I am grateful for everyone’s replies on this thread. I have learned quite a bit from folks here!
Mina’s last response touches on the idea that even we on this thread might simply have such a different set of “tools” for communicating on these topic…
You probably know that the relationship of the Bishop of Rome, and of the Vatican in general, to the rest of the Catholic Church is a topic of discussion even among Catholics!
Really, “Church of Rome” probably isn’t the best of terms since, strictl…
@minasoliman: I don’t seem to be communicating effectively on this: it is not the same thing to acknowledge Orthodox sacraments as valid and to assert that there is no difference in (what we might call) “salvific potential”. We definitely do believe…
@minatasgeel, in your view, per the teachings of the Coptic Church, is there salvation for non-Coptic Oriental Orthodox Christians? (Now I am simply curious.) What of those whose views on marital unions with the Catholic Church are more permissive?
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@minasoliman: The fact that Rome accepts Orthodox sacraments does not mean that Rome thinks the Orthodox are “peachy” in all ways in relation to the faith; it merely reflects an acknowledgement that those things that we believe determine the essenti…
@minasoliman: Form determines the validity of the sacraments per se but is not the summation of all ecclesiological matter. The Roman position is that while the dogmatic differences are of serious concern, they are not per se a determinant of sacram…
“All Apostles, bishops, presbyters” … hmm? That doesn’t seem to be the Byzantine perspective; they seem to hold that the successor to Peter holds at least an honorary, if not juridical, position among brother bishops. And then there is the Gospel, “…
@minasoliman Now I'm curious.
For the Chalcedonian Orthodox there is indeed a concept of Petrine primacy, but one more like "primus inter pares" rather than a juridical primacy as the Bishop of Rome currently exercises.
Do the Oriental Orthodox no…
minasoliman:
I don’t know that Rome so much “considers some differences and ignores others” as that we acknowledge valid Apostolic succession in the Orthodox Churches in a way that Protestants cannot claim to have. I believe this is not new since t…
Hi minatasgeel,
Thank you for replying.
Regarding #1, are you sure that attendance at any Coptic liturgical service is forbidden for an excommunicate? I have attended Coptic services before; was I welcomed because I was merely an outsider—as oppos…