantinople) who claim to still be Catholic and part of the One Church, but which do not in fact have valid sacraments at all.
 
Last edited:
SacredHeartBassist said:
No it’s not okay to reject the pope or be in schism. To be in schism is a sin
Click to expand...
AugustTherese said:
Illicitly in the Eucharist, yes.
Click to expand...
You are treading on thin ice with respect to RCC teaching here . . .
AugustTherese said:
Have you heard of the EO before 1054AD?
Click to expand...
Do you really mean that you haven’t??? . . . they left a pretty clear historic record . . .

That is incorrect.

The EO teach that the authority is not to the level taken in the Western Church in the second millennium. All or almost all grant the authority Rome held in the first millennium (most notably, as the court of final appeal when bishops/churches differed).

hawk
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top