Posted on 07/15/2021 8:13:09 AM PDT by Carpe Cerevisi
This is a humorous (yet mostly accurate) video showing the differences between Catholics and Orthodox. It's done by a talented Serbian Orthodox young man and his channel is worth subscribing to.
Differences Between Orthodox and Catholics
Off the top of my head:
CATHOLICS have the Pope who is supposed to be infallible when he speaks ex-cathedra in matters of faith and doctrine
Orthodox don’t have this position.
Orthodox priests are allowed to marry and have families. Not so Catholic priests.
Orthodox were persecuted by Russian Communists.
The Catholic pope let Chinese Communists pick their bishops.
No, that's not correct. The Orthodox ordain married men to the parish priesthood. That's different from "allowing priests to marry". Once an Orthodox priest is ordained, he cannot remarry and remain an active priest, even if his wife dies.
Orthodox bishops are all celibate; they are typically recruited from monasteries.
Western (Latin Rite) Catholics traditionally have not ordained married men to the priesthood. Eastern (Byzantine Rite) Catholics do, just like the Orthodox, although not typically in the US (for political reasons).
Very funny video. I didn’t realize that there were that many differences.
And the Orthodox church was extensively infiltrated by the KGB. The Russian Orthodox church has pretty much always been an arm of the government.
Orthodox clergy have beards and often wear black; Catholic clergy are clean shaven and often wear white.
Orthodox iconography is more notional with less realism than Catholic iconography.
Orthodox liturgy is sung without instruments.
Orthodox communion has pieces of bread versus Catholic wafers.
OK, I misspoke, Orthodox Priests can be married, and indeed, most Orthodox priests are. I know several since I have many Greek friends here in the city.
But an Orthodox priest can’t marry while a priest. If he wishes to have a family life, he must get hitched BEFORE he is ordained to the deaconate, the penultimate step before becoming a priest.
I bring this up because of the ongoing debate within Catholic circles—pushed energetically by the Church’s internal and external critics—about whether to revoke the rule requiring priest celibacy. The regulation was formally established at the Council of Trent in 1563 after centuries of controversy over the issue of priests and marriage.
Prior to Trent, the Catholic Church took the same approach to the question of priestly marriage as the Orthodox Church did (and does today). If the priestly celibacy were no longer required, the Catholic Church would likely return to its former practice.
Ping!
Its ok for the Byzantine Rite Catholic Priests to be married. Back in the day, the Romans insisted Byzantine Catholics dont marry as a condition for being allowed to create their own BC parishes...or so I was told.
John Paul II gave the green light for BC priests to get married as a directive to return to the way things were done in the BC in the old country. You will also see infants getting communion now in the BC as well.
The Byzantine Catholic Church has all of the below except for the beard as well.
The bread issue—leaven vs unleaven was one of the bones of contention contributing to the schism between the Eastern(Orthodox) and Western Church in 1054.
It was always usual in their original territories for Byzantine Catholics to ordain married men.
As I said, it was political.
The whole issue of priests or monks in the West having beards is rather hilarious. It was prohibited for most priests as a sign of vanity. However, some religious orders required/expected their members to wear beards (cf Padre Pio).
Wikipedia, bless its heart, has a rather good article on the topic. You can see from that article that it was unambiguously the law in the West from the 4th Century.
Yes your right, Romans in the US.
“Hypostatic union with the beard.” LOL!
A few notes though:
The illustration of the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son is a reasonable interpretation of the words as spoken in the Catholic version of the Nicene Creed, but it is not what Catholics believe. The Orthodox mean that the Holy Spirit, indeed all of Creation has its ultimate origin with the Father, which is not clear from the out-of-context words spoken in their Creed, either. Catholics AGREE with that, however! “And the Son,” instead, reflects the biblical fact that it is the Son who sends forth the Holy Spirit.
STRAW MAN:
Father ——> Holy Spirit
Son -———> Holy Spirit
CATHOLIC FAITH:
Father ——> Son -——> Holy Spirit
Papal Infallibility
The Pope has no authority to invent doctrine. Francis apparently would like to make opposition to the death penalty infallible, but he can’t and he knows it and no reasonable theologian could mistake that. Rather, the Pope DISCERNS that there is no contradiction among the faithful and therefore AFFIRMS a doctrine infallibly.
Immaculate Conception
Wow. I’m aghast that the creator would allow Protestants to believe what they might well believe about the Orthodox regarding the sinlessness of Mary! Despite his simplistic denial of the immaculate conception, the Orthodox DO believe Mary is sinless! The issue of the immaculate conception gets bogged down in the nature of just what Mary is sinless OF, not that she is in fact sinless.
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