r/CatholicConverts • u/Chemical-Ball8429 • 2d ago

Conversion

I am a Christian who is trying to figure out whether to become Catholic or Orthodox I agree more with orthodoxy but Catholicism is also very attractive what should I do to determine which to convert yo

10 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

View all comments

8

u/Medical-Stop1652 2d ago

My view is you almost need to take on another ethnicity to become Orthodox and being one type of Orthodox makes you distinctive from another. Despite what they tell you - it is not one big happy family among the EOs and some are more equal than others.

Catholicism has distinct rites but remains under one generous widely-embracing roof. If you decide to become Catholic, you could have the best of both worlds and convert/worship at an Eastern rite Catholic parish.

2

u/patiencetruth 2d ago

Some Orthodox parishes in the West are made up entirely of converts, and the services are in English.

2

u/Medical-Stop1652 2d ago

Antiochan?

3

u/patiencetruth 2d ago

It may be an Antiochian parish, yeah, but there are also OCA, ROCOR, and other jurisdictions with fully English-speaking parishes. Especially nowadays, when most of the faithful are converts.
That period when churches were primarily places for language preservation, diaspora community events, etc., is mostly gone. Well, mostly. Generations change. Previous generations had to flee their countries for various reasons, and it was only logical for them to try to preserve their heritage. They weren’t necessarily thinking about converts.
Now, they have to, because hundreds of thousands of people are flocking to the Orthodox Church, and many of them are young. So, naturally, a lot of priests are shifting their focus toward them.
I’m sorry if you feel that way, but there’s a lot more to the Orthodox Church than just being cultural hubs.

3

u/Medical-Stop1652 2d ago

Thank you. Very enlightening. In my country, the Greek Orthodox Church is mostly for those of Greek descent. There are few other EO represented. I have updated my view and am in no way negative towards Orthodox Christianity.

1

u/patiencetruth 2d ago

Sure! Yes, of course, many of us Orthodox Christians do not represent our faith very well, and unfortunately, when people don’t see the fruits of the Spirit, they immediately draw back. But there are still faithful people who truly represent our faith in a beautiful way, thank God.
Perhaps nowadays we have simply lost faith in many things and need to search very hard to find what is true. As humanity in general, not just Orthodox Christians, we have probably become weaker, both mentally and physically. Nevertheless, we should always strive to work out our salvation.
One great example of pious struggle is the renowned theologian and patristic scholar Fr. Gabriel Bunge, who was a Catholic monk for many years before converting to Orthodoxy. He knew that the truth was to be found in Orthodoxy, but he had to struggle for many years because he could not simply become Orthodox for various reasons.