[moondancer]

this isnt a reply to your post, im just new to posting and wasnt sure who else to click;)
i have a question, hopefully its not a stoopid one, but what is the difference between a catholic church and an orthodox church? i became a catholic about 4 years ago and have attended mass at our local parish, but our new priest is a flaming liberal! i notice an orthodox church just opened up downtown and was curious what the differnce was. thanks:)

[OldCorps]

Glad to help:

in 1054 the eastern (Orthodox) and western (now called Roman Catholic) churches split. the issue was two fold:

1. politcal power: Rome advanced that all other churches were subject to its rule. The Eastern (Orthodox) patriarchs of Constantinople, Antioch, Jurusalem, etc. all adhered to the previous Ecumenical Councils (highest ruling body in the church-representatives from all the churches throughout the world attended) that stated each patriarch (a patriarch is a bishop) has an equal voice. They did agree however, that up until the great schism, the bishop of rome was senior in terms of protocol.

2. Rome added the filoque to the creed...they now contend the Holy Spirit proceeds from the God the Father and the Son.

The Orthodox church maintains the creed from previous ecumenical councils: the Holy Spirit proceeds from God the Father only. Rome changed their view on this around the time of the schism, probably to justify cutting relations between the two churches.

Since then, the Roman Catholic church has changed so many things. They adopted the Gregorian calander, they advanced the doctrine of papal infalibility, and in general have moved away from the Orthodox faith. On the other hand, the Orthodox church has pretty much kept the faith unchanged in belief and practice since the early church fathers.

Regards,