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Originally Posted by TefferTWH  I think many more Catholics are evolving into more traditional Catholics. Our parish has many families more like this, but not obviously orthodox, just RC. Maybe RC varies more from parish to parish? I don't know.
I do know that the Orthodox Catholics I know are much more lax than we are. Sporadic church attendence, violating basics like the use of fertility treatments or selecting Christian godparents (in the case I'm thinking of, the priest gave his blessing to a non-practicing Jew and an angry athetist), so I'm thinking that it might vary from parish to parish like RC? Again, I don't know.
Please explain filioque...
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Just like among the RCs, you've got some flaky priests among the Orthodox. In my Orthodox parish (OCA), we've got a cradle Orthodox woman who was married to a Jew in the Orthodox Church - in a parish somewhere else - NOT mine! BIG no-no - it's a more modern thing to allow an Orthodox to get married to a non-Orthodox Christian (HAS to be baptized in the name of the Trinity, not just "in the name of Jesus" or "Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier" like you get among some Protestants nowadays), but unlike in the RCC, getting married in the Orthodox Church to someone who is not a baptized in the Trinity Christian (whether pagan, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, etc.) ain't supposed to happen. The priest who married this woman and her Jewish husband was defrocked for doing it, among some other things.
Just like among the RCs, you'll find some people (particularly those who are closer to their ethnic identity), who think, "If I'm X ethnicty [Greek, Russian, Serbian, etc.], the kids HAVE to be baptized." It's more like magic to them. Unfortunately, there are some priests who don't question the choice of godparents. They're not considered to be folks who will help the parents raise the child in the faith, but more along the lines of a favorite uncle and auntie, or good friends of the parents.
I grew up Catholic, am 40, and I can tell you that many of the Catholics I know are VERY lapsed. They say they believe in God, but just can't be bothered to get to church. Aside from maybe Christmas and Easter. As for the fertility treatments thing - I consistently read that only 5% of Catholics follow RCC teaching on birth control and use NFP instead.
Arduinna, you need to read an additional section in
The Orthodox Church: pp. 210-218, on the Trinity. The most relevant portion is on page 212:
The Orthodox position is based on John XV, 26 (John 15:26), where Christ says: 'When the Comforter has come, whom I will send to you from the Father - the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father - He will bear witness to Me.' Christ sends the Spirit, but the Spirit proceeds from the Father: so the Bible teaches, and so Orthodoxy believes. What Orthodoxy does not teach, and what the Bible does not actually say, is that the Spirit proceeds from the Son.
An eternal procession from the Father and the Son: such is the western position. An eternal procession of the Spirit from the Father alone, a temporal mission from the Son: such was the position upheld by St. Photius against the west. --from The Orthodox Church, p. 212.
The verse quoted was from the KJV, for a more modern translation (from the 2nd ed. Catholic RSV from Ignatius Press): "But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me." (John 15:26)
This is a prayer to the Holy Spirit that the Orthodox begin every service (and your prayers at home) with (I love it).
O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere present and fillest all things, Treasury of Blessings and Giver of Life: Come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.
Besides the theological issues involved, the Western Church took it upon itself to institute changes to the Creed - changes that can only be made by ecumenical council. The Orthodox consider this to be a Very Big Issue.
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