Roman vs. Eastern

[ryans92]

Hi, I’m new to the forums. I was raised Protestant, but I am now considering converting to Catholicism. My main issue right now is whether it will be Roman or Eastern Catholicism. I’m still in the process of research finding out which church lines up more with original church doctrine. What are your thoughts?

 

[Marc_Anthony]

First of all, I’m glad you’re considering converting. Welcome home!

Both the Eastern Churches (there are several) and the Western Church believe all that is necessary for union. That is, they believe very Catholic dogma. The only thing sepereating the Churches is theology, or the reasoning behind the dogmas. You yourself should study all of the theologies personally and figure out which theology you think makes the most sense. I am a Roman Catholic but I personally believe Byzantine Catholic theology on several matters. It is up to you to study the theology behind the dogmas so that you can try and learn which theology makes the most sense.

 

[Annie39]

First of all, I’m glad you’re considering converting. Welcome home!

Both the Eastern Churches (there are several) and the Western Church believe all that is necessary for union. That is, they believe very Catholic dogma. The only thing sepereating the Churches is theology, or the reasoning behind the dogmas. You yourself should study all of the theologies personally and figure out which theology you think makes the most sense. I am a Roman Catholic but I personally believe Byzantine Catholic theology on several matters. It is up to you to study the theology behind the dogmas so that you can try and learn which theology makes the most sense.

Byzantine Catholics are Catholics. They are as much a part of the Catholic Church as the Western or Latin rite is. The Eastern Rite liturgy may seem a bit unusual to a person raised in the west but the liturgy is beautiful and ancient and (trying to think of more superlatives but you get the idea).

Annie

 

[Marc_Anthony]

Byzantine Catholics are Catholics. They are as much a part of the Catholic Church as the Western or Latin rite is. The Eastern Rite liturgy may seem a bit unusual to a person raised in the west but the liturgy is beautiful and ancient and (trying to think of more superlatives but you get the idea).

Annie

Huh? Of course they are. I never said otherwise.

EDIY: Oh! I believe the confusion is from a typo I made. I said “very” Catholic dogma instead of “every” Catholic dogma like I meant too. My mistake. Sorry.

 

[5Loaves]

Hi, I’m new to the forums. I was raised Protestant, but I am now considering converting to Catholicism. My main issue right now is whether it will be Roman or Eastern Catholicism. I’m still in the process of research finding out which church lines up more with original church doctrine. What are your thoughts?

Welcome to CAF, and to the Eastern Catholic section.
I would say that you should begin attending the Roman Rite Mass and the Divine Liturgy and over time you will see how you respond to the very different worship East and West. The primary catechesis for Byzantine Catholics is the Divine Liturgy and our other worship services. After a number of months worshiping in these communities you should begin to get a sense as to which you want to pursue further. You can use the Find-A-Parish Eastern & Oriental Catholic Directory to locate a parish near you.

In a Latin Church parish you can contact the parish Director of Religious Education, DRE, and ask her/him about their Inquiry sessions which is a time when people do some of what you are talking about. In my Latin parish we have one person moving from Inquiry into the Catechumenate next month and another couple of people continuing with Inquiry.

Wherever we are in the Church we are there to give glory to God and to receive his Mercy.

 

[Hesychios]

Hi, I’m new to the forums. I was raised Protestant, but I am now considering converting to Catholicism. My main issue right now is whether it will be Roman or Eastern Catholicism.

There are many eastern Catholic churches and each one can be slightly different.

So, often ‘eastern’ and ‘western’ are juxtaposed as being of equal weight (like “two lungs”) but in fact the western/Roman is one of over twenty altogether.

I’m still in the process of research finding out which church lines up more with original church doctrine. What are your thoughts?

There is no way to make that determination for you, I suggest you do a little reading, if you have the time and can beg, borrow or steal the books. The regular Eastern Catholics here should be able to make specific reading suggestions. I will recommend the Byzantine Seminary Press, the Icon and Book Service, Light and Life and Eastern Christian Pubs as sources.

In my personal opinion probably none of the many churches can claim to be any bit closer than the others to original church doctrine. They all are required to accept Latin/western theology as equally valid to their own, which basically eliminates any discussion about whose is more authentic.

However, I think Catholic canon law normally ascribes converting Protestants automatically to the Latin church. So if you do decide to join an eastern church, you had better make that wish perfectly clear to the receiving priest so that your affiliation is recorded correctly.

You should at least make an effort to attend various Eastern Catholic Divine Liturgies a few times, if you are considering that option.

 

[5Loaves]

The regular Eastern Catholics here should be able to make specific reading suggestions. I will recommend the Byzantine Seminary Press, the Icon and Book Service, Light and Life and Eastern Christian Pubs as sources.

For introductory reading I would suggest Bread & Water, Wine & Oil: An Orthodox Christian Experience of God. Although it’s by an Orthodox author it well represents Byzantine viewpoint; I don’t remember any misrepresentation of Catholics in the book. Father Loya’s weekly Light of the East radio program is an excellent resource, as is Eastern Catholic Media and Orientale Lumen TV. One of my personal favorite sites for excellent basic information about Byzantine Catholics is Catherine Alexander’s YourWordFromTheWise interviews with the monks of Holy Resurrection Romanian Catholic Monastery. Many parish websites also have good information in print and video. One good example is the Saint Elias Ukrainian parish website.

I still recommend participation in liturgy as the primary way to learn Eastern/Orthodox (or Oriental) spirituality and theology.

 

[choy]

Hi, I’m new to the forums. I was raised Protestant, but I am now considering converting to Catholicism. My main issue right now is whether it will be Roman or Eastern Catholicism. I’m still in the process of research finding out which church lines up more with original church doctrine. What are your thoughts?

there is one Church, so the doctrines are one
the approach to such doctrines may differ, but ultimately the meaning is the same

 

[Allyson]

Hi, I’m new to the forums. I was raised Protestant, but I am now considering converting to Catholicism. My main issue right now is whether it will be Roman or Eastern Catholicism. I’m still in the process of research finding out which church lines up more with original church doctrine. What are your thoughts?

All of the posts so far have been good.

My thoughts: There are different approaches to theology and spirituality. While the essential doctrinal content is the same, the theological expression is not. Eastern theologies are very much an out growth of the Eastern Fathers like St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian (Nazianzen), St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Athanasius, St. John Chrysostom, etc. etc. etc. (and this will vary somewhat with each Eastern tradition), while Latin Theology is dominated by St. Augustine from among the early Church Fathers. For a while the Eastern Fathers where not widely available in the West until the late middle ages when the Franciscans - yeah! - did get some more full texts. So in the Medieval period you have St. Thomas who is seen as the quintessential Latin scholar (and by default has more knowledge of Augustine than any other Father, although St. John Ch. among a few others is quoted quite a lot, but mostly full texts were not available in Europe at that time, just compilations of quotes), and you have the Franciscan like John duns Scotus who is far more Eastern in his approach to things like the Immaculate conception. What the West did have of course were the texts of the early Ecumenical Councils held in the East and composed in the East when the basic dogmas of the Church needed to be defended and defined in clearer language.

What you need to explore is which Rite has what you get/want to get from your spirituality. The theological expression will be a large component of that.

I suggest that you not think of it as which sui juris church lines up with original doctrine, otherwise they would not be One Church through communion, rather seek which sui juiris church it is that will give you the formation you seek.

God Bless you on your Journey,
R.

 

[Ghosty]

So in the Medieval period you have St. Thomas who is seen as the quintessential Latin scholar (and by default has more knowledge of Augustine than any other Father, although St. John Ch. among a few others is quoted quite a lot, but mostly full texts were not available in Europe at that time, just compilations of quotes), and you have the Franciscan like John duns Scotus who is far more Eastern in his approach to things like the Immaculate conception.

It’s off-topic, but this caught my eye. John duns Scotus was the champion of the Immaculate Conception in the West, while Thomas Aquinas denied it. Nowadays it is often those in the East who deny the Immaculate conception, often on the same grounds that Thomas Aquinas did. Strange turn of events to be sure!

Peace and God bless!

 

[Allyson]

It’s off-topic, but this caught my eye. John duns Scotus was the champion of the Immaculate Conception in the West, while Thomas Aquinas denied it. Nowadays it is often those in the East who deny the Immaculate conception, often on the same grounds that Thomas Aquinas did. Strange turn of events to be sure!

Peace and God bless!

It certainly is The key thing about John duns Scotus’s explanation was that he down played the idea of the “stain” of original sin - if I remember correctly. Since it is off topic, we can always start a new thread if anyone is interested in the topic of the Franciscan view of JdS.