Orthodox leader stresses unity in truth, as he speaks of unity with Catholicism

[Nine_Two]

I didn’t know that. Are these the ones that went to Cyprus and caused problems about the Pope and ecumenical meetings? Where are they now? Have they gone off and started their own order or whatever? Aren’t they still living somewhere on Mt. Athos?

Mount Athos is an autonomous state in Greece headed by the Ecumenical Patriarch. Under Greek law, the Greek police, army, etc. cannot interfere without his ok. Given that they had to be called in at the Patriarchs request I have trouble believing he would allow them to continue on in the state. I have no idea what happened to them after that though.

 

[Nine_Two]

Well you HAVE achieved something of value, prodromos And of course I figured an Orthodox Christian thrice divorced is probably an ultra rarity anyway. Gosh, “thrice divorced,” I sound like Chris Farley doing his Matt Foley, Motivational Speaker skit from Saturday Night Live!

I’m 35 years old and I live in a van DOWN BY THE RIVER!

 

[wisdomseeker]

Joe, I’m not sure this is a fair characterization of Catholics as being the mom and pop religion of Protestantism. I understand the argument but am not convinced by it. The Catholic Church cannot control all heretics and their intentions and they cannot head off everyone at the pass. It would be absurd to say that Arianism and Nestorianism are the children of the East, right? Many heretics came out of the East before the Great Schism and yet it would be silly to somehow imply that the theology and agenda laid out by Eastern bishops gave rise to the heresies that flowed out of Alexandria or Constantinople, etc. I think it’s comments like this that are more damaging to ecumenical dialogue than anything. The polemics and labels aren’t helpful just as orthodox (small o) Catholics calling their fellow Catholics “cafeteria Catholics” isn’t helpful.

I would agree that the way Rome dealt with some of these heretics at times left plenty to be desired and possibly things like indulgences are directly responsible for men like Luther coming on the scene but to say Protestantism is the progeny of Catholics and that they are somehow similar bedfellows in a familial relationship isn’t fair. Luther’s overreaction to indulgences opened up a can of worms like the “priesthood of all believers” and “sola scriptura” that had nothing to do with indulgences. The “two sides of the same coin” analogy isn’t a good one IMO.

To blame the CC for those who leave the Church and create a different religion is wrong. Should we blame God because people abandon Him? obviously not.

should we blame Jesus for those who left Him, and for Judas behavior?

It is not the CC’s fault if martin luther, henry VIII, and many others decided to leave to form their own religion. Even if we were all perfect in teh Church, many still would find fault and leave. People need to stop blaming the CC for everything bad that happens in the world. when people are going to realize that martin luther was an unstable man, just like henry VIII?