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Mar 25th, 2025
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The topic of recognition of Holy Orders between Catholics and Orthodox has been pretty well debated.
What isn;t so debated is the status of Catholic religious profession (sisters or brothers) in Orthodoxy and the status of the orthodox tonsure in the eyes of Catholicism. Tonsure is not vows exactly, and vows are not (in canon law teerms it seems) the same as tonsure.
My gut feel is that if Catholic non-ordained religious became orthodox, they would be tonsured at an appropriate level (schema if they were solemnly professed etc).
Having said that, I know that when a group of catholic religious (SVDs) joined Antioch recently, the brothers were ordained subdeacons and the clerics were ordained to their rank.
What about the reverse? If a schema-monk became Catholic there would seem to be no recognition of his state in Orthodoxy. My understanding is he would have to do novitiate again in some order (start from scratch as it were) whatever his seniority in Orthodox monasticism.
This seems harsh. Thoughts?
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If an Orthodox schema-monk should become Catholic, he would need some small study of the relevant canons governing the monastic life. But he would not need to be tonsured again, or to do another novitiate.
By way of comparison, if a Catholic paramonastic of one community decides to join another, he must do another complete novitiate.
Fr. Serge
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Can anyone think of some examples: I am sure there were monasteries in the Ukraine that have changed from UOC of some flavour to UGCC, and vice versa?
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I only know of one case, in which a young monk of one of the dependencies of the Pechersk Lavra in Kiev abandoned his habit and went to a RC Monastery in Poland. The young man committed suicide shortly thereafter, so I don't know if he was even received into the Brotherhood.
Alexandr
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WHat a sad story  God have mercy on his soul.
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I would think that would a cleric or monastic take that step, that the receiving abbot or bishop would extend economia to the furthest degree... Fr. Lev Gillet is a recent example, I suppose.
However, this does not mean that all his fellow brothers would be accepting of this individual - some in the extreme edges question the orthodoxy of the reception of Fr. Lev in the manner that he was received...
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Two Byzantine Catholic priest-monks (previously Latin monks) established a monastery in Ujkowice, Poland. After a few years of conflict they have converted to Orthodoxy in 1994 and were received by Bishop Adam Dubec of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church. The documents establishing the monastery as Orthodox were issued immediately and the two priest-monks were immediately installed as Orthodox ihumen and archimandrite. BTW, I love their galleries: http://www.monasterujkowice.pl/photo.php
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