drewmeister2 Posted September 10, 2004 Share Posted September 10, 2004 Does anyone know the differences between the Eastern Rite of the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church (besides that Catholics answer to the Pope)? How different are the two? They seem to be more similar than Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy, but in reality how different are the Orthodox and Eastern rite? Thank you for all your help! God bless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musturde Posted September 11, 2004 Share Posted September 11, 2004 It counts on who you mean. The Maronites have many differences. The Byzentines may have a lot in common. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeenaBobba Posted September 11, 2004 Share Posted September 11, 2004 The Eastern Catholic Churches are extremely close to the Orthodox Churhes. The two share a common patrimony and heritage. As a matter of fact, Eastern Catholic Churches are usually Orthodox Churches that have come into full communion with the Bishop of Rome. They accept the authority of the Roman Pontiff, and all doctrinal differences are cleared up. But, they look at things a bit differently than Western (Roman) Catholics do. Their theological perspective tends to be more mystical. Like the Orthodox, they believe in something called Uncreated Grace, which is the opposite of what Western Catholics believe. St. Thomas Aquinas taught that God created special grace for we humans to experience, whereas St. Gregory Palamas, an Orthodox saint venerated by both the Orthodox and Eastern Catholics, taught that God consists of Essence and Energy. They believe that God's Essence is totally inaccessible to human beings, so we experience His Uncreated Energies when we experience grace. When the Orthodox and Eastern Catholics pray, they believe they are experiencing God's Energies. I think this is called hesychastic prayer. An example of this type of prayer is the Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Like the Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholics also take part in the Divine Liturgy, which is similar to the Mass but is different in many ways. Only icons are used in Eastern Catholic (and Orthodox) Divine Liturgies, and they receive Communion from a spoon. (The host is of unleavened bread and is immersed in the wine.) The Sacraments (which the Orthodox and Eastern Catholics call Mysteries) are celebrated differently as well. Infants receive baptism, Communion, and Chrismation (Confirmation) during the same ceremony. Baptism is done by immersing the child (or adult) into the water. A lot of times, a person's hair is cut at Chrismation in the shape of a cross. I hope this helps. God bless, Jennifer P.S. This is a very complex topic -- and one I enjoy talking about immensely. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. There's so much more to this issue that I wasn't able to express. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeenaBobba Posted September 11, 2004 Share Posted September 11, 2004 Anyhow, I just realized that I didn't really answer your question. The biggest issue regarding the Orthodox and Catholics (both Eastern and Western) is the papacy. Orthodox Christians reject the Bishop of Rome; Eastern Catholics accept him (but tend to look at him differently, meaning that the structure of their hierarchy is a bit different). Other minor issues include: 1.) The filioque, which Eastern Catholics do not say in the Creed during their Divine Liturgies, but they don't decry it as being heretical, as [i]some[/i] Orthodox Christians do. (For the record, the original Creed does not include the filioque.) 2.) Purgatory (Eastern Catholics generally don't call it that, and they only accept the necessary bare essentials, preferring to leave the rest to mystery. The Orthodox have a wide range of beliefs regarding this.) 3.) Original sin, which [i]some[/i] (not all) Orthodox Christians reject to varying degrees. Eastern Catholics accept this doctrine, of course, although they tend to look at it differently 4.) A married priesthood, which is the tradition in both Eastern Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholicism -- but not in Western Catholicism. 5.) The Immaculate Conception, which the Orthodox reject and Eastern Catholics accept. Those are the issues that most commonly come up. Eastern Catholics are strongly connected to the Orthodox, yet they're in full communion with Rome, so they officially accept all of Rome's doctrines. God bless, Jennifer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeenaBobba Posted September 11, 2004 Share Posted September 11, 2004 Oh, and if you're interested in learning more about Eastern Catholicism, please visit the [url="http://www.byzcath.org/"]Byzantine Catholic Church in America[/url], Anthony Dragani's [url="http://www.east2west.org/"]From East to West[/url], the [url="http://grkat.nfo.sk/eng/index.html"]Byzantine Catholic Church in Slovakia[/url], [url="http://www.crosslink.net/~hrycak/resource.html#MAIN%20MENU"]St. Michael Ukrainian Catholic Church Resources[/url], and Anthony Dragani's [url="http://www.ewtn.com/vexperts/forum25.htm"]Eastern Catholic Q&A forum at EWTN[/url]. God bless, Jen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voiciblanche Posted September 11, 2004 Share Posted September 11, 2004 Jen, you're so cool. Totally full of information, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelFilo Posted September 11, 2004 Share Posted September 11, 2004 One thing to point out not all Eastern Catholic's receive by spoon, this seems to be a Byzantine Rite thing... God bless, Mikey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest T-Bone Posted September 11, 2004 Share Posted September 11, 2004 This may be a stupid question, but what is the filoque? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franciscanheart Posted September 11, 2004 Share Posted September 11, 2004 um..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewmeister2 Posted September 11, 2004 Author Share Posted September 11, 2004 The Filioque clause was added later to the Nicene Creed, I believe, and it is Latin for And the Son. It refers to that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, not just the Father, like the Orthodox believe. BeenaBobba, thank you so much for all your insight!! I really appreciate it. I do have to say that I do appreciate celibacy in the Western Church. But I guess some of it is tradition as well. Thank you again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laudate_Dominum Posted September 12, 2004 Share Posted September 12, 2004 [quote name='BeenaBobba' date='Sep 10 2004, 10:28 PM'] Like the Orthodox, they believe in something called Uncreated Grace, which is the opposite of what Western Catholics believe. [/quote] I'm just being nit-picky. Roman Catholic Theology does not reject Uncreated Grace, but there is a concept in the West of created Grace which the Orthodox Theological traditions do not have. Anyway, I think it's inaccurate to say that the Western approach and Eastern approach are opposites. Granted Uncreated Grace is understood differently in the East because of the doctrine of the Divine Energies, but still there is not a strict opposition between the two. peace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeenaBobba Posted September 12, 2004 Share Posted September 12, 2004 [quote name='Laudate_Dominum' date='Sep 12 2004, 01:34 AM'] I'm just being nit-picky. Roman Catholic Theology does not reject Uncreated Grace, but there is a concept in the West of created Grace which the Orthodox Theological traditions do not have. Anyway, I think it's inaccurate to say that the Western approach and Eastern approach are opposites. Granted Uncreated Grace is understood differently in the East because of the doctrine of the Divine Energies, but still there is not a strict opposition between the two. [/quote] Thanks for clarifying that. Actually, Anthony Dragani has said that the two might not be that different after all. Still, though, there are differences, superficially speaking. Of course, neither perspective is the official doctrine of the Church, so both views can be seen as orthodox. God bless, Jen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeenaBobba Posted September 12, 2004 Share Posted September 12, 2004 [quote name='drewmeister2' date='Sep 11 2004, 01:22 PM'] BeenaBobba, thank you so much for all your insight!! I really appreciate it. I do have to say that I do appreciate celibacy in the Western Church. But I guess some of it is tradition as well. Thank you again! [/quote] You're welcome! Yes, there is much tradition for priestly celibacy, just as there is for a married priesthood. Jesus and St. Paul, as examples, commended celibacy. In the Eastern Churches, bishops are celibate; they're chosen from monks, who are celibate. I think the celibate priesthood works very well in the Western Church, too. God bless, Jen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeenaBobba Posted September 12, 2004 Share Posted September 12, 2004 [quote name='MichaelFilo' date='Sep 11 2004, 01:47 AM'] One thing to point out not all Eastern Catholic's receive by spoon, this seems to be a Byzantine Rite thing.... [/quote] Yeah? That's pretty cool! I honestly didn't know that. You're Chaldean, right? Can you tell me a bit about how Communion is received in non-Byzantine Eastern Catholics Churches? (Do you know if this other way is a Latinization or if it's a legitimate Eastern practice?) Anyhow, I'm just curious. God bless, Jen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laudate_Dominum Posted September 12, 2004 Share Posted September 12, 2004 [quote name='BeenaBobba' date='Sep 11 2004, 11:46 PM'] Thanks for clarifying that. Actually, Anthony Dragani has said that the two might not be that different after all. Still, though, there are differences, superficially speaking. Of course, neither perspective is the official doctrine of the Church, so both views can be seen as orthodox. God bless, Jen [/quote] cool. It is an area that I think would be quite interesting to study in depth. I imagine that there are books somewhere that study the two approaches and compare them. I have this tentative idea of getting a Masters degree in Eastern Orthodox Theology. I would have my undergrad in Roman Catholic Theology so maybe someday I will be qualified to write something about this. peace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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