Hi all, I’m markfromcanada.
I am an Anglican contemplating conversion to either Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy. Both lay claim to be the faith of Jesus and the apostles.
How can I tell which is the correct one? Which one should I convert to and why?
Thanks!!
In just the last dozen years, ecumenical dialogue between the East and West reopened. They’re still a pretty long way from actually achieving full unity, but these meetings have consisted of all (or nearly all) the bishops on both sides getting together for a week or so at a time and talking about these kinds of things. Sometimes they produce valuable documents, as well.
Most recently (in September, I think), they discussed and revised a document in Vienna, which they initially put together in Crete in '08. It had to do with the nature of the papacy in the first millennium, particularly as it pertained to the way in which the Bishop of Rome interacted with other bishops, especially those in the East.
As far as ecumenical documents go, it’s kind of raw, a little disjointed, and needs some work. In many places, it’s clear that the document as a whole is not an agreed-upon product that proceeds from a united college of bishops. It begins with vague statements of unity, but then it moves to historical examples that can be used to support certain arguments. One part will present an example of particular interest to the East, and another part will present a piece of evidence that supports the modern papacy and the way Roman Catholicism now works. It doesn’t really announce when that switch happens, either; it just kind of happens.
So much for the weaknesses, though. There are a lot of strengths to this resource. First, I think it goes right to the heart of the matter. If the East and West are going to have a shot at getting back together, they need to go back to the last time they were together- not in order to play the blame game, but in order to see what they did together when things were working and then do those things again. Along with that, you get a really good look at how the pre-Schism Church of the first millennium operated, and then you can compare it to the modern Catholic Church (whose MO is continuity with certain developments) and the modern EO (whose MO is to keep everything exactly the same as it ever was) and see which one more closely resembles the Church of the first millennium. This helps the bishops figure out who will need to compromise on what, and it helps you pick the one that’s compromised the least in the last millennium or so.
Second, although the final product needs more work (hence the fact that they continue to go back and work on it), the source of the document could not be better. Not only does it come from “all the bishops,” it actually comes from “all the bishops” in the sense that the Catholic bishops and Orthodox bishops all got together in order to produce these things. You don’t get this kind of thing when it’s just Catholic bishops, and you don’t get this kind of thing when it’s just Orthodox bishops. They’re actually getting together and trying to take steps toward full unity (even if it takes a century or two). The final product isn’t here yet, but these are the first steps in the direction that you want to go.
Third, even though you wouldn’t expect a Church bishop to be a truly unbiased source of information, these bishops are operating in an environment where charity and cooperation are the bywords and they are not engaging in discussion that is aimed at conversion. Consequently, when you read this material, it will be a little different from something produced by John Salza. Salza will aggressively attempt to convert you from the word “go.” I exchanged a handful of e-mails with him at one point, and that’s the only thing he was interested in. This is different because you get a chance to see bishops on both sides working toward something together, they aren’t trying to convert each other, and they aren’t trying to convert you.
This is the material found in the 2008 document.
chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1341814?eng=y There have been a total of 12 sessions, although some of them revised previous documents and did not produce any new ones. See if you can poke around those a little, too. Maybe you’ll come up with another item or two that you can look through.
I’ve gotten “Rome fever” and jumped back over to the Catholic Church only to find myself yearning, wanting, lacking, and in great disagreement only to jump back to Anglicanism, the church you’re planning on leaving. Many weeks I consider running back to Rome and settling in there but I can’t get past a series of issues that I just can’t stomach at the moment. I’ve been hasty and jumped the Tiber one too many times only to come up feeling empty. Stay put where you are as an Anglican, enjoy the rich and beautiful liturgy and prayer book of Anglicanism, and read A LOT about both communions before jumping.