Should a Greek Catholic become a Greek Orthodox?

[aussie_melkite]

I’m a Greek (Byzantine) Catholic living in Australia. I’ve been playing with the idea of “joining my Mother church,” the Orthodox church, for some time now. I personally love the Byzantine East over that of the Latin West. (I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with the Western church, it’s just that, spiritually, I feel more like an Eastern Christian.)

The reason why I haven’t converted is because of my personal devotion and loyalty to the Pope. The one thing I DON’T share with my Orthodox brothers and sisters is their rejection of the primacy of the Pope. I guess my question is: Is it a sin for a Greek Catholic to convert to his Mother Orthodox church? If I did I woudn’t be doing to to reject the primacy of the Pope or any other Catholic doctrine. It would be simply because that’s my spirituality, culture, and heritage.

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Please forgive me, but I’m going to have to be very blunt with you.

You state:

aussie_melkite:

The reason why I haven’t converted is because of my personal devotion and loyalty to the Pope. The one thing I DON’T share with my Orthodox brothers and sisters is their rejection of the primacy of the Pope.

If you leave the Catholic Church, rejection of the Pope is exactly what you will be doing. You will be deciding that your “spirituality, culture, and heritage” are more important to you than allegiance to Christ’s Vicar, the man whom you have stated you believe to hold the Petrine primacy of leadership over Christ’s Church.

Spirituality, culture, and heritage are important and I do not intend in any way to denigrate their importance. But they are of secondary importance to the only good reason any of us have to be Christian: We are Christian because we follow Jesus Christ and belong to the Church that he founded. To deliberately and knowingly reject the Church that we know to be Christ’s own for any reason whatsoever is a mortal sin and could put our immortal souls in serious danger.

Your Mother Church is not an Eastern Orthodox church. Your Mother Church is the Catholic Church, which is not limited to the Latin rite of the Church but includes also the Eastern Catholic rites that are in union with the Pope. By your membership in the Byzantine Catholic rite of the Catholic Church you already have your spirituality, culture, and heritage as an Eastern Christian, and in addition you have more, not less, than Eastern Orthodox Christians: You have Christ’s Vicar on earth, the Pope. You would gain nothing by leaving your Byzantine Catholic church for an Eastern Orthodox church and could, quite possibly, lose infinitely if you knowingly and deliberately choose to do so.