Hi Anna,
I studied ecumenism under a bishop who was on the commission of Ecumenism at Vatican II many years ago.
He said that Orthodoxy is separated from us, and others have shared with you, we can receive the sacraments…if we are out of town, and there are no Catholic churches, we can go to an Orthodox church, introduce ourselves to the pastor, identify ourselves and ask his permission to receive the sacraments.
The Orthodox have issues with the Filoque, do not believe Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven, but call her Mary, Theotokis, Mother of God, which the Catholic church will not…but we have her icon of Theotokis in our churches, mine included…and the Orthodox will not forgive the Latin church for what the Normans did to the Greeks, and the RC condemned the practice of Orthodox priests for wearing beards and so on…it is like clan rivalry to me…There are other points as well, and the Orthodox consider us the schismatics. Latin Catholics are called to reach out beyond their ethnic groups to identify with Christ’s humanity in all people, and so we do not have such beautiful and profound ethnic liturgies the Orthodox have…their other complaint.
Bishop said the more a Christian community drops the sacraments, the farther it is away from us. He ranked first the Catholic Church, and then our separate Orthodox…then the next in rank as maintaining the designation of ‘church’ are the Anglicans. The problem is essentially not accepting the pope. (I do not like that English word because it sounds derisive…Holy Father is better…or ‘Papa’ among the Latin…)
He instructed that the Anglicans are a church because they have a bishop…but the apostolic line of succession has been broken…and the papacy represents the union of all of us believers. There are other issues that have come up – women’s ordination as one, that are setting back progress. There are Anglican married priests who are leaving to come to the Catholic Church.
He said the other congregation that is considered as church are the Lutherans…and here I know there are different divisions and but not much about them but what is shared here. They have issues of being saved…the Catholic church has always taught it is the grace of faith that saves us. There was a thread here on indulgences and it got no where…we still have indulgences, but I would say only certain Catholics draw on them or understand the blessings they are in the mystical life drawn from the sacraments…enough said there.
A recent interview on EWTN with a former Anglican priest who Catholicized was because every word he teaches as a Catholic priest is absolute, non-arbitrary…when we say we eat this bread and drink this blood, we are indeed receiving Jesus Christ…all our teachings are absolute and do not change.
And when a person is a faithful Catholic, they are fed and bound to the Church. There are times when I felt like not going to Resurrection Sunday Mass, and the Lord’s binding of me just gently pulled me, His grace…and I would go. And the Lord through the strength of being a member of His Bride also helps me be faithful to the people I am called. I do not change, I do not dump him or her but the strength of the sacraments maintains me in my fidelity, and also the faith and prayers of my fellow Catholics, many of whom I do not even know.
The issue of Mary’s assumption into heaven was not a shot gun dogma…The Church needed to reflect on how the Holy Spirit has moved through generations of people, of saints and mystics, and the spiritual life…and the consistency of many charisms not only always ending up bearing the Good Fruit of Jesus Christ, but also that we must all walk the way of the spiritual life – and it is the same for every one who has sinned.
But for Mary who did not sin, she was able to most completely follow the path of Jesus into heaven…and ancient witnesses of her death spoke of a most shocking and miraculous event they never articulated…So, in essence it took the Church about 2,000 years to finally state through the Holy Father with conviction --with no facts expressed through the writings of the Apostles-- that indeed Mary, Conceived without Sin, aka Lourdes, the mid 1850’s, followed Christ, her body without sin not knowing the wages of sin, was taken and assumed into heaven.