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Well, the Catholic Church has been making all the effort at reunion with the Orthodox since Vatican II, but the EOs would rather amplify the differences between the Churches rather than meet on common ground. Anytime an Orthodox patriarch meets with the Pope, the online EO peanut gallery throws a temper tantrum and rails about the "evils of ecumenism." The Orthodox have much, much more to gain from reuniting with Rome than we do in rejoining them.

Topics like the filioque and essence-energies are constantly argued about by the armchair theologians online, but in the real world, these things don't make much of a difference in the day to day prayer life of the average person. But there are those on both sides who go on and on about this stuff all day. With the Orthodox, it's also comical, because they'll set themselves apart as "not as legalistic and scholastic" as the Latin Church, and how they supposedly leave so much to "mystery," yet when they disagree with the West about something they write tomes of academic theology to try to prove their point.

The Orthodox parishes are equally dying. They're filled by either immigrants who fill the ranks but are more interested in ethnicity, or by ex-Baptist and Evangelical converts who had too much anti-Rome brainwashing to become Catholic. The much-touted Orthodox "phronema" exists as a museum piece. You can't sustain genuine Orthodox thought and practice with a bunch of folks who were non-denominational Protestants 5-10 years ago. To be fair, one cannot truly sustain any kind of organic, sincere Eastern Christian life in a post-Christian Western country. It's impossible to do without it feeling inauthentic to a degree. For the same reason, the Latin Mass and Traditional Catholicism can't be lived out either, without it feeling like some kind of play acting, because the type of culture and society that gave rise to them is long gone.

As to that last point, a lot of it has to do with Eastern Christianity largely plateauing in the 8th century and refusing to budge much from monastic spirituality. I've been Byzantine for a few years now, but often find Western saints more relatable than the 90% of Eastern saints who were hermits, martyrs, or monks. It hasn't adjusted to speak to the modern world the way the Latin Church has. Don't get me wrong, I think our liturgy and liturgical calendar is beautiful and fulfilling, but I'm grateful to be Catholic and to have the freedom to draw from both Eastern and Western traditions. I used to be really territorial about this at first and insisting on doing "only Eastern" things for awhile, but then I realized the world doesn't end if I still pray the rosary or an occasional Latin novena.

LionHippo44 #424507 05/21/24 08:54 PM
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I LOVE to read the older posts. I used to be really active on Catholic Answers Forums, and kinda miss them.

1 member likes this: OEFNavyVet
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If you are active in Eastern Christian, Catholic, and Orthodox groups, share this forum! As censorship will likely ramp up in the run up to this year's election, I guarantee many faithful will be out of a safe social media home.

Share this forum with them. Invite them over.

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The Byzantine Forum provides message boards for discussions focusing on Eastern Christianity (though discussions of other topics are welcome). The views expressed herein are those of the participants and may or may not reflect the teachings of the Byzantine Catholic or any other Church. The Byzantine Forum and the www.byzcath.org site exist to help build up the Church but are unofficial, have no connection with any Church entity, and should not be looked to as a source for official information for any Church. All posts become property of byzcath.org. Contents copyright - 1996-2024 (Forum 1998-2024). All rights reserved.
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