Posted on 09/21/2009 9:21:59 AM PDT by marshmallow
Moscow, September 21, Interfax – Head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk, who is visiting Rome, has celebrated the Divine Liturgy in Catacombs of St. Callixtus.
Speaking to believers after the service, the Archbishop urged to overcome a thousand-year-old dispute between Christians of East and West and reminded about heroism of first Christians who prayed in catacombs and preserved unity in spite of persecutions from outside.
“Denied by the world, far from human eyes, deep under ground in caves, first Roman Christians performed the feat of prayer. Their life brought fruit of holiness and martyr heroism. The Holy Church was built on their blood shed for Christ,” the DECR press service has cited Archbishop Hilarion as saying.
Then Church came out of the catacombs, but Christian unity was lost, the Archbishop further said. Today, when the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church don’t have Eucharist communication and many Protestants gave up fundamental Christian principles, “we should clearly understand, that division is sin, tearing apart body of Church and weakening the power of Christian witness in secular world,” Archbishop Hilarion stressed.
He reminded that human sin was the cause of all divisions, while Christian unity could be restored only in the way of sanctity.
“Each of us, conscientiously fulfilling a task the Church has given him or her, is called to personally contribute in treasury of Christian sanctity and work to achieve God-commanded Christian unity,” the Archbishop said in his sermon.
Your church can be Catholic, or it can be Orthodox.
IOW, it can be universal, or it can be correct.
≤}B^)....(haven't been flamed in a while)
I was speaking about a recent breakup between members of the German Baptist (they dress similar to Amish) to a member of the Old Order group (who broke away years ago from the group that just split up if that makes sense) I mentioned that Satan divides to make the place devoid. He said Satan seems to be getting better at it the last few centuries since it seems to be happening more and more. I sure hated to see these people break up.
Since catholic and orthodox are Greek words I figure the Greeks are the only ones who can use the words to apply those descriptions to themselves.
No, the Church is catholic (universal) and her faith is orthodox (correct). The internal division within the Church and the terminology intended to differentiate two branches of the Church is not the official classification.
In any case, "applicable to Greeks only" and "catholic" can't go together. One contradicts the other.
The Russians are guided by the Greeks. I am just saying find your own words in your own tongue.
And the most abundant blessings to you, too...........
Does this squabble extend even to the level of who owns words?
.........*shaking head*.............
If he gets to decide you can’t be orthodox and catholic why can’t I make an equally spurious claim? At least mine has the benefit of being based on some fact.
Oh, that's gonna be real popular in Moscow.
I am just saying find your own words in your own tongue.
The words "orthodox" and "catholic" were in use in church Latin in the west at least 600 years before the schism.
As far as I'm concerned, the words I'll use are "orthodox" and "catholic".
Sadly, there is no copyright on language or we would have done so with the Greek word “Pope” as well.
“Papa” and derivatives are common to many Indo-European languages, not only Greek.
I seem to recall a Christian teacher who said something about there being “neither Jew nor Greek” in Christ Jesus. But, then, what did he know: he was a Jew not a Greek! Orthodoxy is not helped by those who would turn it into a narrow, ethnocentric, sect. Ethnic pride may possibly have its place (though, personally, I find it infantile), but when it begins to corrupt the gospel of Christ it is a blasphemy.
I meant my last to be a reply to Nika not you. Sorry
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