Should I be Orthodox or Catholic?

laurencesantos

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Christ Is Risen! I'm an Eastern Orthodox Who left The Church 4 times back to Rome And them returned. The Thing I can't stand is that in Orthodoxy there's more And more synods approving Contraception, And It doesn't sound Right to me. Even recent Orthodox Saints like St Paísios Of MT Athos repproved Contraception, And It seems more And more there's no consensus within Orthodoxy About it. In Rome, each person tells me One Thing About SSPX, Vatican II, Charismatism And NO Missae as well. What a bunch Of confusion!
 

PloverWing

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Contraception? Really? That seems such a peripheral issue to me. If you think contraception is wrong, then don't use it.

I'd recommend making your decision based on issues more central to the Christian faith. On theology: There are some nuances of difference between Orthodox and Catholic theologians regarding sin, salvation, the work of Christ, and the nature of the Trinity. Do you find yourself more in agreement with Orthodox or Catholic theology on these questions? On authority: How do you view the authority of the Bishop of Rome relative to the Orthodox bishops? On worship: Which draws you more deeply into the Presence of God: Catholic liturgy or Orthodox liturgy? I would make my decision based on questions like these.
 
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zippy2006

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Christ Is Risen! I'm an Eastern Orthodox Who left The Church 4 times back to Rome And them returned. The Thing I can't stand is that in Orthodoxy there's more And more synods approving Contraception, And It doesn't sound Right to me. Even recent Orthodox Saints like St Paísios Of MT Athos repproved Contraception, And It seems more And more there's no consensus within Orthodoxy About it. In Rome, each person tells me One Thing About SSPX, Vatican II, Charismatism And NO Missae as well. What a bunch Of confusion!
Yes, it would be very difficult to be part of a church which openly approves sins like contraception. That's a serious problem. Granted, I don't think Orthodoxy has entirely capitulated in this area.

Catholicism and Orthodoxy are currently having a difficult time weathering the storms that swept Protestants away decades ago. There is a lot of confusion everywhere. The faith needs to be defended in each Church.
 
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dzheremi

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Christ Is Risen! I'm an Eastern Orthodox Who left The Church 4 times back to Rome And them returned. The Thing I can't stand is that in Orthodoxy there's more And more synods approving Contraception, And It doesn't sound Right to me. Even recent Orthodox Saints like St Paísios Of MT Athos repproved Contraception, And It seems more And more there's no consensus within Orthodoxy About it. In Rome, each person tells me One Thing About SSPX, Vatican II, Charismatism And NO Missae as well. What a bunch Of confusion!

Have your brought this confusion up on the relevant subforums here on CF (The Ancient Way for the Eastern Orthodox, One Bread One Body for the Catholics) to see what they say? Obviously, Eastern Orthodox people are going to recommend their communion and Catholics are going to recommend theirs, so I don't know anywhere where you could go to get an unbiased answer, but at least if you direct your questions to people who currently belong to each respective communion, you will get a sense of how people who have definitely chosen to be where they are understand their own church's approach to these matters. I'm willing to bet there's more nuance to these sorts of questions on both sides than just "Do you approve or disapprove of X?", and that the nuance isn't there in order to sow confusion, but because both churches are very old and hence have spent many centuries pastorally caring for their people in many different situations, and thereby probably recognize that such questions are best dealt with pastorally, rather than by simply pointing at the rules as set down by their respective synod or magisterium.
 
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ViaCrucis

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I'll be frank, I think this is a very shallow issue in regard as to whether Orthodoxy or Catholicism are the right choice. There are myriad other issues of much more pressing importance as to the answer to that question.

While I don't exactly have a dog in that fight, as I'm Lutheran, I'd consider it very strange if someone's internal debate about whether to become Lutheran or something else was over something like this.

I'm not trying to undermine the possible moral and philosophical underpinnings on the issue of contraception. It's just that I think that there are issues far more important. Especially since it would seem that it is entirely possible to be Orthodox and take issue with contraception--it's not as though Orthodoxy mandates the use of contraception or something; thus even if it is not outright banned in all autocephalous churches, I imagine that individual parishioners are free to their conscience on the issue. And so of greater importance would be, all other things being equal, whether Orthodoxy or Catholicism are the truest expressions of Christian faith and life, whether the Orthodox or Catholics are right in their theological assertions.

Of central importance should be: What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus Christ? If one believes that Orthodoxy is, indeed, the true Church of Jesus Christ, then one should be Orthodox. If one believes that Catholicism is the true Church of Jesus, then one should be Catholic.

Everything else should be peripheral to that.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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prodromos

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Even recent Orthodox Saints like St Paísios Of MT Athos repproved Contraception
That does not ring true. I've read a lot from St Paisios and have never come across anything that could be interpreted as supporting contraception.
 
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prodromos

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The Thing I can't stand is that in Orthodoxy there's more And more synods approving Contraception
I have also not seen this. Can you provide any references?
 
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fhansen

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Christ Is Risen! I'm an Eastern Orthodox Who left The Church 4 times back to Rome And them returned. The Thing I can't stand is that in Orthodoxy there's more And more synods approving Contraception, And It doesn't sound Right to me. Even recent Orthodox Saints like St Paísios Of MT Athos repproved Contraception, And It seems more And more there's no consensus within Orthodoxy About it. In Rome, each person tells me One Thing About SSPX, Vatican II, Charismatism And NO Missae as well. What a bunch Of confusion!
“Each person” doos not represent Catholic teaching. That can be found in the Catechism for the most part whereas with the East some differences actually do exist due to varying teachings between churches.
 
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Stephen3141

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In the early centuries of Christianity, there was just universal Christianity.
Orthodox and Catholic were the same.

I see very little between these theologies, other than the understanding of how the Holy Spirit proceeds from the other Persons of the Trinity.

And, sorry, but I do not take that as something that the average layman must search out.
I leave that to the theologians.

The big differences between the orthodox and Catholics, are the cultures.
The Orthodox tend to be more mystical in their discussions of theology.
The Catholics tend to be more rational in their discussions of theology.
 
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