What church should I convert

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DictatorCzar

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After researching, I believe that all the Protestant churches are false. I have three choices of which I should convert. It’s confusing me so much. Should I convert to Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, or Orientla Orthodoxy? There all confusing and similar and I don’t know which one to pick? Please help!!!
 
I see it this way: Eastern Orthodoxy is really communion of autocephalous Churches, so which one would you go to? As for the Oriental Orthodox, there are six such Churches, so which one would you go to? There is only one Catholic Church.
 
Dan’s right. You have to determine which is the true church involving the historical schisms. Better to learn about it now then disagree with your selection later on.
 
You might feel more ‘at home’ in the Catholic Church, as the other churches tend to be ethnic and national. If you are not of that particular ethnicity or nationality, then sometimes new converts can feel rather out of place in those churches.
 
Noone can tell you which Church best suits your personality and background and best help you grow to be as good a person as you can be.

All you can do is make the best informed chopice you can, take it for a trial and see how you get on.
After a while you will be in a new place from where you will be able to discern the next right step.
Of course that could mean accepting you made a mistake and leaving the Church you joined.

That is how life works as I see it. We are not gods and if you cannot walk walk into some darkness in order to find more light you will end up being on the conveyor belt of life at the mercy of random forces living a life not worth living because you have never shaped it for yourself.
New knowledge comes with taking a best guess and doing for a while.
 
Dan_Defender said:
There is only one Catholic Church.
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There are actually 24 churches that make up the Catholic Church. The Latin/Roman Catholic Church is that largest. The other 23 are Eastern Churches. We have our own liturgical traditions, theology, high archery, etc. We are in communion with Rome.

ZP
 
TechieGuy said:
You should probably go to whichever is closest

🙂
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When I converted it became extremely clear that Orthodoxy is false for nearly identical reasons that Protestantism is false.
 
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Orthodoxy is false? That’s odd because the Second Vatican Council says that the Orthodox Churches are “true Churches” which have apostolic succession and the Sacraments. The Catholic Church also believes that salvation is found within the Orthodox Churches.

I could go along with a statement saying they are not fully complete because there is no communion with Rome. But false?

ZP
 
Those are Rites of the Catholic Church. They aren’t seperate a Church, just a different Rite.

If another church came into union, it would probably merge with one of the existing Rites or be established as a new Rite.

Therefore, there’s only one Catholic Church. As a Byzantine Catholic and a Latin Catholic are both Catholic, which is the important part.
 
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No they are Churches not Rites. Churches use Rites, people belong to Churches.

OP, only you can decide which Church you should join. The EO will say to join them, the Catholics will say join them, the OO will say the same…you’re asking on a Catholic board so most likely you’re going to get the Catholic answer. You’re in my prayers though as I know it’s a difficult decision.
 
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But as I Said, there’s only One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church. All “24 churches”, as you say, are just a part of the Catholic Church, not seperate Catholic Churches. It’s important to make that distinction in today’s world where everyone can have their own church.
 
The “Catholic Church” is a communion of Churches…much the same as Orthodoxy but with a slightly different ecclesiology (hence a big part of why the Schism remains.) They are not the same as Protestant “ecclesial communities”.

By the way I think it’s important to distinguish between the individual Churches…odds are that if I say “I’m Catholic.” People assume that I’m Roman/Latin Catholic. And that’s not true.
 
No, we are separate Churches: Melkite Greek Catholic, Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic, Romanian Greek Catholic. All separate churches, with their own higher archery, that belong to the Byzantine rite. I am Ruthenian Catholic and we are in communion with Rome.

Read ORIENTALIUM ECCLESIARUM. We are not Roman Catholics with a funny looking Mass. We are called by Rome to return to our ecclesiastical heritage (Liturgy, theology, traditions). We are called to be Orthodox in communion with Rome.

ZP
 
I never said anything that disagrees with you. I’m pointing out that we are One Holy Catholic Church. You appear to be disagreeing the Creed and want to be a seperate church entirely.

Which will easily confuse our Protestant brethren. Because that’s how Protestants do it.
 
If I’m not mistaken, there’s usually a strong ethnic & cultural component to the Eastern Churches.
 
boclucky14 said:
I never said anything that disagrees with you. I’m pointing out that we are One Holy Catholic Church. You appear to be disagreeing the Creed and want to be a seperate church entirely.

Which will easily confuse our Protestant brethren. Because that’s how Protestants do it.
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No that’s not how Protestants “do it”, and as a former Protestant (now Catholic candidate) I am not at all confused about the 24 churches that make up the Catholic Church.

Rather than being confusing, it is beautiful and apostolic. The apostles went out of established churches in the East, West, and “Orient”. Those churches were all united through the apostles and in union with the Roman see of Peter. Over the centuries, disagreements created divisions and certain churches fell out of communion with Rome and eventually with others. The Catholic Church with the 24 churches in communion is an example of what Christ wanted and what the apostles established. Each church has its own beautiful and rich traditions that often go back to the apostolic age. The beauty of the thing is the unity with our differences. I pray for the day that all the apostolic churches ( with their differences and distinct traditions) are united again.

To the OP, no matter which of the three you choose you will be in an apostolic church with access to all the sacraments. For me, the choice had to be the Catholic Church because of Peter. Christ said that Peter was the rock upon which the church would be built.
 
What I mean to say is that we are one but are made up of 24 churches.

ZP
 
I can be that way. The Ruthenian Church tends to be more ethnically diverse but that’s just my experience.

ZP
 
I read (some years ago) that it’s difficult for a Catholic to switch between Churches for reasons such as ethnicity and culture, and that it requires a petition to the Vatican.
 
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