Is the Greek Orthodox faith still part of Catholicism?

[Paul_theApostle]

From Catholic Catechism-

Imperfectly United

1399 The Eastern churches that are not in full communion with the Catholic Church celebrate the Eucharist with great love. “These Churches, although separated from us, yet possess true sacraments, above all—by apostolic succession—the priesthood and the Eucharist, whereby they are still joined to us in closest intimacy.” A certain communion in sacris, and so in the Eucharist, “given suitable circumstances and the approval of Church authority, is not merely possible but is encouraged.”

838 “The Church knows that she is joined in many ways to the baptized who are honored by the name of Christian, but do not profess the Catholic faith in its entirety or have not preserved unity or communion under the successor of Peter.” Those “who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church.” With the Orthodox Churches, this communion is so profound “that it lacks little to attain the fullness that would permit a common celebration of the Lord’s Eucharist.”

 

[IgnatianPhilo]

You should not have eucharist at a greek orthodox church, if thats what your asking.

 

[Rawb]

You’re not Catholics in the “proper noun” sense of the word, which was indicated by the capitalization.

Perhaps true in the vernacular, but not true in general and certainly not in non-Western languages. I have heard individuals within my parish refer to our church as a Catholic church, or ourselves as Catholics. I only say this to assure you that Orthodox do refer to themselves and believe themselves to be Catholics, just not in communion with the Roman Pope Catholics. The full name of many of our churches is something like “The Holy Russian Greek Orthodox Catholic Church” and we capitalize the Marks of the Church in our Creed, which we hold as referincing our Church - One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. Again, though, this is just for your information.

I would also urge my fellow Orthodox to let this point go for this thread. It only serves to confuse the original poster.

 

[BostonStrong]

Perhaps true in the vernacular, but not true in general and certainly not in non-Western languages. I have heard individuals within my parish refer to our church as a Catholic church, or ourselves as Catholics. I only say this to assure you that Orthodox do refer to themselves and believe themselves to be Catholics, just not in communion with the Roman Pope Catholics. The full name of many of our churches is something like “The Holy Russian Greek Orthodox Catholic Church” and we capitalize the Marks of the Church in our Creed, which we hold as referincing our Church - One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. Again, though, this is just for your information.

I would also urge my fellow Orthodox to let this point go for this thread. It only serves to confuse the original poster.

Not at all, I find this discussion to be very interesting and educational. Thank you for sharing!

 

[Cavaradossi]

You’re not Catholics in the “proper noun” sense of the word, which was indicated by the capatilization. Catholics would also say that you’re not catholic in the adjective sense either, but that’s another thread.

And of course, we would assert the opposite, that our Church is both the Catholic Church and catholic, while we would say the Roman Catholic Church is neither the Catholic Church, nor catholic (this is, of course, not meant to be polemical, but rather just to show that it is a matter of perspective). In fact, at least four ecclesial bodies have traditionally claimed exclusively to be the Catholic Church, the Church of the East (traditionally known as Nestorians by Chalcedonian Christians), the Oriental Orthodox (traditionally called Monophysites by Chalcedonian Christians), the Eastern Orthodox (traditionally just known as ‘the Orthodox’), and the Roman Catholics.

 

[ThatCatholic]

And of course, we would assert the opposite, that our Church is both the Catholic Church and catholic, while we would say the Roman Catholic Church is neither the Catholic Church, nor catholic

For the sake of simplicity I was just using the convention of referring to things and groups by their commonly accepted proper name, just as I referred to the Greek Orthodox as such, even though I would not consider them orthodox. I think we can all agree that the Orthodox are not what Roman Catholics would mean by the term “Catholic”.

 

[Aramis]

I’ll leave it to one of our resident Byzantines (Peter? Phillip? Diak? Aramis? or …?) to get into this in more detail, but the quick answer is no.

For the Ruthenians, it’s a whole kettle of “individual views”…

Personally, I see the papacy as the archpatriarchate. As in, the Pope is to Patriarchs as the Archbishops are to Bishops; supervises but does not actually rule, can discipline but lets them run their own patriarchates provided union is not broken and the synod can elect a new patriarch. And, historically, some bishops have made similar or even stronger claims, including a patriarch, who said the role of the Pope was to Patriarchs as Patriarchs are to bishops… but then shortly later that church went into schism!

Some see the pope as a focus of union and a non-issue.

Others pray for a weaker papacy.

Others pray the pope will assert dominance.

And that’s just the long term parishioners (most of whom are either canonically Ruthenian or have applied to become canonically Ruthenian.)

The other issue is one of electoral privilege. Many would love to see the primatial bishops of the various Eastern Churches accorded Conclave vote without having to have been “red-hatted” first.

Some (including myself) think the church overall might benefit from the Roman Church actually creation regional patriarchates with the national conferences as their synods and allowing regional Roman Rite churches to regionally adapt.

 

[Peter_J]

but am curious if my father’s Greek Orthodox religion falls within the umbrella of my Catholic faith,

Answers to this will vary; but according to the usual use of the word Catholic in the USA (and I believe most English-speaking countries), it would not include the Orthodox. (Of course, many Orthodox say the opposite: that they are Catholic and we are not.)

P.S. Sometimes after using the word “Catholic” I’ll add a note like “(i.e. in communion with Rome)” if it seems necessary in order to avoid confusion.

 

[Peter_J]

Correct me if I’m wrong , but the great east/west schism of 1054 fragmented the Catholic faith into the Roman Catholicism we have today, and the eastern Orthodox Christianity that defined the Byzantine Empire.(Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, etc)

My mother was Catholic, my father Greek Orthodox, so I have always wondered how the two religions differed or were similar- they told me they had more similarities than differences-

I assumed the major difference was that Catholicism looked to the Pope in Rome, and the eastern Orthodox Christians looked to the Patriarch in Constantinople.
What about the Melkite Greek Catholic Church? Is that a version of Greek Orthodoxy that recognizes the Pope in Rome, rather than the Patriarch in Constantinople?

I have rediscovered my Catholic faith and have accepted Jesus, but am curious if my father’s Greek Orthodox religion falls within the umbrella of my Catholic faith, or if it is a totally different branch of Christianity.

Would I as a Catholic (and a half Greek) be able to participate in some Greek Orthodox traditions such as Greek Easter?

Thanks, God bless

Quite a lot of this thread has focused on a fine technical point, namely Who has the right to the name Catholic? Here’s something a little more pragmatic: I take it (reading between the lines, please correct me if I’m wrong) that you plan to remain Catholic. I think that is wise. (Emphasis on the “remain” part – I make it a general policy not to encourage Orthodox to switch sides.)