Why so many Catholics becoming Orthodox?

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You would have to check with the parish you were baptized at…if it turns out you were never baptized then you can go ahead and be baptized into the Latin church. The Latins are very good at record keeping, I’ll give them that lol!
 
I was surely baptised Orthodox,as I have photos from my baptism lol.Almost everyone in Romania is baptised Orthodox.
 
My priest at the Latin parish was Greek Catholic,his parents were Greek Catholic.Also there are some Orthodox who became Catholic clergy and are Latin priest.
 
Things may be a bit different in Romania. I’ve only ever dealt with all this in the US. Things are different over here b/c of how many different denominations are here plus it’s jurisdictional mess here.
 
I don’t think this is a widespread has it sounds…

But when it happens, I think it happens for one of a few reasons:
  1. they were scandalized by the sex abuse scandal
  2. they are scandalized by liturgical abuse at their local parish and don’t have a Latin Mass Parish near by
  3. they are scandalized by something else happening (or something that happened) at their local parish or by the bishops.
  4. finally, they have been convinced by someone that the Catholic Church is not the true, one Church
All are pretty tragic.
 
po18guy said:
Some would rather participate in a faith than defend it.
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I think that’s a pretty uncharitable thing to say. Some have simply become convinced the Catholic Church isn’t what it says it is. Right or wrong that’s their view.

I personally find myself drifting eastward. The theology, the liturgy, the tradition and sticking to it all appeal to me.
 
I said “Some”

Some.

What does that mean? Can you imagine that the blatant, inexcusable and on-going scandals might have something to do with it in some cases?

How do you charitably address schism? “Oh my, I wish they would re-consider”? AYKM?

I fail to see your reason for taking umbrage.
 
Truth matters. With an increasing knowledge of human nature, it is clear that we often take the path of least resistance. When being Catholic is stressful or embarrassing, what do you suppose some would do?

I would be delighted to hear your take on this.
 
po18guy said:
When being Catholic is stressful or embarrassing, what do you suppose some would do?

I would be delighted to hear your take on this.
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Some would leave. Some would stay and dissent. There’s a whole host of human reactions to such things, but I doubt most would choose a denomination just as strict as the Catholic Church.
 
Then again, some just might. The Church is in one of her every 500 years turmoils. Taking the long view, all of this will be history - just not as fast as our instant gratification culture desires.
 
  1. Fallen
  2. Human
  3. Nature
You have a better idea? They were violating their vows, violating each other’s human dignity and violating the law. It is not taught in catechism or seminary. So the selection process was loosened way too far in a search for more priests - quantity over quantity. Same thing happened with both Miami and Los Angeles PDs in the 80s. Hired everyone they could find and there were druggies, robbers thieves, and a murderer or two in the mix.

Let me tell you about some really bad atheists and naturalists I have heard about…
 
po18guy said:
  1. Fallen
  2. Human
  3. Nature
You have a better idea?
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Yes. I think that everyone has fallen human nature. And there are so many wonderful mothers and fathers who are leading decent lives, even though they have fallen human nature. Too bad I don’t hear much about them in the Sunday sermons. Instead, I hear that we have to have love and understanding for the gays in our community, who are outcasts. Just as Jesus had compassion toward the outcasts, so must we have such for the gays and transsexuals according to a recent Sunday sermon. Not too much heard about the mothers and fathers who, in spite of their fallen nature, spend their time working hard and teaching their children Christian values.
 
StudentMI said:
but I doubt most would choose a denomination just as strict as the Catholic Church.
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I think this wholly depends on whether or not they believe in the Real Presence of Our Lord & in the seven Sacraments.

People who don’t believe in the above will become protestant (or non Christian). People who do believe in the above will either become Orthodox, sedevacantist, or “Old Catholic” depending on their views & availability of local chapels/churches.

But I think most (at least Cradle Catholics) would become “Old Catholic” or sedevacantist before becoming Orthodox. Plus, there are also those who think the Anglicans Communion is the same and join them too.

NOTE: I’m only talking about the people who actually leave the Church vs simply becoming lapsed Catholics.
 
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Genesis315 said:
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Angel_Gabriel:
I also think that the Catholic Church as a whole is overly legalistic
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This is the kind of thing that frustrates me as I think it is an unfair comparison based on some strange stereotype that the EO’s are not legalistic. If anything, they are moreso.

What do you think of the legalism of the EO Churches and how to do you find it different? They have a major schism among them right now due to legalisms. Their proposed pan-Orthodox Council in Crete crashed and burned due to legalistic, juridically-related fights.
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The Hierarchs arguing about who has primacy of place, who gets the “seat of honor”, has been going on since the Disciples, so I’m not surprised about that.

But to turn to the West:

Legalism. Scrupulosity. Why are these ever-present struggles in the West (and on this forum)? Because the system you subscribe to is fundamentally litigious. No matter how much you love or think you love Jesus, you have to take into account the bottom line: you only get to heaven if you “die in a state of sanctifying grace.” And you can’t afford to disregard that because we’re talking about your eternity. (And many people have been wrong about how much they actually loved Jesus: “Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord…”)

So unless you wanna risk eternity, you’re compelled into this mindset of legal terms and justifications: What is a “state of grace”? Well it’s a state that may have “venial” but not “mortal” sins. What is “mortal sin”? It has three parts, “grave matter”, “full knowledge” and “full consent”. What is “full consent”? Well we have to look at “material cooperation” versus “formal cooperation”… and so on ad infinitum. Throw in a whole legal dictionary of terms (Radical sanation? Concupiscence?..) to consider as well.

This system compels - necessitates - that you turn your attention towards yourself as you try to meet the standards of the code… As if you’re going to present St. Peter with your diagnostic self-examination and say “I did the evaluation: State of Sanctifying grace - so I guess you can let me in now.” (As if heaven is merited by you!) Of course by this point you’ve completely forgotten about loving God, or really anything outside yourself, because God isn’t someone to be loved anymore, frankly He’s someone whose bar you have to meet.

Either you use your attention to plow through the minutiae of the legal code or you can turn your heart towards God and neighbor but you can’t do both at the same time.

I think many Westerners are seeing that the system is fundamentally different in the Eastern Church; that faith is more than being pronounced “not guilty”, that it’s not about scrupulously making sure you have no mortal sin on your soul, but rather faith through the sacraments transforms man and restores his innate goodness.
 
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I’ve not asked them why- but I do know there are more than a few former Catholics in my parish alone.
 
I have no interest in converting to the OC but I think we are seeing this due to the departure of Rome from Catholic doctrine along with things like bringing in idols into Saint Peters. It has been a cumulative process. All that being said, the Church Still belongs to Christ no matter what anyone says or does.
 
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