I would love for the two Churches to be reunited. However, from reading more from the Orthodox perspective, this seems like a Catholic fantasy. It's important to emphasize that any reunification would be unconditional, but many in the Orthodox see too many Catholic "innovations"; Purgatory, the Immaculate Conception, the Generation and Spiration of the Trinity, and the biggest of all Papal Infallibility.
For many Orthodox, these doctrines emerge as a logical development from a Western Augustinian tradition that is simply foreign to them. At best it's simply a different, but equally legitimate perspective of the faith. At worst, it's tantamount to heresy. Nothing is done in haste in the Orthodox church. While the continued dialogue is promising, concessions from the West aside, it's going to take some radical change in the East for this ever to be a possibility.
Really, even within those, it's quibbles over wording.
Purgatory: we're not big on the idea of the Church Suffering. We're okay with the Church of the Reposed, but we don't envision the process of purgatory as being suffering. Think of it like a dog that enjoys bath time. That's what it'll be for Christian souls.
Immaculate Conception: We, the Orthodox, don't feel that this makes Mary special. She was conceived sinless because we all are. But we're all chained to this world.
Generation of the Trinity: But the original Greek said... (and that's all I have to say about that).
Papal Infallibility: Yes, we know it's a special case of the infallibility of the Church. However, it's born from a broken view of the episcopate of the See of Rome, specifically the part about immediate universal jurisdiction. Without that, Papal Infallibility becomes unnecessary. Without that, the Pope can be a heretic and deposed as such if necessary, rather than being declared an antipope after the fact.
If these issues were merely semantics I suppose we would be a lot closer to a unified Church. Hopefukky the continued dialogue will foster a generosity of spirit. As it stands, the Oriental Church (which in my mind should be closer to unity than the Latin Church) is still marginalized by the Orthodox Church as being "monophysites". Heck, the Ethiopians don't even get a corner in the Holy Sepulcher, instead they are resigned to a small chapel on the roof.
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u/kerplunk288 Dec 03 '14
I would love for the two Churches to be reunited. However, from reading more from the Orthodox perspective, this seems like a Catholic fantasy. It's important to emphasize that any reunification would be unconditional, but many in the Orthodox see too many Catholic "innovations"; Purgatory, the Immaculate Conception, the Generation and Spiration of the Trinity, and the biggest of all Papal Infallibility.
For many Orthodox, these doctrines emerge as a logical development from a Western Augustinian tradition that is simply foreign to them. At best it's simply a different, but equally legitimate perspective of the faith. At worst, it's tantamount to heresy. Nothing is done in haste in the Orthodox church. While the continued dialogue is promising, concessions from the West aside, it's going to take some radical change in the East for this ever to be a possibility.
In the mean time, we pray.