orthodox catholic church of america

I am a Catholic and I married my husband, in a Russian Orthodox Church in America. I signed a form that agreed to raise my children Russian Orthodox. We also performed a baptism and first communion in the Orthodox church.

However, now we live in an area where there isn’t a Russian Church and I am a member of a very strong local Catholic Church and community. I would like to have my child participate in the Catholic church and the sacrament of communion.

Some questions I have:
-Is there an “agreement” between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church recognizing baptism and first communion? If so, what is this agreement or canon law referenced as?
-If there is not an agreement, must we convert the child to Catholism to participate in the sacrament of communion and attend the church?
-If they have already had first communion in the Orthodox church, do they need to go through the sacrament of first communion again at the Catholic Church?

No, your husband and son may not receive communion in a Roman Catholic church, nor may any member of any Orthodox church because Orthodox churches are not in full communion with the Catholic Church. Only Roman Catholics may receive Roman Catholic communion. Your child may be received into the Roman Catholic Church if he expresses the sincere wish and fulfills whatever may be required, but first you would have to repent your sinful promise to raise him outside the faith and then have your illicit marriage reconciled to the Catholic Church in whose eyes you are not validly married at all. Until such time, you yourself should not be receiving communion. I do not write this to insult you, but merely to inform you as you have requested of the Catholic Church's teaching. Sadly, you may be on a collision course with your husband's beliefs (as you know). God bless you.

P.S. The Catholic Church recognizes all valid Christian baptisms provided they can be documented.

2008-07-22 23:50:44 by teaching_teacher

HISTORY of AMERICA America#39;s Political and Religious Foundations www.angelfire.com If you think the Catholic Inquisition was a thing of the ...

The Orthodox Church in America is not "anti-Catholic."

While Orthodoxy is not in communion with Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy rejects the notion that Roman Catholicism is the "other half" of the Church, this, coupled with the fact that Orthodox doctrine rejects certain teachings unique to Roman Catholicism -­ papal supremacy and infallibility, the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, to name a few -- does not mean that the Orthodox Church is "anti-Catholic."

Orthodox Christianity sees itself as the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church established by Christ and handed down to us through the apostles and the unbroken Tradition of the People of God. While there may be some Orthodox Christians who might be looked upon as "anti-Catholic," this does not mean that Orthodoxy pursues an "anti-Catholic" or "anti-anything-else" approach as official policy.

It is the fervent prayer of the Orthodox Church that all people -­ Roman Catholic, unchurched, whatever -­ might some day be united to the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church of Christ. Until that becomes a reality, we continue to pray for unity while, at the same time, rejecting any notion that Orthodox Christianity is just one of many "branches" or "expressions" of Christianity. To believe this would be to reject our understanding of Orthodoxy as the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.

The name Catholic comes from the Greek "kathalikos" and is part of the Nicene Creed as well as many ancient Church writings. Your commentary about stealing the name shows your lack of understanding of the history of The Church. If anything it would be more accurate to say the Latins stole the name for their new church when they left the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church a thousand years ago.

Regarding being brothers, does the Pope recognize the various Orthodox Bishops as brothers, equal in all ways? No, he is the Vicar of Christ, God on Earth and supreme leader of all Bishops in the Catholic view. We may have come from the same roots but the history of Catholic Orthodox Christianity speaks for itself regarding this "brothers" fantasy. By the way, when will our "brothers" return all the treasures sacked from Agia Sophia by our loving "brothers" so long ago?

Excellent introduction in the question can't really add anything to it.

2007-06-26 17:46:43 by Jacob Dahlen

Price: $14.14 $14.14

You are a Roman Catholic and you are thinking of converting to the Orthodox Church, why would you think of renouncing the Faith of your Fathers, your Faith was won by the blood of Marty's..it did not come cheap.. Please talk to a priest or someone you can trust about your feelings.. Read Pope John Paul's II "Threshold of Hope". Read the lives of the Saints, there is so much good fruit and learning from their lives, and how the Holy Spirit guided them and taught them.. If you can find this book online in one of the Bookstores, please do... it is Called "The Bones of St Peter", It is a marvelous old book and you will learn so much about the beginning of the Catholic Church and about St. Peter as head of the beginning Church and his burial place in Rome, and how and when his burial place was discovered. Jesus gave the keys to His Church on Earth to St. Peter.. .Please read this book.. Peace and God's Blessing to you.

2006-12-30 21:58:44 by rickpowerasia

Price: $20.00 $20.00

Im a junior and looking to go to grad school in a few semesters. Im looking to get my doctorate in some sort of Catholic Theology. I know about Franciscan University at Stubenville Ohio and Catholic University of America in DC, but Im just wondering if anyone else knows of any good ones or anything more about these. Im looking for a solid Catholic education.

Thanks for your help.

P.S. Dont badger me about the Catholic Church or about Catholic doctrine. If you think Im a kook then just dont respond please.

The three best Catholic universities in the US are Notre Dame, Georgetown and Boston College.

Other good ones are Holy Cross, Marquette, Fordham and Villanova. There is a bit of a quality gap between the first & second group. There is a big drop off in quality after the second group.

These schools are all better than the ones you list -- though Catholic Unniversity may be better than the second group on the graduate level (in theology).

2007-08-23 16:52:03 by waltyeagan87

The Roman Catholics have no "Supreme" leader in America and many Orthodox denominations have followed the same example. Today, there is a coordinating council called SCOBA (http://www.scoba.us) but they are not a canonically recognized body. In fact, the concept of American Orthodox unity is viewed as a threat in Istanbul where the marginialized Patriarch Bartholomew is fearful of an American Orthodox church becoming more powerful than he is. Bartholomew's predecessors did not care nor did not understand the complexities. Some Evangelical Protestants were rejected by the Patriarch and his representatives in the US - but they were welcomed by the Antiochian church with open arms. What happens is that there are 3 large Orthodox jurisdictions (Greek, OCA, Antiochian) scavenging each other for resources, worshippers, et al with OCA and Antiochian doing a better job in conversions and mission building.
Even if and when Catholic and Orthodox reunite, there would be a jurisdictional issue between the Patriarch of Rome, the Patriarch of Constantinople and everyone else. The question is specifically focused on Orthodoxy in the USA.
The Church of Greece is Autocephalous and their leader is an Archbishop rather than a Patriarch.

A Patriarch serves as a spiritual leader based on Apostolic succession. The current Ecumenical Patriarch has been far more political than his predecessors - to the point of straining relationships with the other ancient Patriarchates plus Moscow.

A Patriarch of America would be "equal" to the other Patriarchs but the Ecumenical Patriarch would remain "first among equals" unless the 8th Ecumenical Council is convened to challenge this notion. Otherwise, I'm inclined to think that the Ecumeical Patriarch has become a replacement Byzantine Emperor in clear disagreement of the relationship between Church and State.
I would like to know what "error" has the converted evangelical Protestants introduced to the Antiochian Orthodox faith?

When Jesus told the disciples to preach the gospel to all nations before ascending into Heaven, surely he did not intend for a hodge podge of Orthodox sects, who believe in the same thing, to have jurisdictional and leadership issues. Surely, Jesus did not tell the disciples to preach in the Greek language or emphasize Greek heritage and culture. Many of Bartolomew's predecessors died a martyr's death for sticking to their beliefs. The weakened Catholic church will eventually throw away the concept of Filoque, primacy and infallibility seeing that all 3 are contributing more pain than anything else.

there you have it; you've answered your own question. Who would establish the patriarchate? the Greeks? (who don't have one in Greece) the Ecumenical Patriarchate? the Antiochans? The Russians? The Serbs?
most Americans prefer autocephaly like the Antiochans and the OCA, I suspect. There are enough over-seas Patriarchs (and home grown nut-'Patriarchs') too satisfy any desire to be as good as the old country.

2007-06-17 19:18:32 by Bob