Q: An Eastern Orthodox friend sometimes attends Mass with me and receives Communion. Is this allowed?

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Q: An Eastern Orthodox friend sometimes attends Mass with me and receives Communion. Is this allowed?

Thanks
Steve
 
No I am a Canadian with 100% Macedonian background. (Eastern (greek) orthodox, ).
And if the RC church is ok with it.

Steve
 
The Catholic Church has no problem with an Orthodox Christian receiving Communion since they hold the same belief about the Eucharist as we do (this is not the case for Protestants). However, Orthodox churches tend to prohibit their members from receiving Catholic Sacraments under any circumstances, even as viaticum (Communion given to a dying person).
 
The RC recognizes the Orthodox as valid, true Churches with valid Apostolic Succession and 7 Sacraments. In fact, the Catholic Church believes that it shares the same entire faith with the Orthodox Church save for communion with the Pope.

Given this, the Church is open to it. Although the Orthodox are the ones who are more strict. Some would even excommunicate those who would receive Sacraments from the Catholic Church.
 
For a source, see the Code of Canon Law, c. 844 §3. “Catholic ministers administer the sacraments of penance, Eucharist, and anointing of the sick licitly to members of Eastern Churches which do not have full communion with the Catholic Church if they seek such on their own accord and are properly disposed.” The Eastern Code has a similar norm in c. 671.

Dan
 
SonCatcher said:
The Catholic Church has no problem with an Orthodox Christian receiving Communion since they hold the same belief about the Eucharist as we do (this is not the case for Protestants). However, Orthodox churches tend to prohibit their members from receiving Catholic Sacraments under any circumstances, even as viaticum (Communion given to a dying person).
]Where do you get that from? I travel in Orthodox countries fairly often (Greece, Romania,Russia) and have been given communion as a Catholic more often then I have been denied. Things do tend to be a bit different here in the US though, although not entirely, I had a friend (now deceased) who was a Catholic and was regularly given communion by St. John Maximovich and also by Archbishop Antony of ROCOR…

I have never heard any Orthodox not to receive the sacraments from a Catholic priest if an Orthodox priest wasn’t available, on their deathbed.
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ciero said:
SonCatcher;7761309:
The Catholic Church has no problem with an Orthodox Christian receiving Communion since they hold the same belief about the Eucharist as we do (this is not the case for Protestants). However, Orthodox churches tend to prohibit their members from receiving Catholic Sacraments under any circumstances, even as viaticum (Communion given to a dying person).
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Where do you get that from? I travel in Orthodox countries fairly often (Greece, Romania,Russia) and have been given communion as a Catholic more often then I have been denied. Things do tend to be a bit different here in the US though, although not entirely, I had a friend (now deceased) who was a Catholic and was regularly given communion by St. John Maximovich and also by Archbishop Antony of ROCOR…

I have never heard any Orthodox not to receive the sacraments from a Catholic priest if an Orthodox priest wasn’t available, on their deathbed.
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From the Orthodox who post here
 
As an Orthodox Christian (Antiochian, not in communion with Rome), I am forbidden by my church to partake of the eucharist in any non-Orthodox church. I’m not sure what the penalty would be, and I suspect that would vary from parish to parish. I have however received permission to be married in a Catholic wedding from my bishop, so long as I also participate in the crowning service of an Orthodox wedding. Since marriage is a sacrament in both churches this suggests some laxity from the Orthodox regarding partaking of Catholic sacraments, but that permission did have to be specially given.
 
ciero said:
SonCatcher;7761309:
The Catholic Church has no problem with an Orthodox Christian receiving Communion since they hold the same belief about the Eucharist as we do (this is not the case for Protestants). However, Orthodox churches tend to prohibit their members from receiving Catholic Sacraments under any circumstances, even as viaticum (Communion given to a dying person).
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]Where do you get that from? I travel in Orthodox countries fairly often (Greece, Romania,Russia) and have been given communion as a Catholic more often then I have been denied. Things do tend to be a bit different here in the US though, although not entirely, I had a friend (now deceased) who was a Catholic and was regularly given communion by St. John Maximovich and also by Archbishop Antony of ROCOR…

I have never heard any Orthodox not to receive the sacraments from a Catholic priest if an Orthodox priest wasn’t available, on their deathbed.

Are they aware that you are not Orthodox?
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dcointin said:
ciero;7761409:
Are they aware that you are not Orthodox?
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Very aware, I always have a discussion with the priest or bishop. In my opinion, here in American where the Orthodox are such a small minority, they tend to be much more insular, most likely from a feeling of being swallowed up in a largely RC/protestant world, but in the old country where they are on their own turf so to speak and not at all threatened they are much more open about sharing communion.

I know of a Greek Catholic deacon who traveled throughout Russia a few years back. He was often asked to serve as deacon at Liturgy…when he would reiterate that he was catholic, they had no problem with this. He tells the story that this happened at a certain monastery, where he was asked to serve and did…the priest then preached about the evils of Uniatism, when he said something to the priest after Liturgy the priest stated we are all one anyway! Go figure! In my experience things arent always so cut and dry.
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stevedetroit said:
Q: An Eastern Orthodox friend sometimes attends Mass with me and receives Communion. Is this allowed?

Thanks
Steve
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It looks like you are asking if it is allowed from the Roman Catholic perspective.

I am assuming, of course, that he is always prepared with abstinence, prayer and fasting expected of an Orthodox Christian.

The answer (surprisingly, after some of the other answers already given) is no. Your Orthodox friend is not ordinarily allowed to recieve communion in a Roman Catholic church unless he has permission of his own Orthodox bishop, in which case an exception is made, the exception is conditioned on the fact*** he is Orthodox and because he has the permission of his Orthodox bishop***. At least that is how it is in the USA, the Canadian Conference of Catholic bishops (CCCB) may not have made this allowance, but the USCCB in the USA certainly has.

So ask him if he has the permission of his Orthodox bishop. If he does, then the exception will apply to him.
 
ciero said:
SonCatcher;7761309:
…Orthodox churches tend to prohibit their members from receiving Catholic Sacraments…
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Where do you get that from? I travel in Orthodox countries fairly often (Greece, Romania,Russia) and have been given communion as a Catholic more often then I have been denied. Things do tend to be a bit different here in the US though, although not entirely, I had a friend (now deceased) who was a Catholic and was regularly given communion by St. John Maximovich and also by Archbishop Antony of ROCOR.
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I think it probably started with ROCOR under Met. Philaret (3rd after Met. Antony). A change in the use of economia, limiting its use, so that it can be more clearly seen where the Church is and where it is not. This was thought to be what needed to be done to fight the new “heresy” of ecumenism. Some other jurisdictions respected this action as well. I think the move was a mistake, in retrospect it only made people more judgmental and legalistic, and really didn’t fight ecumenism at all. - Just as your experience has been abroad, most orthodox realize that nothing good can come from doing away with even a degree of the use of economia; that is, if the Church is to be more interested in saving souls then making statements.

The fact that inter-communion is more widely going on (except in America) I think is a sign of the times. It is a sign that the union between Rome and Russia is getting closer!
 
JohnVIII said:
I think it probably started with ROCOR under Met. Philaret (3rd after Met. Antony). A change in the use of economia, limiting its use, so that it can be more clearly seen where the Church is and where it is not. This was thought to be what needed to be done to fight the new “heresy” of ecumenism. Some other jurisdictions respected this action as well. I think the move was a mistake, in retrospect it only made people more judgmental and legalistic, and really didn’t fight ecumenism at all. - Just as your experience has been abroad, most orthodox realize that nothing good can come from doing away with even a degree of the use of economia; that is, if the Church is to be more interested in saving souls then making statements.

The fact that inter-communion is more widely going on (except in America) I think is a sign of the times. It is a sign that the union between Rome and Russia is getting closer!
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:confused: Do you mean that this ecumenical practice has been stopped in the East only after ecumenism became a major topic of discussion in the West? It is my understanding that the Latin church only allowed Orthodox Christians to receive after ecumenism became a focus. :hypno:
 
SonCatcher said:
:confused: Do you mean that this ecumenical practice has been stopped in the East only after ecumenism became a major topic of discussion in the West? It is my understanding that the Latin church only allowed Orthodox Christians to receive after ecumenism became a focus. :hypno:
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It stopped in only a small part of the EO Churches, ROCOR was a small Church, and quite anti-ecumenical. :hypno: :hypno:
 
Just a question but if a Roman Catholic was in a country where there weren’t hardly any Roman Catholic Churches, would it be okay for the Roman Catholic to receive the Eucharist or even the Sacrament of Reconciliation in an Orthodox Church? I know the Orthodox have valid sacraments but how does the Catholic Church look upon Catholics receiving Sacraments from the Orthodox when the Sacraments are not available from a Catholic Church?
 
Holly3278 said:
Just a question but if a Roman Catholic was in a country where there weren’t hardly any Roman Catholic Churches, would it be okay for the Roman Catholic to receive the Eucharist or even the Sacrament of Reconciliation in an Orthodox Church? I know the Orthodox have valid sacraments but how does the Catholic Church look upon Catholics receiving Sacraments from the Orthodox when the Sacraments are not available from a Catholic Church?
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It is permitted as long as you have the permission of the Orthodox priest.
 
JohnVIII said:
It stopped in only a small part of the EO Churches, ROCOR was a small Church, and quite anti-ecumenical. :hypno: :hypno:
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I think the attitude over the issue was exacerbated by the fact that the Sergian church was, at times, more than ecumenical.
 
I was told that when I converted from Orthodoxy to Catholicism, I excommunicated myself from Orthodoxy the moment I received in the Catholic Church.
 
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