My friend - Russian Orthodox

[SheilaVR]

Can someone explain (as simply as possible) the difference between Roman Catholicism and Russian Orthodoxy? I have a new friend, new to the USA, and there is no church for her to attend here in our area. Can she attend the Catholic church and recieve communion and/or reconciliation?

thnx,
Sheila

 

[LDNCatholic]

As far as I know the Catholic Church says that the Orthodox are welcome to recieve the Eucharist at the Catholic Mass, however the Orthodox Church might not be happy with that.

 

[wynd]

Can someone explain (as simply as possible) the difference between Roman Catholicism and Russian Orthodoxy?

Hi Sheila,

Some differences:

• Orthodox do not believe in supremacy of the pope (they do believe in primacy)
• Orthodox use the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, whose text you can read here. >90% of it is sung or chanted.
• Orthodox do not believe in the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son, but rather from the Father alone. The Orthodox Nicene Creed goes: “And in the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father.”

I am sure other people can add more, these are just some basic ones.

 

[RC_Matt]

Can someone explain (as simply as possible) the difference between Roman Catholicism and Russian Orthodoxy? I have a new friend, new to the USA, and there is no church for her to attend here in our area. Can she attend the Catholic church and recieve communion and/or reconciliation?

thnx,
Sheila

Doctrinally they are very close, in fact differences stem more from politics than anything else. The Orthodox are not Protestants, the Orthodox Priesthood is valid, as are all Orthodox Sacraments. The Catholic Church does allow Russian Orthodox to receive Sacraments, including communion. However, the same does not generally apply in reverse. The Orthodox do not generally consider the Catholic Priesthood, nor its Sacraments, to be valid and Orthodox are generally forbidden from receiving Catholic Sacraments. Further, Catholics are generally not welcomed to take Communion in an Orthodox Church. I keep saying generally because there are exceptions and the official line is sometimes stronger than what actually happens.

Best thing for your friend to do is call the nearest Russian Orthodox Parish and just ask them. The Russians tend to be more realistic than some of the others, and they may well tell her it’s ok to attend a Catholic Church. On the other hand, if there is ANY Orthodox Parish in your community, like Greek, they will probably direct her there.

 

[Claire_from_DE]

In the other forum you got some very good answers and suggestions to your question about her receiving communion. If she needed to go to confession, I’m sure the Catholic church permits it. But I don’t know the Orthodox position on this. Even if it is far away, why not call a Russian Orthodox church and find out. Or could she call or write her priest at home for advice she would trust?

 

[Peter_J]

Hi Sheila,

Some differences:

• Orthodox do not believe in supremacy of the pope (they do believe in primacy)
• Orthodox use the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, whose text you can read here. >90% of it is sung or chanted.
• Orthodox do not believe in the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son, but rather from the Father alone. The Orthodox Nicene Creed goes: “And in the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father.”

I am sure other people can add more, these are just some basic ones.

I would add one: the Immaculate Conception. (Although whether or not that’s an issue depends on whom you ask. Both sides do agree that Mary was sinless, but there’s some controversy when it comes to formulas like “without any stain of original sin”.)

But the filioque and the papacy are the two main areas of disagreement.

 

[Sepharad]

Can someone explain (as simply as possible) the difference between Roman Catholicism and Russian Orthodoxy? I have a new friend, new to the USA, and there is no church for her to attend here in our area. Can she attend the Catholic church and recieve communion and/or reconciliation?

thnx,
Sheila

The mainstream RO’s reject the Filioque and the Papacy.

The more conservative RO’s (ROCA/ROCOR) additionally also use the Julian calendar, and are called Old Calendarists.

You might want to take her to an Eastern Catholic parish, as long as you realize she might take offense (depending on how knowledgeable she is of the history of her church.)

 

[wynd]

I would add one: the Immaculate Conception. (Although whether or not that’s an issue depends on whom you ask. Both sides do agree that Mary was sinless, but there’s some controversy when it comes to formulas like “without any stain of original sin”.)

As I understand it, the dogma of the immaculate conception itself is not the point of disagreement, but rather the underlying theology pertaining to the Fall and original sin.