Structure of Orthodox Church in compare with Roman Catholic ?
What does "Greek"in Greek Orthodox or "Russian" in Russian Orthodox stand for? ...except it indicates the country? I mean IS THERE any difference among those religions? So, Roman Catholics are all equal, united under a Holly Pope, and all the decisions from Vatican equally affect all Catholics, no matter if they live in Italy, Poland or South America. There is no such thing as "Polish Catholic" ; "Croatian Catholic";"Spanish Catholic";... So why is there such a division in Orthodoxy ? I mean, is there any actual difference in being a Russian Orthodox or the Serbian ( or Montenegrian! ) or the Greek one ? --If it is, I'd like to be explained what are they and what are the practical consequences ? (such as inability of Church marriage between two people from different Orthodoxy) --If not, why don't they unite (is it a political decision ?) ? I think that religion should not be limited by state's borders (which are a subject of change through history anyway) And is there any higher instance that is above all National Orthodox Churches of evey each country?
Religion & Spirituality - 3 Answers
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1 :
Catholicism is administered from Rome. Orthodoxy is administered from within their territory. The beliefs, the tenets, and the dogma is the same.
2 :
The ethnic name gives an indication of the language or perhaps the historical roots of the parish, and of the system of administration the parish falls under. The teachings of all Eastern Orthodox churches are the same, and they are generally in communion with each other. There are some 13 autocephalous ("self-headed") Orthodox churches, beginning with the four ancient ones that date from the Roman Empire: Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey), Alexandria (Egypt), Antioch (now in Damascus, Syria), and Jerusalem. These have been joined over the years -- not necessarily in this order -- by Russia, Serbia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece and others. The Eastern Orthodox church is ruled by councils of bishops ("synods"), with an elected patriarch or archbishop as the chief leader of each jurisdiction. There is no "one patriarch to rule them all" within Orthodoxy. Rome was once the "first among equals" of the bishops, but owing to the division of the empire and the much earlier fall of Rome, it and the other churches fell into a dispute over Rome's (late) claim to be the ruling bishop over all, and eventually separated. The Patriarch of Constantinople now enjoys the historic position of "first among equals" of the Orthodox bishops, and on occasion requests the other leaders to to meetings on whatever important topics arise. The Orthodox do not contemplate making doctrinal changes, and so have not met for over 1000 years to even consider anything of the sort. The "divisions" are by spheres of influence, continuing the ancient practice where the bishop of the largest city in an area or province came to have more clout that the bishops of smaller cities. There are some minor differences of practice (read this Psalm instead of sing that song), but most of the services are pretty much the same, whether performed in Greek, Old Church Slavonic ("Russian"), or Arabic or whatever. The lectionary is pretty much the same. These things do not change easily because of the Orthodox propensity to receive and transmit the Tradition faithfully. Intermarriage of Orthodox couples of different jurisdictions is no problem whatever. Communion can be taken by any properly-prepared Orthodox Christian in any Orthodox Church (you might have to convince the priest that you're in fact Orthodox, and are properly prepared.). Orthodoxy does not have the need to unite the existing patriarchates, and will keep its present system for many ages. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople presently has jurisdiction over the Greek Orthodox Archdioceses of America, Canada, Australia, and South America, as these are not yet self-headed. The Patriarch of Antioch shepherds the Antiochian Orthodox around the world. Outside of the central core of the Orthodox Church, primarily the Eastern Mediterranean, the Balkans, and up into Russia, there are no single national and autocephalous Orthodox Churches -- they all have a patriarch or metropolitan somewhere else outside (the Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church in America does not have jurisdiction over most Orthodox churches in the US.). In America, there is a peculiar canonical anomaly caused by the Russians missionizing via Alaska, and the Greeks, Arabs and others coming from the East, resulting in bishops with overlapping jurisdictions. Throw in the Russian and Greek revolutions, and the politics of it all increased the problems. The various patriarchs just this year gave the bishops in those situations (America/Canada, Mexico & South America, etc.) marching orders to straighten out the mess, and to organize themselves according to Orthodox canons, so that there is only one bishop per city. Blessings. /Orthodox
3 :
"Greek" and "Russian" stand for nation, language, culture, and tradition. + The Catholic Church + Actually there are over 20 different Catholic Churches that make up the worldwide Catholic Church. In addition to the Latin Rite (Roman) Catholic Church, the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches are in full communion with the Pope, and are part of the same worldwide Catholic Church. Eastern Rite Catholic Churches include: Alexandrian liturgical tradition • Coptic Catholic Church • Ethiopic Catholic Church Antiochian (Antiochene or West-Syrian) liturgical tradition • Maronite Church • Syrian Catholic Church • Syro-Malankara Catholic Church Armenian liturgical tradition: • Armenian Catholic Church Chaldean or East Syrian liturgical tradition: • Chaldean Catholic Church • Syro-Malabar Church Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) liturgical tradition: • Albanian Byzantine Catholic Church • Belarusian Greek Catholic Church • Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church • Byzantine Church of the Eparchy of Križevci • Greek Byzantine Catholic Church • Hungarian Greek Catholic Church • Italo-Albanian Catholic Church • Macedonian Greek Catholic Church • Melkite Greek Catholic Church • Romanian Church • Russian Byzantine Catholic Church • Ruthenian Catholic Church • Slovak Greek Catholic Church • Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13121a.htm + The Orthodox Church + The Orthodox Churches are even more numerous and complicated than the Catholic Churches: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodox_Church#Orthodox_churches_.28churches_in_full_communion.29 With love in Christ.
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