Orthodox Catholic ?

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I’ve noticed that people who i.e. go to church every Sunday and support church teaching on contraception, abortion etc call themselves ‘Orthodox Catholic’ (I’ve seen it already on facebook). Do you think it will replace ‘Roman Catholic’ soon as the latter replaced ‘Christian’ or ‘Catholic’ some time ago ?
 
Orthodox could mean Greek Orthodox, (or Russian) or it could mean that someone is more “traditional”, meaning that they prefer the Mass before the changes implimented after VII, or it could mean that they just accept what the Church teaches as far as moral decisions (contraception, importance of Mass every week, etc)

As far as “Roman”, that is the “rite” and there are many- Melkite & Coptic being the two (aside form ‘Roman’) that I am familar with. Both are in communion with Rome, but the liturgies and traditions are totally different.

As I have said many times in this forum, I think that this desire to “label” one’s self is not a good thing. We are supposed to be ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, APOSTOLIC CHURCH.
Just because I may like more vibrant and modern music over chant does not mean I am any “less Catholic”, than someone who prefers chant & polyphony.
 
I agree on music with you. But there is a difference between roman catholics fully supporting fundamental church teaching and those who are pro-choice or don’t go to Mass
 
irom said:
I agree on music with you. But there is a difference between roman catholics fully supporting fundamental church teaching and those who are pro-choice or don’t go to Mass
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I am sorry, but I believe you are incorrect.

Roman is a RITE, just like Coptic is.

As long as one has been initiated into the Church, one is always Catholic.
It is one’s choices that lead to being in communion with the Church, or not,
and that is always easily remedied through the Sacrament of Reconcilliation.
 
The word those people are using is small-“o” orthodox, and it is simply an adjective meaning approximately “faithful”. It has no properness like a noun would have, and like big-“O” Orthodox (or Roman, or Coptic, or…) would have. So it would never replace any of those.
 
Generally, if someone says that they are an orthodox Catholic, they mean that they fully accept all of the teachings of the Church. Ordinarily, the “orthodox” part of this would not be capitalized unless it were at the beginning of a sentence or part of a title or something.

A person who is describing themselves as an orthodox Catholic usually really means that they are an orthodox member of the Latin Catholic Church (because that church is much larger than all of the other Churches put together). However, it could just as well mean that they are an orthodox Melkite Greek Catholic or an orthodox Maronite Catholic or whatever.

The term “Roman Catholic” is a little tricky anyway, because some members of Eastern Catholic Churches are offended to be called by it, and some are proud to be called by it. It depends on what you mean. All of the Catholic Churches are in communion with the Bishop of Rome (the Pope). But they are not part of the Latin Catholic Church, which is also based in Rome.

Anyway, in answer to your original question, no. In this context, “Orthodox” is generally just a descriptive word, that is similar to saying “Faithful Catholic.” In days when so many of our politicians label themselves as Catholic without following the teachings of the Church in their public life, and many people are Catholic but don’t even know many of the teachings of the Church, people sometimes want to have some way to say “I’m a Catholic by belief, conviction, and actions, not just by Baptism and/or national heritage.”

The best thing would be if all Catholics followed the teachings of the Church, and then you could say Catholic and it would mean orthodox Catholic. 😃

HOWEVER, it is also true that the Eastern/Oriental Orthodox Churches which are not in communion with Rome officially refer to themselves as Orthodox Catholic Churches. Generally there would probably be some other descriptive word in there to indicate which of the Orthodox churches were meant, e.g. Russian Orthodox Catholic or something. Anyway, if the people are calling themselves Orthodox Catholics in that context, then certainly Orthodox Catholic wouldn’t replace Roman Catholic, without a whole bunch of people (say a billion or so) converting. 🙂

–Jen
 
I don’t mind this term being used at all. I hold to the Orthodox Faith, the Catholic Faith, the Holy Faith, and the Apostolic Faith. It is an ancient term and most of the people who are Catholic who describe themselves as orthodox are indeed orthodox Christians.

To be okay with state-sanctioned murder is to cease to be orthodox. To reject apostolic worship is to cease to be orthodox. To accept contraception is to cease to be orthodox.

We must not forget that even in the West, “orthodox” was the buzzword when dealing with the Monophysite and Monothelite controversies. “Catholic”, however, is more ancient. Sadly, it also applies to many heretics who are among us as a wolf in the fold. It is certainly good that we have the additional label to help us understand and recognize who among truly is orthodox.
 
On my facebook profile I’m a “deeply orthodox Roman Catholic”. Notice the small ‘o’. I mean it to say that I am orthodox in my world view as opposed to modernist or materialist. That when I say the creed, I mean every word of it. I don’t disagree with papacy, the primacy of Peter, the veneration of Mary, etc. I have a strong pro-life stance, and agree with the all of THE Church’s teachings on everything. I believe that THE Church is guided by the Holy Ghost, and have full faith that the Bishop of Rome is protected when speaking ex-cathedra regarding faith and morals. I don’t believe the Church has ever taught heresy.

I am a convert, and was hopelessly lost in the “new age” for the better part of 50 years. I don’t ever want to be confused as a lax Catholic, or be thought of as someone who questions the blessed authority of descended apostles of Christ, the Roman Catholic Episcopy. Hence the small ‘o’ orthodox in my self description.

I also don’t think we need to drop the Roman. It takes just a microsecond longer to say orthodox Roman Catholic, removing the possibility of being confused with Russian, Greek or Eastern Orthodox. Though I pray that the East and West will be one Church in my lifetime. Anglicans as well. That we all just have different “rites” if neccessary, but are under one allegiance with the Vicar of Christ, il Papa.

God bless one and all,

Steven
 
StevenFrancis said:
On my facebook profile I’m a “deeply orthodox Roman Catholic”. Notice the small ‘o’. I mean it to say that I am orthodox in my world view as opposed to modernist or materialist. That when I say the creed, I mean every word of it. I don’t disagree with papacy, the primacy of Peter, the veneration of Mary, etc. I have a strong pro-life stance, and agree with the all of THE Church’s teachings on everything. I believe that THE Church is guided by the Holy Ghost, and have full faith that the Bishop of Rome is protected when speaking ex-cathedra regarding faith and morals. I don’t believe the Church has ever taught heresy.

I am a convert, and was hopelessly lost in the “new age” for the better part of 50 years. I don’t ever want to be confused as a lax Catholic, or be thought of as someone who questions the blessed authority of descended apostles of Christ, the Roman Catholic Episcopy. Hence the small ‘o’ orthodox in my self description.

I also don’t think we need to drop the Roman. It takes just a microsecond longer to say orthodox Roman Catholic, removing the possibility of being confused with Russian, Greek or Eastern Orthodox. Though I pray that the East and West will be one Church in my lifetime. Anglicans as well. That we all just have different “rites” if neccessary, but are under one allegiance with the Vicar of Christ, il Papa.

God bless one and all,

Steven
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I would like to point out that all of these are adjectives. I am a Christian, but to distinguish myself from those who reject the whole of Apostolic Tradition, I call myself a Catholic Christian. To distinguish myself from those who pervert this faith with heresy, I call myself an Orthodox Christian. To distinguish my tradition from the tradition of my Orthodox Catholic brethren, I call myself Roman, but more specifically Latin. To distinguish my country of origin from my brethren, I call myself American.

I am an American Latin Roman Orthodox Catholic Christian, and dang proud of it.

My Facebook says Latin, Roman, Orthodox, and Catholic Christian. 😃

However, we are Christians in the end. It is very sad that there are many within our ranks, especially in the American Catholic Church, who are neither Orthodox nor Catholic.
 
WetCatechumen said:
I would like to point out that all of these are adjectives. I am a Christian, but to distinguish myself from those who reject the whole of Apostolic Tradition, I call myself a Catholic Christian. To distinguish myself from those who pervert this faith with heresy, I call myself an Orthodox Christian. To distinguish my tradition from the tradition of my Orthodox Catholic brethren, I call myself Roman, but more specifically Latin. To distinguish my country of origin from my brethren, I call myself American.

I am an American Latin Roman Orthodox Catholic Christian, and dang proud of it.

My Facebook says Latin, Roman, Orthodox, and Catholic Christian. 😃

However, we are Christians in the end. It is very sad that there are many within our ranks, especially in the American Catholic Church, who are neither Orthodox nor Catholic.
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Agreed. It’s be nice if this was anywhere from the 1st - 16th century where there were just Christians and non-Christians. It’s kind of a sad note on modernism that we must do all this description just to identify our beliefs.
 
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