I wish the Greek Orthodox would reunite with us

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Expatreprocedit said:
With all due respect, my brother, I would suggest that experiences on an internet forum should not unduly affect our desire for reunion. While I acknowledge the same negative attitudes you have encountered here, this is a small sample of the Roman Catholic population, and I think we must also acknowledge the voices of sympathy and understanding we encounter here, although fewer in number.
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I agree, as I said if this were my only exposure to Roman Catholicism I would have a pretty dim view of the Roman Catholic Church.

However what are issues on the grand scale are demonstrated here.
 
Novocastrian said:
I’d say that you’re almost certainly incapable of proving that. And that you’re likely plain wrong. I’d say there’s very good reason to believe that both the Nestorian and the Eastern Orthodox Churches have at times been larger than those in communion with Rome.
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I’m not sure about in terms of absolute numbers, but certainly in terms of geographical spread it is indisputable that before its collapse in the wake of the onslaught of Islam in the 14th century, the Church of the East was the largest single church in the world.



The Syriac Orthodox also had dioceses in many of these places during this same period, roughly 6-14th century, in places that today have no discernible Christian presence like Afghanistan (in Herat and Zaranj) and Bahrain (among the Banu Taghlib, the Christian Arab tribe who were among the major powers in pre-Islamic Arabia).
 
What is the point of belonging to the Catholic Church if one doesn’t practice charity and humility?

Will you repeat those words to the Orthodox saints who labored tirelessly for Christ?
“You’re pious and all, but you should’ve been Catholic. Sorry.”

Will you say those words to the Orthodox martyrs who died for their faith?
“Yea…sorry you had to physically die in such a manner, but too bad you didn’t die for the Catholic Church. It would’ve been better.”

It’s one thing to desire and hope for reunification for the will and glory of God. I suspect Jesus would be very pleased if we were to work out our differences, with grace from above, to reconcile with each other.

It’s another to think “My Church is better than yours”. It may quickly lead to “I’m better than you because my Church is more equal than yours”.

I wonder what the Catholic and Orthodox saints are saying to each other during heavenly tea time.
 
Oh come on now your beign disingenous here. Ireland… when your a super minority starting out at almost zero its hard not to increase. I could post similiar numbers for buhdism in multiple western countries. Take a look at your country before you smugly put down the irish. A lot of empty churches in russia, your populace is so nominal even among older members that you shouldnt ever put down another country for religous devoutness
 
Welcome to the forums, boar2roar. It may help your future interactions with the particular poster you replying to to know that (name removed by moderator) is Irish himself, so much of what you have written is…odd, to say the least. Might I suggest in a friendly way that it is probably a good idea to spend a bit more time observing discussions on the forums before engaging directly in conversations, so as to avoid letting presuppositions guide your posts?
 
boar2roar said:
Oh come on now your beign disingenous here. Ireland… when your a super minority starting out at almost zero its hard not to increase. I could post similiar numbers for buhdism in multiple western countries. Take a look at your country before you smugly put down the irish. A lot of empty churches in russia, your populace is so nominal even among older members that you shouldnt ever put down another country for religous devoutness
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“Your populace”? What a horrible thing to say about the Irish. 😦
 
I have to admit that my eye was caught by the title of the thread. Why not say "I wish the Latin Catholics would re-unite with the Greek Orthodox’!

I think you are right, that very few Catholics understand Eastern theology and ecclesiology. We all suffer when the two lungs of the Church do not breathe in unison.

It appears to be a Latin arrogance that refuses to take responsibility for the Reformation and the cultural, linguistic, economic and political factors that contributed for the separation of West from East.
Nine_Two said:
If after reading this thread anyone still questions why we aren’t all out for union, read again.

Of the two Catholic posters in this thread who show any sympathy toward us, one is now “suspended”. Meanwhile several not-suspended Catholics have written insulting posts (strangely enough accusing us of being bigoted)

If this forum were my only exposure to Catholicism I would probably be a pretty virulent anti-Catholic.

I confess I do get a small kick out of it when Catholics claim (as someone did) that it is the evil Russian Orthodox Church that prevents union. I guess in these posters minds the Baptism of the Kiev was the true reason for the Great Schism. To anyone who seriously thinks union is being thwarted by the Moscow Patriarchate - I say only that you have no understanding of who or what we are, if you want to be taken seriously at least try a study of our ecclesiology.

As for Randy and his as populum arguments - he’s been told many times why they are bad arguments by many different posters, yet he repeats the exact same one. Is there really any point to engaging him?

Rant over.
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dzheremi said:
I’m not sure about in terms of absolute numbers, but certainly in terms of geographical spread it is indisputable that before its collapse in the wake of the onslaught of Islam in the 14th century, the Church of the East was the largest single church in the world.
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Was that “single church” in full communion with Rome at that time?

If so, then it was not a separate Church; the “Church of the East” was part and parcel of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church, and that Church happened to be centered in Rome.

There were not two Catholic Churches - one eastern and one western.
 
Randy_Carson said:
Was that “single church” in full communion with Rome at that time?

If so, then it was not a separate Church; the “Church of the East” was part and parcel of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church, and that Church happened to be centered in Rome.

There were not two Catholic Churches - one eastern and one western.
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No, it was not in communion with Rome at that time.
 
EIF5A said:
What is the point of belonging to the Catholic Church if one doesn’t practice charity and humility?

Will you repeat those words to the Orthodox saints who labored tirelessly for Christ?
“You’re pious and all, but you should’ve been Catholic. Sorry.”

Will you say those words to the Orthodox martyrs who died for their faith?
“Yea…sorry you had to physically die in such a manner, but too bad you didn’t die for the Catholic Church. It would’ve been better.”

It’s one thing to desire and hope for reunification for the will and glory of God. I suspect Jesus would be very pleased if we were to work out our differences, with grace from above, to reconcile with each other.

It’s another to think “My Church is better than yours”. It may quickly lead to “I’m better than you because my Church is more equal than yours”.

I wonder what the Catholic and Orthodox saints are saying to each other during heavenly tea time.
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The unity of the Church was supposed be a sign to non-believers that Jesus came from heaven.

Because of the disunity created by men on both sides BUT MAINTAINED UNNECESSARILY TODAY BY MEN FROM THE EAST, that unity is diminished, and Christianity is mocked by atheists, Muslims and others who point to our divisions as evidence that Christianity is not true.

So, the saints in heaven are probably apologizing to one another for their mistakes and praying earnestly for our re-unification.
 
Randy_Carson said:
The unity of the Church was supposed be a sign to non-believers that Jesus came from heaven.

Because of the disunity created by men on both sides BUT MAINTAINED UNNECESSARILY TODAY BY MEN FROM THE EAST, that unity is diminished, and Christianity is mocked by atheists, Muslims and others who point to our divisions as evidence that Christianity is not true.

So, the saints in heaven are probably apologizing to one another for their mistakes and praying earnestly for our re-unification.
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Are you claiming that the current state of schism is entirely the fault of the East?
 
RyanBlack said:
Are you claiming that the current state of schism is entirely the fault of the East?
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The current state?

How many Catholics are there loudly trumpeting reasons why re-unification with the Orthodox cannot happen?

Conversely, how many people in this very forum (and thread) would be more than happen to list half a dozen or more reasons why Catholicism is incompatible with Orthodoxy if asked?

For example, prior to Lent, Cavaradossi got into a dust-up with Orthodox priest, Fr. John, about whether Catholic baptisms are even valid. If I understood the discussion correctly, Fr. John said yes, but Cav seemed to disagree. I might not even be a Christian according to Cav since I was actually baptized as a Methodist prior to my conversion to Catholicism.

Dunno…maybe I’m wrong…maybe you (an Eastern Catholic who always seems to side with the EO), Cav, dzheremi and all the EO who have been banned over the past few months are really eager to see the Church re-united as it was in the past. But my discussions with you guys - THE ONLY EASTERN CATHOLICS AND ORTHODOX I HAVE EVER SPOKEN TO IN MY LIFE - suggest that this is NOT your desired outcome. :nope:
 
RyanBlack said:
Yes, prior to the 14th century. In fact, all the way back to the 5th century.
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Are we talking about the same thing?

Are you saying that the Eastern Church was not in communion with the Patriarch of Rome after the fifth century?
 
Randy_Carson said:
Are we talking about the same thing?

Are you saying that the Eastern Church was not in communion with the Patriarch of Rome after the fifth century?
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The Church that is being referred to as the Church of the East is the Assyrian Church of the East, which left communion with the other churches in the 420s.
 
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