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Father Anthony is correct. General Confession is more a part of the modern Slavic tradition (in an attempt to emulate St John of Kronstadt perhaps) than it is of the Arab or Greek tradition. I know that Met Philip did not allow the practice in Antiochian Parishes when I was a priest in his jurisdiction.

To clear up a matter, regarding birth control, and to prevent the new folks from having to wade through post after post in past threads, I will briefly summarize what is the most generally held position on birth control according to most Orthodox.

The ideal and norm for marriage should be to have normal conjugal relations and accept whatever God's will is for children. For serious, unselfish reasons Orthodox couples may take measures to avoid conception. Abortifacient birth control is never permitted. If some priests permit the "pill," it is only because it is thought that it is non-abortifacient. Whether the pill is actually abortifacient is the subject of another thread.

Generally speaking, my experience has been that most priests will permit Orthodox couples to use NFP (Natural Family Planning) or condoms. NFP is more ideal since it requires abstinence, but in Orthodox moral theology there is no real moral distinction between NFP and most other forms of non-abortifacient birth control. The issue is the intent of the couple. As long as the means do not involve killing or maiming someone, then they are acceptable.

And (not to derail the thread but to provide some useful information), if you are worred about Orthodoxy permitting "artificial" birth control, whereas the RC church apparently is still in line with the fathers be permitting only NFP, you should know that NFP was condemned explicitly by St. Augustine and would have been condemned without question by the rest of the fathers. The Church fathers would have condemned any attempt to avoid procreation. In fact, there were canonical penalties against couples who had relations during menses and during pregnancy and post-menopause couples were discouraged from engaging in conjugal relations.

My point in relaying this little tidbit is that no Church on earth today follows the teachings of the fathers on sex. With a few exceptions (St. Athanasius and St. John Chrysostom), the fathers taught that sex was for procreation only and to have sex for any other reason was a sin. The current "Theology of the Body" and exaltation of the "unitive" end in marriage is a novelty in Catholic theology. Now, I think it is a good thing, but you will not find that kind of thinking prior to the post-Vatican II era. Also, the rhythm method was not given formal approval until the 20th century. The traditional approach to family planning was for couples to avoid all sexual relations if they did not wish to have children. This position is taught as late as Pope Pius XI's "Costi Canubi" (spelling?).

Joe

Casti Connubii

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/p...p-xi_enc_31121930_casti-connubii_en.html

I hope this stays on topic.

Me too. I do not want this to be about birth control again. I'm sure people are sick of my repeating myself whenever this discussion comes up.

Joe

I tend to agree. I survived about 2 dozen birth control discussions over at CAF/Eastern Forum by the skin of my teeth.

The tread on my tires has been clean worn off of ABC, the filioque, Immaculate concetpion, divorce v. annulment, purgatory... Its just tiring for all parties involved.

Maybe we should find some things to discuss about which we agree?

Everybody here loves Jesus.

Well, with all Christians we share worship of the Triune God and the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, and the understanding of salvation by grace through faith. We also share the same New Testament Scriptures.

Specifically, we Orthodox and Catholics also share:

At least 7 sacraments; the understanding that baptism is the sacrament by which we are "born again" and baptized "into Christ"; the understanding that the Lord's Supper is the sacrament of Christ's true Body and Blood given under the appearances of bread and wine; the necessity of repentance, confession of sins, prayer and fasting for a sanctified life; communion with the saints of the past and our addressing prayers and petitions to them; prayer for the dead; hierarchical nature of Church ministry (bishops, priests, and deacons), and a mostly similar view of the Christian moral life. Also, we share most of the Old Testament. Now that is quite a lot!

Joe

And Jesus loves everybody here.

Yes He does.

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Glory Forever!

Group hug anyone ?

[Linked Image]

So cool how we stick together. Now back to the origional topic.....