www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Do eastern Catholics venerate all the saints Rome canonizes?

Hi. I was wondering if eastern Catholics recognize all the saints Rome canonizes (they may might not commemorate them in a liturgy). And do eastern Catholics recognize all the teachings of the Church of Rome even if theological emphasis maybe different? Thanks

Christ is in our midst!!

EasternAquyinas2,

Welcome to the fourm.

Bob
Moderator

Since there is one God, there is one Faith. Since there is one Faith, there is one Heaven.

The difference can only be summed up as, different traditions, the same religion. For example, though Saint Constantine is not commerated in the West (I think), he is objectively still a Saint recognized by the Church. On the other side, see for example Saint Therese Byzantine Catholic Church.

The religion is the exact same, despite word choices such as the issue of "proceeds from the Father and the Son." vs. "proceeds from the Father." The Council of Florence for example settles that issue completely. The only thing that is different is the traditions. The West has the Mass, the East the Divine Liturgy and other Liturgies.

Thank you

I think you will find that for us not Florence but Constantinople I settled that issue.

However, words do mean substantive things.

The Miaphysites and the "Roman provinces" of the Church, meaning Rome and New Rome or Constantinople went their separate ways over . . .one word or one phrase which was, until recently, completely misunderstood as to its/their meaning concerning the "One Divine Nature of God the Word Incarnate."

The West confesses that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father (actively) and from the Son (passively). It also inserted the "and the Son" into the Nicene Creed unilaterally when it was understood by the Universal Church that only an Ecumenical Council could have (but wouldn't have) done that.

We have been through all these and other issues here many times in the last few years.

As for Saints, the view has always been that East and West don't question each other's canonization. But there is no canon that says they must both venerate the same saints. Simply none. Plus the fact that there are so many saints who are honoured locally only. Saints not only embody Christian holiness but they also embody the respective spirituality of their own Particular Churches to which they belonged and through which they became Saints.

They are therefore most relevant to the Particular Churches to which they belonged and whose spirituality is celebrated in the Particular Churches' veneration of their own Saints in the first instance whether these are local, regional, national what have you.

We must remember that we belong to the Universal Church of Christ through membership in our Local and Particular Church with its own theological, canonical and liturgical traditions. The Saints whose veneration would be most emphasized would be those who come from and are identified with those Particular Church spiritualities.

So the answer to your question is NO Eastern Catholic Churches do not necessarily venerate all the Saints Rome has canonized nor does it have any obligation to. And the intricacies of canonization n the Roman Catholic Church are . . . complex. For example, Rome canonized the Eastern Catholic Hieromartyr, Saint Josaphat (by Bl. Pius IX) in 1875. However, when Rome canonized him, it did so ONLY for the Eastern Catholic Churches and so St Josaphat was not venerated by Latin Catholics themselves EVEN though Rome canonized him (he was eventually added to the Roman calendar in 1888).

Particular Eastern Catholic Churches may, in Synod, decide to accept certain new Saints canonized by Rome for liturgical veneration. The issue of acknowledging the validity of Roman canonizations is a separate issue - no EC will ever question that.