Reuniting Orthodox and Roman catholic churches?

Question

do you think in my lifetime (i am 16), i will live to see these two branches of christianity reunite after the schism in 1054? i think its very probabable. honestly the basic beliefs are the same, its just that orthodox christians dont honor papal authority, whihc started centuries ago when popes did idiot things. but now things are different and these people have never experienced papal jurisdition so maybe they will see its not like it once was. hopefully one day we will be one church like jesus wished

not the pope during the schism; he did nothing except affirm the use of icons, which made the emerpor mad, and excommunicate the emperor, which wa skinda dumb, but im more talking about other popes who lived lives of luxury

Answer 1

Sounds nice, but despite the doctrinal disagreeements ("filioque", etc.), the real issue is political. In the ancient tradition, each regional church was autonomous, administering its own affairs and meeting as equals in council only to decide the most critical defining issues of the faith.

The "pope" came into being in the absence of the failure of the Western Roman imperial government. The Eastern Church experienced no such failure, so they saw no need for an ultimate worldly authority. And they are not likely to change their minds. "Why is this particular patriarch more authoritative than any other?" they would argue.

Did you know that the various basilicas in Rome were intended to be the guest seats of the various ancient patriarchs? Rome recognized the independence of each bishop, from Alexandria and Damascus to Jerusalem and Constantinople. St. Peter's is the basillica of the Patriarch of Jerusalem. The Bishop of Rome rightfully claims the Basillica of St. John, formerly the Lateran Palace. But things have changed since the split. Rome's control of all its basillicas well illustrates the feelings Eastern churches have toward the pope. Any tentative reunion would last exactly until the moment the pope presumed to tell another patriarch how to run his church.

Answer 2

I think it is entirely unlikely, more's the pity. Part of the difficulty with a reunion is that the Orthodox Church, being generally opposed to the idea of a pope, does not have a single leader. Who, then, could make the decision to reunite with the Catholic Church? Who has the authority to direct all the Orthodox Clergy to accept certain points of theology that they had not previously accepted? There is no such person.

In any reunion, there would have to be compromise. I cannot see either the RCC or the OC giving in totally on all the points where we disagree. This being the case, every single one of the Orthodox clergy would have to agree to any compromise. In the RCC, there would be debate and discussion, but the pope's word is the final authority. In my opinion, unless the Orthodox Church designates one person with the authority to make decisions like this, a compromise will not be reached. And if the OC *does* do this, they will be essentially reversing course on one of their fundamental sources of disagreement with the RCC. A compromise, in that case, becomes almost unnecessary, as the differences in our theology after the papacy issue are not insurmountable.

Thus we are led to a circular argument. The Church cannot be reconciled without a universally accepted compromise, but a compromise cannot be achieved without a functional reconciliation to begin with. All things are possible with God, but I don't think we'll get there if we're left to our own devices.

Answer 3

Since the schism of 1054 took place, the Orthodox church and the Catholic church went their separate ways because of their different views on Christ and his teachings and God. I grew up in a Catholic Christian family and I've attended to Catholic mass. But I did attend to a Orthodox church and I've seen some similar things between my faith and theirs. I couldn't receive holy communion in the Orthodox but i did observe of what they did. I hope and pray that they will reunite with the Catholic church. It maybe impossible but it could happen.

Answer 4

Not a chance of ever seeing a reunification of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church during your life time. The simple fact that most Orthodox people detest the Catholic Papacy will see to that.

Answer 5

While there are many similarities, I do find the Orthodox church aping Western Protestantism too much, to their own detriment!

They have flip-flopped on the canon twice: following Luther in switching to the Jerusalem canon, and mid-20th century, went back to the Alexandrian canon!

Now, most Greek Orthodox I hear sound like protestants, down to IGNORING lent, saying things like 'the reason Jesus suffered is so we don't have to'.

Ho hum ... the Russian Orthodox church, at least, still observes lent, as they SHOULD.

Their problem, really.

Answer 6

Amen!

I once met a man who was Eastern Orthodox and he knew I was Roman. In what I thought was a spirit of ecumenism, I once mentioned how "silly" it was to split a church over stuff like whether the Holy Spirit proceded from both the Father and the Son, or from just the Father.

He was greatly incensed and hollered at me and scolded me for maybe 5 minutes. He did not think this "heresy" was silly at all.

So until we can get over our petty, SILLY differences, unity won't be able to happen.

Answer 7

The big problem is not beliefs of the Orthodox. It's the beliefs of the Catholic Church. I spoke to an Orthodox priest, and he said why would they want to unite with a Church that is in such disarray? Many Catholics openly deny the basic principles of the Catholic beliefs, and the bishops and priests do nothing.

Answer 8

I think it is extremely improbable. That whole "pope" thing really bothers the Orthodox.

And even if the two sides come together, what about the 527 other types of Christianity?

Answer 9

Only a miracle from God can bring about this reconciliation.

Thank God, both Orthodox Christians and Catholic Christians believe in miracles.

"The Catholic Church embraces with hope the commitment to ecumenism as a duty of the Christian conscience enlightened by faith and guided by love…Jesus himself, at the hour of his Passion, prayed 'that they may all be one' (John 17:21)." -- Pope John Paul II, Ut Unum Sint, May 25, 1995.

The Catholic Church in the United States already has the following open dialogs with her sister Churches:

- The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation
- The Joint Committee of Orthodox and Catholic Bishops
- The Oriental Orthodox-Roman Catholic Consultation
- The Polish National Catholic-Roman Catholic Dialogue
- The Anglican-Roman Catholic Consultation USA
- The Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue
- Roman Catholic-Reformed Consultation
- The United Methodist-Catholic Dialogue
- Southern Baptist Convention-Catholic Dialogue
- The Evangelical-Catholic Dialogue
- Faith and Order Commission, National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA
- Consultation with the National Council of Synagogues
- Consultation with the Orthodox Union and the Rabbinical Council of America
- Midwest Dialogue of Catholics and Muslims
- Mid-Atlantic Dialogue of Catholics and Muslims
- West Coast Dialogue of Catholics and Muslims

Here is the joint declaration of justification by Catholics (1999), Lutherans (1999), and Methodists (2006):

By grace alone, in faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping us and calling us to good works.

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/documents/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_31101999_cath-luth-joint-declaration_en.html

http://www.usccb.org/seia/officialdialogues.shtml

With love in Christ.

Answer 10

i doubt you will see it in your life. a thousand years apart from each other can not be mended by one or two Popes and Patriarchs. Benedict said this was his mission, but like i said, it will take a long time, even if it has already started, we are looking at decades if not more then a century.