So...Catholicism vs. Orthodoxy...I really don't know much about the beliefs of Orthodox Christians, but living in a country where 95% of the people consider themselves Orthodox Christians, I figured I probably should start learning. I know the break happened in 1054 with the Great Schism. I'm not going to go into all that because then this post will be the longest blog post ever. If you want to know what that is, Google it.
Living in a country that used to be part of the Eastern Block and under Communism until 1989 means that pretty much what happened was people were told to convert to Orthodox Christianity or die. Most people did so. Some did not and were killed. Some remained Catholic and went to underground churches and still others converted back to Catholicism after the fall of Communism.
My first question was about the liturgy of the Orthodox. It's called the Divine Liturgy just like it is in the Byzantine rite of Catholicism and Fr. Remus told me that because I don't speak too much Romanian yet, I wouldn't know the difference between the Byzantine liturgy and the Orthodox liturgy. There are VERY minor differences in some of the words of the liturgy and that's about it.
Something I have noticed though...I have been in Romania 6 weeks now and I have yet to see the Orthodox priests. Yes, I work with the Catholic priest, so I see him every day, but I asked him about it and he said that the Orthodox priests say the liturgy and then go back to their house and that's pretty much it. The Orthodox people will actually ask Fr. Remus questions because they don't see their own priests as much. Fr. Remus makes a conscious decision to walk to and from Liturgy in his cassock. He wants people to be able to approach him and they do. I've seen is countless times.
Fr. Remus said that each week, fewer and fewer people are going to the Orthodox Liturgy and they are going to the Pentecostal church. A few of them have come to the Catholic church and some have continued to come. But, here's where the hatred comes in. People in this town talk. Everyone knows everyone's business, even what you buy at the store. It's crazy. It's happened on multiple occasions where someone has come to our church and is seen by someone else. The Orthodox priests then get word and reprimand the person. It's not a physical reprimand like it used to be, but it's some very harsh words.
This is just something that I have been thinking about since I got here. The difference is so little and yet so much.
Today, we went to Mariapocs, Hungary to a Byzantine church with a miraculous icon held within it. It was a long day...I was up at 5:15am (ughhhhhhhh...) and we drove 3 hours with a bus full of Romanians to a humble little town of about 2,800 people. The church is BEAUTIFUL!
Just visiting the blog. So thankful for what you are doing! You will be in my prayers! Just a thought - are you sure the Catholic Church doesn't view the sacraments in the Orthodox Church as valid? From my understanding, the Orthodox Church has apostolic succession and therefore all their sacraments are valid. It was even decided at VII that in certain situations, where Catholic Churches are rare,with the approval of the local bishop, the faithful are allowed to receive the Eucharist in an Orthodox Church, and vice versa. Just a thought. Many Blessings!
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