Saints have always been venerated locally, or within their own particular Church. Some saints become popular enough they are venerated everywhere. But not every saint is. I don’t see why that practice would change. Veneration of saints won’t be imposed on each other, its up to the people really to learn about the saints of the other Churches and start venerating them in their own Church and if he/she becomes popular enough, the synod can add the saint to the Liturgical calendar.
From our wonderful friend, alexander Roman:
I can understand imitating them in their ascetic lifestyles, but venerating them? Do ECs believe EO “saints” are in Heaven? I asked a local RC priest, who said no, or at least for RCs…Putting saints in quotes is not very nice. We trust the local church to know who is saintly. I have more of a problem with someone declaring another church’s holy men and women as being not in heaven. I think the furthest a person can go is to say we rely on the mercy of God but don’t know for ourselves.From our wonderful friend, alexander Roman:
Yes, he [John of Shanghai] sometimes repeated criticisms of RCism found in Orthodoxy in general. So too did St Theophane the Recluse, the teacher of the Jesus Prayer - but that didn’t prevent Bl Pope John Paul II from reading Theophane’s works and from privately having an icon of him . . .
As an EC, I too venerate Orthodox saints who may have had a thing or two to say about “Uniates” being “New Hagarenes” .
But I forgive them . . .
A Roman Catholic priest I knew had an icon up of the Pillars of Orthodoxy and venerated even St Mark of Ephesus privately . . . You just never know about those Jesuits!! Cheers,
Alex
END QUOTE
Why wouldn’t they be? They profess the orthodox (i.e. Nicene) faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, trust in him for their salvation and follow him, and their churches have all valid Sacraments, so they regularly receive absolution for their sins and eat the flesh and drink the blood of our Savior.
I hope so. We’d take over the world if we did.
According to Catholic teaching, aren’t the outside the Church? I really, really trust this priest I talked to.
There is only one heaven. There is no Catholic heaven or Orthodox heaven. They are there. But whether one particular Church venerates a saint or not is up to the leadership of that particular Church to decide if there is public veneration or not. Private veneration is not regulated and it is not a sin if we venerate a saint of another particular Church.From our wonderful friend, alexander Roman:
Yes, he [John of Shanghai] sometimes repeated criticisms of RCism found in Orthodoxy in general. So too did St Theophane the Recluse, the teacher of the Jesus Prayer - but that didn’t prevent Bl Pope John Paul II from reading Theophane’s works and from privately having an icon of him . . .
As an EC, I too venerate Orthodox saints who may have had a thing or two to say about “Uniates” being “New Hagarenes” .
But I forgive them . . .
A Roman Catholic priest I knew had an icon up of the Pillars of Orthodoxy and venerated even St Mark of Ephesus privately . . . You just never know about those Jesuits!! Cheers,
Alex
END QUOTE
According to the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Churches are true Churches, therefore they are not outside the Catholic Church.
Just wanted to fix this so Im not preaching absolute relativism on accident…
Are you sure? According to Catholic doctrine, didn’t they leave the church? Can you cite your quote? Im really not trying to be uncharitable. I just want to make sure I understand all of this.
Either the CCC or one of the documents of Vatican II says that the Orthodox Churches share an “imperfect” communion with the Catholic Church. Both the CCC and Vatican II affirm that the Orthodox Churches are true Churches. As such they most certainly are not outside of the Body of Christ, i.e. the Church.
Those who instigated the schism have sinned. But those who are born in a state of schism aren’t. Schismatics are sinners because the break apart the Church which is the Mystical Body of Christ. But all those who are born into families who are part of the Orthodox faith, they had no hand in the schism. They are born into schism. They were innocent of whatever happened that tore the Church apart. But by being faithful to all traditions of the Church, they have remained true to the faith and thus be part of the true Church.
Conversely the Orthodox could say the same about Catholics.
Fr. Thomas Hopko makes this point. It is improper to refer to all people who are part of other churches as schismatics, just as it is improper to all people who believe in heretical beliefs as heretics. One can’t be a heretic or a schismatic if he was never part of the Church to begin with.Conversely the Orthodox could say the same about Catholics.
Just an interesting bit to meditate on.Sorry about the whole “…” thing…