About 10 years back, a friend of mine introduced me to her father, a Greek Orthodox priest. I was 22 at the time and knew far less than I know now about Orthodoxy. I asked him the differences between the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. His reply was simply,
"We do not recognize the Pope to be unerring (without error)"
Through his elaboration he led me to believe that Orthodox Christians think that Roman Catholics believe the Holy Father to be a perfect human being.
Looking back , I certainly expected more from a Greek Orthodox priest.
Does all of the Orthodox community believe this, or is it that they just don't know what we believe about the Pope ?

From my reading on the subject (as a convert to RCC from a non-christian pentecostalism [sabellianism] & now frequenting exclusively the Byzantine rite):

The Orthodox believe that the Apostles, with the apparent exception of St. James in Jerusalem, were not bishops, but rather travelling founders of the Church who appointed bishops in various cities. Wherever the bishop and the faithful are found, the completeness of the Church is found. All bishops are equal in power (for the most part).

As for the Pope of Rome, they accept his primacy of honor, which was noted by one of the early ecumenical councils on the basis of Rome being the capital of the empire. They do not believe that he has any jurisdiction outside his patriarchate. They accept that in the early centuries of the Church, disputes were brought to him from the East for resolution; but they deny that could do such a thing on his own unilateral initiative. This pertains to primacy of jurisdiction.

As for infallibility, the Orthodox do not confuse infallibility with impeccability: they do not think that the RCC believes that the Pope is either sinless or infallible in his ordinary statements. They deny the teaching of Vatican I that the Pope, when speaking as Pope to the entire Church in defining a matter of faith or morals, is infallible.

As I understand it, they would say that a council of the entire Church, accepted by the faithful, would be necessary for a dogmatic statement.

The Orthodox would say that the entire Roman church has fallen into false positions on some crucial teachings and so the matter of the papacy is not the only issue dividing them from the Western church.

Maybe I have misunderstood the Orthodox teaching on these issues, but that is the way I read their writings, which are from various authors of diverse jurisdictions.

How to approach the Roman church, the if and/or why of dialogue, has been a source of tension in several of the Orthodox jurisdictions, it seems: which, I suppose, could well be due to their various experiences with the Latin church, the Eastern Catholics, and their cultural settings.

Porter

Porter,

This explanation is very well put. Thanks because it does clear up some issues for me. My daughter's father-in-law is an Orthodox(Antiochan) priest and has confused me a little about this. Your explanation makes things much clearer.

You say you are a convert to RCC from a non-christian pentecostalism[sabellianism} & now frequenting exclusively the Byzantine rite):

I have never heard of non-christian pentecostalism[sabellianism] and hope you will please enlighten me on what that is. Sounds a little like a 'Jesus only' pentecostal church or maybe United Pentecostal. Not sure though. I am leaving town for a couple of days so may not post my gratitude right away for a reply>>so thanks in advance.

Your sister in Christ,

the other Porter aka Mary Jo

yes, Mary Jo:

The non-christian pentecostalism/sabellianism to which I referred is the Jesus-only United Pentecostal. It is non-christian since faith in the triune God is essential &, in fact, the most basic, doctrine of the faith. That sabellian heresy, also known as modalism, was around at the same time as arianism.

btw, my real first name is Porter.

Hi Porter,

Thanks and thanks be to God who brought you on your present path! Glad I checked once more before packing for our trip. We had next door neighbors in Alaska who were involved in that church. I thought when you said, non-christian, it did mean they didn't accept the 'Trinity' as mainline denominations do, and, of course, The CREED.

I use Porter as a user name because I was a Benedictine oblate for nine years and the 'porter' was the older person(Monk or Nun) at the monastery who took care of guests and the door. I liked the chapter in the Rule of St. Benedict about the Porter and did a teaching on it once. It inspired me to work on praying for the gift and trying to become more hospitable. Mary Jo or Mary Josephine is my real name but friends call me Jo. Thanks again.

God grant you and yours many years....

Jo