Orthodox

[Hoonbaba]

Hi guys,

I'm just curious about something:  What is it that caused the Orthodox to separate with the rest of the Church?

Also, are their beliefs pretty much the same as the Catholic church?  I heard it's possible for Catholics to partake in Communion at an Eastern Orthodox Church or something along those lines.  Is this true?

Also, if that's the case, can Orthodox Christians go to partake in Communion at a Catholic Mass?

God bless!

-Jason

 

[The Squalid Wanderer]

Dear Hoonbaba,

The main principle of separation between the Catholic and Orthodox isthe extent of Papal perogative. A secondary, and I agree with some of the posters here, more easily solvable point of distinction is the filoque clause in the Creed.

The Orthodox say: "And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and Son together is worshipped and Glorified."

Catholics and most Protestants would say: "And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and Son together is worshipped and Glorified."

The "and the Son" addition in the Latin is "Filoque". The reason this is a matter of any importance is because the word proceed is used to designate the eternal generation of the Holy Spirit, thus potentially affecting how one understands the nature of the Trinity and the Holy Spirit.

There is much that the Orthodox and Catholics have in common, but while Catholics allow Orthodox to participate in Communion, the Orthodox do not allow Catholics.

 

[Matthias]

Yikes! I couldn't have answered it any better myself. Two thumbs up!

 

[Matrona]

There is much that the Orthodox and Catholics have in common, but while Catholics allow Orthodox to participate in Communion, the Orthodox do not allow Catholics.

All I can add is that, while the Catholics allow the Orthodox to participate in their communion, the Orthodox Church does not allow its faithful to participate in communion at a Catholic church.

 

[Photini]

Hi guys,

I'm just curious about something:  What is it that caused the Orthodox to separate with the rest of the Church?

Also, are their beliefs pretty much the same as the Catholic church?  I heard it's possible for Catholics to partake in Communion at an Eastern Orthodox Church or something along those lines.  Is this true?

Also, if that's the case, can Orthodox Christians go to partake in Communion at a Catholic Mass?

God bless!

-Jason

Hi Jason-
Looking through Orthodox eyes, it was Rome that split away from the rest of the Church, not the Eastern churches.
I am not convinced yet that our Churches are that similar. But then again, I know very little about the Catholic Church....but only what I've read privately.
No, Catholics are not allowed to take Communion in an Orthodox Church. In fact, at the monasteries, if you are not Orthodox, you are asked to leave into a different part of the church after the Gospel reading during the Liturgy. I experienced this as a catechumen.

 

[Alfred M]

Everyone has given wonderful information regarding the Great Schism between the East and the West!

The date of 1054 is the usual date quoted for the split, but events leading to this date began many, many years earlier and involves many, many complex historical issues.

Papal Authority was likely the heaviest "straw" that broke the camel's back, other items of interest involved the Filioque, as discussed in the above post, celibacy of the clergy as initiated in the West's Cluniac reform movement (That really differed from canon law in place for almost a thousand years), use of three dimensional icons (carved statues in the West, none of these used in the East), the date setting of Easter/Pascha was an issue as early as the 5th-7th centuries, immaculate conception of Mary, sales of indulgences, purgatory, all magnified due to the geographical separation of the Church in the West from the Churches in the East.

Eventually this all came to be the Great Schism when the Western "Pope" demanded to be recognized basically as supreme leader rather than "first among equals" within communion of the five Patriarchates (Rome, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch, and Constantinople)and excommunicated them. Of course the Eastern Churches responded with the same excommunication of Rome as well.

I may not have every item precise but I think this is a simple representation of about what happened.

In regard to receiving Communion, yes the Roman Catholic Churches will allow the Orthodox to participate as being a "Sister church" but even then, most of their church pamphlets will urge Orthodox to follow their Church rule (which is, as stated in an above post as well, we are not to partake of communion in a Catholic church)

In the love of our Saviour,

Alfred, chief of sinners