Prince Philip and Orthodoxy

Status
Not open for further replies.
LilyM said:
I was specifically referring, as the topic states, to Greek Orthodoxy, not Russian. And the Greek royal family, not the Russian. Apologies if I was unclear, but Russian history, interesting as it is, is largely irrelevant to Prince Phillip, given most of the Russian royal family had met their ends before he was even born.
Click to expand...
I just double-checked the topic and it refers to Orthodoxy, not Greek Orthodoxy. It doesn’t appear to have been edited.

I was referring to Orthodoxy, the faith, rather than “Greek Orthodoxy”, as a statement of being Greek. Regarding Prince Philip’s possible affinity for Orthodoxy: with a devout mother (who may or may not have been inspired or influenced by her aunt’s histories), his own religious sensibilities may very well draw him to the Orthodoxy of his baptism, in spite of his his conversion to the Church of England for reasons of state.
 
Last edited:
HomeschoolDad said:
How did HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, justify leaving the Orthodox Church for the Church of England when he married Princess Elizabeth?
Click to expand...
Frankly, a thread about this is a waste of time. Nobody apart from Prince Philip knows the answer.
 
I think we need to put this into context of time and place. When Philip Mountbatten married HRH Princess Elizabeth he was marrying a woman who one day would become the queen [regnant] of the UK. That positions carries with it (rightly or wrongly) the titles of Supreme Governor of the Church of England (CofE) and Defender of the Faith. The monarch is the ceremonial head of the CofE. Plus at the time she was not the queen and to remain in the line of succession one could not marry a Catholic. Although Philip was not a Catholic I can only assume that it was decided that it would be best for him to convert so that the future ceremonial head of the CofE was married to another Anglican. Of course, this is just a best guess from a Brit who takes some interest in the Royal Family. I’ve never read, or even until I saw this question considered, why Philip Mountbatten changed to the CofE prior to his marriage. He’s never struck me as a particularly religious man and perhaps it wasn’t too important to him which church he belonged to.
 
“After many years of not practicing his faith, HRH Prince Philip returned to Orthodoxy in the early 1990’s. In an article of that time written by Giles Milton (‘The Spectator’, 14 March 1992), it was revealed that in May 1991 he had spoken in private to a Russian Orthodox bishop in London and for June 1993 he was planning a meeting with the Patriarch of Constantinople, a visit to the Holy Mountain of Athos in Northern Greece and a visit to the Patriarch of Moscow.”

Good to know. I am happy to know that at least he is back in Holy Orthodoxy.
 
The part about his return to Orthodoxy was the part that I questioned the veracity of, as there seems to be no corroboration.
 
Last edited:
Anglicans don’t have Holy Communion because their ministers do not have valid Orders as per Apostolicae Curae by Pope Leo XIII.
 
Yes, Anglicans and Episcopalians celebrate Holy Communion every Sunday.
They do not celebrate the Mass, but
they have a liturgical service which is
similar to the Mass.
 
Last edited:
They may have a “Communion” service but Anglicans (i.e. C of E, not the Ordinariate) do not have Holy Communion. Their ministers lack valid Orders because the Apostolic succession was broken with the death of St. John Fisher. The Catholic Church in England was not re-established until the late 18th/early 19th century.
 
I realize the orders are not valid, but they still have Holy Communion on
Sunday morning.
 
Last edited:
They may call it “Holy Communion” but it is ordinary bread not the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. Apostolicae Curae is infallible.
 
They may call it “Holy Communion” but it is not the Real Presence of Christ, i.e. His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. I could call myself Princess Margaret but that doesn’t make me a British Royal.
 
Yes but within the context of the Anglican Communion, it is indeed the sacrament of holy communion. In light of the Church’s approach to ecumenicism since VII, we can use their own terms within the context of an ecumenical dialogue.
 
I’ll give you a practical example. There are many very vocal Trump supporters on this forum. They never hesitate to declare Melania to be his wife. Yet she is a baptized Catholic civilly married to a twice divorced man. Why do practicing Catholics call her his wife? Because within the context of American law the union is recognized, even though the Catholic Church does not recognize it.
 
HomeschoolDad said:
“After many years of not practicing his faith, HRH Prince Philip returned to Orthodoxy in the early 1990’s. In an article of that time written by Giles Milton (‘The Spectator’, 14 March 1992), it was revealed that in May 1991 he had spoken in private to a Russian Orthodox bishop in London and for June 1993 he was planning a meeting with the Patriarch of Constantinople, a visit to the Holy Mountain of Athos in Northern Greece and a visit to the Patriarch of Moscow.”

Good to know. I am happy to know that at least he is back in Holy Orthodoxy.
Click to expand...
It really seems he isn’t back in Orthodoxy. And a reversion back to Orthodoxy would be totally inconsistent with the statement in the article that even before he converted to Anglicanism Philip FELT Anglican. I can believe that - after all, he adopted the Anglicised version of his family name, became a British citizen and served in the British navy, all well before he married Elizabeth, so why would he not feel Anglican?
 
Last edited:
Thank you for the explanation. Addendum: Before VII, Melania would have been admonished to avoid DT because of his marital situation. 50+ years after VII, as Cole Porter once wrote: “…anything goes.”

Btw, I did vote for him…
 
Last edited:
And we have no idea of her Catholic
background even though she was baptized Catholic. Was she a practicing Catholic? Was she confirmed? Did she do her first reconciliation? Did she do her first
communion? I Don’t know the answers to most of those questions.
So are you insinuating democrat Catholics do not call Melanie his wife?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top