www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology differences between Eastern Catholics and Orthodox Christians

Hi all i am new to the forum but thank Almighty God I found it! I was raised Roman however i occasionally went with Orthodox family members to Divine liturgies as a child(but didnt truly grasp what was going on). I feel drawn greatly to Eastern Christianity. I am having difficulty discerning whether to become an Orthodox Christian(which was my original intention) or an Eastern Catholic(Orthodox). So i am going to list a barrage of questions. The problem i am having is that there seems to be a disagreement(at least on the boards i read) as to whether E.C. hold the same Faith as Orthodox. what are the E.C. Church's views on the traditional differences between R.C. and the Orthodox Churches i.e. papal supremecy/role of councils, purgatory, original sin/immaculate conception, Double Procession etc. and if E.C. do hold the same understanding and faith as the Orthodox on these issues how are E.C.'s view different from what Romans believe or should i say on these issues what must E.C.s believe. i was told by several Roman Catholics that i must believe in original sin because it came out of the Council of trent.I welcome everyone's input especially any E.C. Deacons and Priests however to those that respond if you are not E.C. but are Orthodox, Roman, or Protestant please state this so iknow which point of view you are putting forth.
some points i 4got. are E.C.s under the congregation for the doctrine of the faith? also is the Ukranian Catholic Church in America part of/under the UGCC in the Ukraine and who appoints their bishops here in america. also who has the legitimate authority to make the UGCC a patriarchate the Pope or Its Synod. these later points are unrelated to my main concerns my friend asked me to ask. also i want to state that i have been attending the Divine liturgy at a Ruthenian Church for a few months but have not had the chance to speak with the priest.

not really experienced with posting so i forgot to tell you all my name.I'm Bobby Thanx for any help you can provide.

Hi Bobby,

Welcome to the Forum. I'm going to answer your easy questions , since I have just a few minutes before I have to run.

1. The first one is a bit of a mixed response. The Vatican entity that is concerned with the Eastern Churches is "The Congregation for the Eastern (or Oriental) Churches". Are we "under" them? Some are.

The short answer is that those Eastern Churches headed by Patriarchs (Armenian, Chaldean, Coptic, Maronite, Melkite, and Syriac) and Major Archbishops (Syro-Malabarese and Ukrainian) are subject to their presiding hierarch.

The Metropolitan Churches (Ethiopean, Romanian, Ruthenian, and Syro-Malankarese), the Eparchial Churches - in which the ranking hierarch is of the order of bishop - eparch, exarch, etc - (Albanian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Greek, Hungarian, Italo-Albanian-Greek, Ruthenian [Eparchy of Mukachevo], and Slovak), and those Churches which are without a hierarchy (Belarussian, Georgian, and Russian) are indeed directly subject to the Congregation.

Now, those jurisdictions which belong to the Patriarchal and Major Archepiscopal Churches, but are geographically situated outside the historical territories of the presiding hierarchs of those Churches, are technically subject to the Congregation, except as to matters liturgical. Thus, for example, all Melkite jurisdictions in the diaspora (US, Canada, Mexico, S.America, and Australia) are subject to the Congregation.

2. The UGCC jurisdictions in the US are a constituent entity of the UGCC in Ukraine, but are technically only subject to it in matters liturgucal, as I described above.

3. The Synod of a Patriarchal or Major Archepiscopal Church proposes a list of 3 names to Rome, which makes the final decision to approve a hierarch for a jurisdiction in the diaspora. As to Metropolitan Churches, the Council of Hierarchs provides a similar list to Rome, but approval is reserved to Rome, regardless of whether the jurisdiction to be filled is within the historical territory or in the diaspora. All hierarchs for the Eparchial Churches are appointed by Rome.

4. Although you can (and probably will) get conflicting opinions here - just wait - the authority lies with Rome to elevate the UGCC to the status of a Patriarchal Church sui iuris.

Well, that's a start. I'll let the theologians weigh in on your other questions.

Many years,

Neil

btw, good point, I see you've noticed that we are a diverse bunch here (which is one of the beauties of this place - I'm the resident cheerleader for diversity ) and often feel free to speak from and for each other's perspectives (usually accurately).

Dear Bobby:

Welcome to our forum.

Let me take a first stab at your question.

I'm sure others will join in.

Our Patriarch Lubomyr (of the UGCC) said "Our attitude practically is that between the Orthodox and ourselves there are no differences in faith."

He's just reiterating what the Popes and Vatican has been basically saying for the last hundred plus years - but especially in and since Vatican II.

�The firm attitude held by the Apostolic See, asking the Eastern Churches in full communion with it, to have the courage to rediscover their own authentic traditions, restoring the original purity where necessary. In liturigical renewal, the practice of the Orthodox should be taken into account, knowing it, respecting it, and distancing from it as little as possible so as not to increase the existing separation, but rather intensifying efforts in view of eventual adaptions, mature and working together" (Canon Law: Instructions et al.)

As our Theologians are calling us, we are "Orthodox in Communion with Rome".

Herb

Bobby the orthodox sinner writes that "i was told by several Roman Catholics that i must believe in original sin because it came out of the Council of trent."
I'm no great admirer of the Council of Trent, and I've heard it blamed for many things, but surely original sin was around long before the sixteenth century AD?
On the other hand, sin is seldom if ever original - hence the phrase "boring as sin".
Christ is Risen!
Incognitus

Christ is risen!! Indeed He is risen!!!

Bobby:

I've found a wealth of information about Eastern Christianity, both Byzantine and Oriental Catholic and Byzantine and Oriental Orthodox, by reading the many posts that have been made over the course fo the life of this forum. We have many brothers here who have a wealth of information to share.

In Christ,

BOB

thank you all for responding. i am still uncertain as to what EC's believe.