Othodox Churches and Communion

[BernadetteM]

Are all Orthodox allowed to receive Communion in any Orthodox Church? Is it denied if one belongs to the Russian, Greek or a Coptic Orthodox Church or is Communion open as it is in the Catholic Church to either Eastern Rite Catholics or Latin Rite Catholics or any Church who is in communion with the Pope?

Yours in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary

Bernadette

 

[prodromos]

Are all Orthodox allowed to receive Communion in any Orthodox Church?

No. Only those who are properly prepared through confession, fasting and prayer are allowed to receive communion.

Is it denied if one belongs to the Russian, Greek or a Coptic Orthodox Church or is Communion open as it is in the Catholic Church to either Eastern Rite Catholics or Latin Rite Catholics or any Church who is in communion with the Pope?

No, however if visiting another parish one should make contact with the priest beforehand so that he knows if you have made proper preparation for Holy Communion. He knows his own parishoners and is aware of who may, or may not receive. If you just turn up expecting to receive then he would not even know if you were Orthodox and likely deny you the cup. Other than that, there is no impediment to Orthodox Christians receiving Holy Communion in any Orthodox Church, regardless of jurisdiction.

Note, the Coptic Orthodox are not in communion with the Eastern Orthodox Church.

 

[Nine_Two]

Are all Orthodox allowed to receive Communion in any Orthodox Church? Is it denied if one belongs to the Russian, Greek or a Coptic Orthodox Church or is Communion open as it is in the Catholic Church to either Eastern Rite Catholics or Latin Rite Catholics or any Church who is in communion with the Pope?

Yours in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary

Bernadette

The term “Orthodox” is shorthand for two different communions, the Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox.

 

[Aramis]

Are all Orthodox allowed to receive Communion in any Orthodox Church? Is it denied if one belongs to the Russian, Greek or a Coptic Orthodox Church or is Communion open as it is in the Catholic Church to either Eastern Rite Catholics or Latin Rite Catholics or any Church who is in communion with the Pope?

Yours in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary

Bernadette

While in theory, any Eastern Orthodox church is in communion with any other, the reality is that, at any given point, at least one of them refuses to commune members of another one of them…

In theory, yes, any EO who is properly prepared can be communed at any EO church parish. In practice? Not really.

The EO officially consider anyone not in an EO church to not be eligible for any sacraments, period.

The Oriental Orthodox Communion (those under the Pope of Alexandria) are similar; everything I’ve seen says they are less rigid about it than the EO, but the OO are still more rigid than the Catholics as a rule.

The Assyrian Church of the East (ACE), Armenian Apostolic Orthodox and the Syrian Orthodox officially have limited intercommunion with the Catholic Church via their parallel catholic churches (Chaldean, Armenian, and Syrian).

The various Ukrainian Orthodox Churches are in an odd situation. The KP are not in communion with the EO officially, the MP are, and the UAOC are not in communion with either, but will commune members of both…

 

[prodromos]

In theory, yes, any EO who is properly prepared can be communed at any EO church parish. In practice? Not really.

In practice, really, as long as the priest has been contacted in advance. I’m curious to know how you can make such a statement with any confidence seeing as you are not a member of any Orthodox communion.

 

[ciero]

In practice, really, as long as the priest has been contacted in advance. I’m curious to know how you can make such a statement with any confidence seeing as you are not a member of any Orthodox communion.

 

[ciero]

While in theory, any Eastern Orthodox church is in communion with any other, the reality is that, at any given point, at least one of them refuses to commune members of another one of them…

In theory, yes, any EO who is properly prepared can be communed at any EO church parish. In practice? Not really.

The EO officially consider anyone not in an EO church to not be eligible for any sacraments, period.

The Oriental Orthodox Communion (those under the Pope of Alexandria) are similar; everything I’ve seen says they are less rigid about it than the EO, but the OO are still more rigid than the Catholics as a rule.

The Assyrian Church of the East (ACE), Armenian Apostolic Orthodox and the Syrian Orthodox officially have limited intercommunion with the Catholic Church via their parallel catholic churches (Chaldean, Armenian, and Syrian).

The various Ukrainian Orthodox Churches are in an odd situation. The KP are not in communion with the EO officially, the MP are, and the UAOC are not in communion with either, but will commune members of both…

The know it all Ruthenian sticks his nose in it again!

Its really starting to bug me how folks on this forum think that what they experience in their parish or juristiction is the NORM for the whole world.

I travel quite extensively in the Orthodox world and visit MANY Orthodox churches and monasteries in the course of these travels. Now please note that I am a CATHOLIC and make it VERY CLEAR that I am Catholic, and have been OFFERED communion in the Orthodox church in Russia, Ukraine, Serbia,Romania, Greece, Cyprus Lebanon Syria and Palestine as well as in at least 2 Orthodox jurisdictions in the USA and in the Coptic church in Egypt and the USA.

Now I know this is NOT the NORM in the USA, it is much more widespread in Orthodox countries then you ever hear reported here in the US. Now if this is the case for a CATHOLIC, why would anyone think that it would be any different for an Orthodox person? Why would anyone think that an Orthodox from another jurisdiction in communion with each other be denied the sacraments?

People need to realize that there is a bigger world out there then their own backyard, and that their isolated experiences are NOT the whole picture before making statements such as this.

Just my $ .02