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Who specifically are meant by "both"?

I presume it is that "they most certainly are" a part...


Excellent topic.

yes ajk that is what i meant

Metropolitan Philaret who quoted St. Theophan the Recluse.

Fr. Stephanos,

There IS just one Church, and She is not divided. From a Catholic perspective, the Church IS the Catholic Church in union with the Apostolic See of Rome.

You're free to believe otherwise, but that doesn't mean the Church condones your opinions.

Alexis

Dave,

I used to be Catholic, and now I am Orthodox. You wrote that your heart is in the East but your head is unsure. Wow, I can relate to that, from one point in my discernment. Here is my comment, from what I have learned.

Your heart will never be satisfied by either Church. Neither is perfect; each has its share of sins as well as good points, and only God gives lasting, permanent peace. And dare I say it: God is a whole lot bigger than any human mind or religion or denomination.

Your heart will only be satisfied by God. How you find your way to Him is excatly that. If the Catholic Church gets you closer to God, ok. If the Eastern Church (EO, EC, or OO) gets you closer to God, ok. If the Evengelical or Charismatic churches gets you closer to God, ok.

Please don't try to calculate the odds of being in "the fullness of the faith." Be in the place where you are at peace with God in Christ through the Holy Spirit, and there is the fullness of the faith for you.

In closing, I encourage you to continue to ask God; and He will guide you. Part of that might include visiting several different parishes of different churches over time; and taking your good, sweet time in making your decision.

God bless you, and good luck.

-- John

John.
I dont want to pick on you, it's great that you found Orthodoxy, but you do seem to me, at least from reading your message, have a somewhat distorted Ecclesiology.
Christ cannot be seperated from HIS Church, neither can the Church be sinful. (Individuals can be sinful, but it is not the Church.) The Church is the bride of Christ, Pure, Holy, Innocent, without spot or wrinkle. It has been washed in the blood of the Lamb.
And as for being in the place where you are at peace with God, maybe we are the ones to move and not God. What some term peace is just an unawakened conscience.
Let the Holy Spirit move you out of your comfort zone.
I seem to remember a scripture; "Woe to the complacent in Zion."
Stephanos I

And please do not take this as an attack on you, it was just said to make us think.

I am pretty sure that you are in the clear if you are a catholic of any other 20+ rites besides the Roman rite, as long as these churches are in communion with the pope of Rome.

otherwise, those other churches would either be "Orthodox" or just heretical and I am pretty sure they're not...

Am I wrong?

I believe one must be within the Catholic Church in that context, not change from Chaldean, Melkite, or whatever other rite to Roman... ?!?

by the way I love Orthodox to and I have no doubt any true believing Orthodox will be with any true believing Catholic, either eastern or western rites, along with a bunch of true believing non-catholic, non-orthodox christians, along with a lot of good people who for whatever reason could not accept our Lord while here on earth.....I think, and I may be straying into heretical thought process' here, but some people like an old friend of my sister, who was raised by WICCAN PARENTS! Then some knucklehead t-boned her on the way to school and killed her. My mom thinks she's in hell, I believe, but I don't necessarily... HELLO! Why would she accept Christ? Her mom and dad were witches! I am pretty sure they taught her all Chistianity was nonsense so we'll see. I guess we have to see with the light we are given, and mine seems to illuminate icons and the Vatican at the same time, so eastern rite Catholic Church seems wonderful.

Fr. Stephanos,

I'm not offended at all, but I am startled. I didn't mean to imply that Christ is separated from His Church. Instead, I tried to express that the original poster shouldn't be discerning the church he should join by hedging his bets. Instead, he should focus on where God wants him.

-- John

John,

God wants all of us to be united with Him in His One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Unfortunately the devil like a roaring lion roams through the world seeking those whom he may devour through schism, heresy, and hatred, which spring from pride.

In Christ,
Elizabeth Maria


minor spelling corrections made in the above

I was told recently by a bishop (EO) that the difference between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches was this:

Catholics hate their Church, but love their priests.

Orthodox love their Church, but hate their priests.

Certainly seems accurate on the Orthodox side, but my brother is RC and he certainly loves his Church.

Maybe the Alaskan situation with the OCA and other recent problems in the Antiochian and Greek Archdioceses have something to do with the Bishop's comment.

I think many Orthodox Christians do love their priests and pray for them. It is some of the Bishops who are causing eyebrows to be raised as most bishops today do not come out of the monastic tradition and so are not holy elders as we would hope.

In his day, even Dante struggled with the Catholic bishops whom he consigned to the lower parts of hell as street lamps.

Prester John,

You'd think it would be the other way around, since the Orthodox have more of a collegial/conciliar (or even downright lay rule) structure at the parish level; while Catholicism is very top down and the suggestions of the council are wholly at the discretion of the priest-pastor.