Is The Catholic Church also the Orthodox Church?

[Richard_I]

I recently got Confirmed into the Catholic Church on Easter Vigil! That was exciting btw!
Anyhow this is my question.
I was reading the First Council of Constantinople recently and I noticed that it called the church, the "Orthodox Church. ‘’
My question is, why do Catholics not more often refer to our church as orthodox? Is it safe to safe that the One, Holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church is both Catholic and Orthodox? If so, is there some evidence to show that Catholics have always refereed to their church as Orthodox? Obviously the Eastern Orthodox would probably cite the title as evidence of them being the true church. But do we have any evidence as Catholics for the word ‘‘orthodox’’ in the west being used, for the church in communion with the pope.
Please pray for me on my pilgrimage.
God bless.

 

[Wandile]

The proper name of the the church is the “Catholic Church”. Whenever the fathers wished to identify the true church from the heretics they would say “the Catholic church” :

“Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be; as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.”

• St Ignatius of Antioch

“Christian is my name, and Catholic my surname. The one designates me, while the other makes me specific. Thus am I attested and set apart… When we are called Catholics it is by this appellation that our people are kept apart from any heretical name.”

• Saint Pacian of Barcelona, Letter to Sympronian, 375 A.D

“A Christian man is Catholic while he lives in the body; cut off, he is made a heretic; the Spirit does not follow an amputated member.”

• Saint Augustine

The term “orthodox” was mainly used to describe the faith of the Catholic Church in that it is correct and pure. So it was rarely used together and when it was it was not a proper noun as we would say but rather a way to describe the faith of the church.

That’s why all the ancient creeds refer to the church as Catholic when referring to its name and identity and it’s faith as holy or orthodox or true

 

[Ad_Orientem]

. . . do we have any evidence as Catholics for the word ‘‘orthodox’’ in the west being used, for the church in communion with the pope. . . .

As noted above, it’s the other way around. The Christian East, along with the West, has always referred to the universal Church as Catholic, or as the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople put it, “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic”. References to the “orthodox faith” can be found in Church Fathers affirmed by both East and West (e.g. St. John of Damascus), but the name “orthodox Church” seems to have been adopted in the East after the separation from the West. The expression may appear before that somewhere, but by far the preferred term has always been Catholic.

 

[phil19034]

The Catholic Church is “orthodox” but not “Orthodox.”

We have always been lower case “orthodox,” even before the schisms. Before the schisms, lowercase “orthodox” was used interchangeably with lowercase “catholic.” But the proper noun of “Orthodox” did not appear until after splits with the East, when they took that on. However, we have always been proper noun “Catholic” since the 1st/2nd centuries.

NOTE: the reason we don’t call ourselves the “Christian Church” is because of our understanding of what a Christian is. Christians are baptized in the name of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit. There were baptized schismatics and heretics even in the early Church, but they were never not considered Christians. But they were not “part of the whole”… aka catholic.

God Bless

 

[jas84173]

The history is far to complex for an easy answer. Put simply the original Catholic Church which just means Universal Church; was compromised of five leading bishops after Christianity was finally not persecuted anymore following Constantines proclamation ( Before this Christianity existed and was heavily followed but also heavily persecuted so it wasn’t as formal, which is why there wasn’t even a formal New Testament Canon until the 4th century. The five Churches were situated in Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. Because of Romes history of being the place where Peter and Paul preached and were martyrd; the Bishop of Rome had a de facto title as being "first among equals ". After the collapse of western Roman Empire, the Bishop became much more influential. The cultures of the East and West were much different from language, west spoke Latin, east spoke Greek, to differences in opinions on how to worship correctly. Most people falsely think 1054 when both sides ex communicated each other was some huge event, which it was however this is only when the split became official. For a very long time the East and West had differences of opinion on Papal authority, some doctrines such as purgatory, and also filioque among others that today would seem trivial but in the time were really issues that caused tension. It has always been my opinion that even though I am Catholic, I will not say either side was in the right or the wrong. It was just a lack of communication and understanding and also slow responses which ultimately led to the split. The cultures were very different. I think ultimately they will reunite but probably not in my lifetime. The truth is we are Catholic yet we are also Orthodox. And vice versa for Eastern Orthodox Churches. They are Orthodox yet Catholic. Both can claim to be the first church Jesus established and can make arguments for why they are. In the end our Orthodox brethren really have the same background and history. On paper you really wouldn’t see much of a difference. Actually I believe according to Canon Law, Orthodox are allowed to receive the Holy Eucharist, as they view it the same way we do. There’s some other little differences, they have a larger Old Testament Canon than us, they add 1 Esdras, Prayer of Mannaseh, 3 Maccabees, and Psalm 151; and to some extent in some Orthodox Churches accept 2 Esdras and 4 Maccabees to some extent. Even though Eastern Orthodoxy is in communion they don’t have a binding Canon and different regions run by different Patriarchs can have a different biblical Canon. So say the Orthodox Church in Greece can have a different biblical Canon than the Russian Orthodox Church. Let us also be careful because even calling someone Orthodox can be confusing. Oriental Orthodoxy is different than Eastern Orthodoxy. Oriental Orthodoxy split from the Great Church in the 6th century over Christology.