Questions for Catholics and Orthodox

[Ernie]

A question for Catholics...

Are there any positions held by the Holy See that you disagree with? If yes, what are they, and how might an adherent go about appealing for consideration?

[Ernie]

A question for Orthodox...

Are there any Orthodox positions that you disagree with?

Are Orthodox adherents expected to agree with and promote the positions of the patriarchate of which they are a part, or are they free to take the position of a different patriarchate if they wish?

[MaxPC]

This is a question for both Catholics and Orthodox.

Do you feel comfortable referring to a priest as "Father __________"?
or the pope as "Most Holy Father"

As a cradle Catholic I have been accustomed to addressing priests in this manner my entire life. In my perception it is a term similar to uncle & aunt; mum & dad.

If yes, how do you square that with...

“Call no man your Father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven” (Matt. 23:9).

and what do you think Jesus intended when he gave this instruction?

At the risk of boring all, I will simply link my answer I posted previously.
viewtopic.php?p=223737#p223737

A question for Catholics...

Are there any positions held by the Holy See that you disagree with? If yes, what are they, and how might an adherent go about appealing for consideration?

In the RCC, the Deposit of Faith is the only required mandate for belief and practice as a member of the RCC and I completely agree with it. The Bible, the Beatitudes; the Ten Commandments; the Nicene Creed; the seven sacraments including the teachings regarding the Eucharist make up much of that Deposit of the Faith.

The rest such as devotional practices, etc are optional meaning that there is the individual’s freedom to choose which devotional practices and charisms best help the individual as a disciple of Christ. These are optional and are not mandated to be a faithful member.

I rather envision these optional practices as a buffet that reflects all of the various cultures within the RCC. As to statements coming from the Vatican regarding geo-political affairs they are considered explorations in discerning current political reality. They are not binding on individual Catholics.

Hopefully this post is easy to understand. Hopefully this is of help.

[Valerie]

This subforum I hope helps me understand where EO & Roman Catholics shared same views since the beginning

Protestants seem to lack some understanding of Mary it seems.

2 questions:
1. When Jesus was on the Cross, in John 19:26-27:

When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother "Woman, behold your son!" 27 Then He said to the disciples, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

The Orthodox Study Bible says in footnote: our Lord symbolically establishes Mary's role as mother of all faithful disciples in every generation.

Do Catholics agree with the way we are to see her as mother of the Church? Obviously when Jesus said this He knew there was not a blood relationship there. In conversation about this with a lady at our church that we are to see her symbolically as mother she got upset.
So was this moment the "start" of how we as Christians are to view Mary as mother? Or just John?

Also the history I read is that John and Mary went to live in Ephesus- am I right to remember this?

[MaxPC]

This subforum I hope helps me understand where EO & Roman Catholics shared same views since the beginning

Protestants seem to lack some understanding of Mary it seems.

2 questions:
1. When Jesus was on the Cross, in John 19:26-27:

When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother "Woman, behold your son!" 27 Then He said to the disciples, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

The Orthodox Study Bible says in footnote: our Lord symbolically establishes Mary's role as mother of all faithful disciples in every generation.

Do Catholics agree with the way we are to see her as mother of the Church? Obviously when Jesus said this He knew there was not a blood relationship there. In conversation about this with a lady at our church that we are to see her symbolically as mother she got upset.
So was this moment the "start" of how we as Christians are to view Mary as mother? Or just John?

Also the history I read is that John and Mary went to live in Ephesus- am I right to remember this?

The Orthodox Bible agrees with the Catholic perspective on Mary. The RCC notes that she is the First Christian Believer due to the message of the Archangel when Jesus was conceived; then reinforced in Luke 2 by the experiences of the shepherds. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Subsequently as the first Believer she is the adopted mother of all believers, the Church.

We also believe she was at Ephesus.

[Ernie]

We also believe she was at Ephesus.

Who is the "we"?

[MaxPC]

We also believe she was at Ephesus.

Who is the "we"?

In this context I use ‘we’ as in “Catholics”.

[Ernie]

We also believe she was at Ephesus.

Who is the "we"?

In this context I use ‘we’ as in “Catholics”.

Ok. Thanks. What is the basis for this belief and is there a percentage of Catholics who do not hold this belief?

[MaxPC]

Who is the "we"?

In this context I use ‘we’ as in “Catholics”.

Ok. Thanks. What is the basis for this belief and is there a percentage of Catholics who do not hold this belief?

We know that Mary lived with the apostles in Jerusalem after the Resurrection. Acts 1 relates that they all gathered in the upper room to pray.

One tradition has it that Mary simply stayed in Jerusalem the rest of her life.

The other tradition which has a larger following, has it that John went on to a small town outside of Ephesus where he resided with Mary and cared for her according to Jesus’ instructions (John 19:26-27). The ruins of a 4th century church was found to be built on top of a house which in turn, leads archeologists and scholars to believe deductively that is where John and Mary resided until her death. 4th century churches were built upon holy sites.

As to the percentage of Catholics who hold or do not hold to this belief, I would say that a majority of Catholics are not even aware of, nor even think about, where Mary resided in her last days. Homilies are focused upon the Scripture lessons and do not often stray into traditions (with a lower case t). Most of the information about Catholic optional traditions are found in articles of periodicals that discuss Catholic history and cultures. A majority of the faithful do not read these periodicals that are written for specialty scholars.

[Ernie]

@Coifi

At the panel a year ago that you pulled together, the EO panelist made a comment something like "Constantine was a pretty good guy". From my study of that time period, I don't know how a person could conclude this. Do you share this conclusion? If so, what is your reasoning?

Video:
Audio: https://lifeq.org/wp-content/uploads/20 ... -MP3-1.mp3