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Do you agree to the Council of Chalcedon? If not, please do not pretend to be a Christian.
Coptic Appreciation Thread
Lucas Scott
Nathaniel Sullivan
Yes brother, I agree with Chalcedon. You do know that we came to a consensus in both the 60s and the 90s with the Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox that we have the exact same Christology, no? The Schism should be over for decades now.
The Church I go to is brand new, only opened on October, before that we all went to the Eastern Orthodox cathedral with permission from our Bishop Youssef and took communion there and had access to all their sacraments thanks to the kindly generosity of their bishop. I have seen true Communion between the Churches. We are not different, you and I. It is only man-made Schism that keeps us apart, but God knows we are united in everything but a piece of paper saying such.
Jayden Reyes
I take no issue with you if you agree to Chalcedon then. But the vast majority of OO I know (which is only about 15 people, but still), including those at my own parish, reject Chalcedon. One even told me that he would rather be martyred than accept Chalcedon. And I also know a Copt who converted to Eastern Orthodoxy because he specifically rejects Oriental Orthodoxy.
Brayden Nguyen
That simply sounds like ignorance on their parts to me. They should study the Councils of the 60s and 90s brother!
suscopts.org
As the priest at the Eastern Orthodox Church I went to before our Church finally opened said, agreeing my own priest, "We share the same faith." I still do go to the Eastern Orthodox Church as well, as Bishop Youssef allows it. Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, this should not be a distinction except in regards to the region you live.
Jose Powell
The agreements in the 20th century were only recommendations. Until actual action is taken by our mutual bishops to enter back into communion, lift the anathemas, etc., we remain two separate communions, and it's up to individual bishops to figure out what to do.
I'm really happy to know that at least one OO and one EO bishop have entered back into communion though. But know that this is still an exception for now.
Jackson Hill
It is not just these 2 bishops. I have spoken to several priests of the Orthodox Church in America, and the Antiochian Orthodox Church of America and they also allow Copts to take full communion with them as well. Perhaps it is simply an American thing, but the Schism must end through individuals' love and care!
Cooper Anderson
AFAIK the only official move that has been taken since the 90's is that, now, the Antiochian Orthodox Church and the Syriac Orthodox Church recognize a shared sacrament of marriage, and when a bishop of either Church shows up at the other Church than his own, he is to be given the place of honor that would be for a bishop of that Church (so, for instance, a Syriac Orthodox bishop showing up at an Antiochian Orthodox church would be given the same honors as if he were an Antiochian Orthodox bishop, except for receiving communion).
I also believe that several EO jurisdictions have agreed to let OO commune if their bishop lets them, but since OO bishops won't let it happen for now it doesn't mean much.
Christopher Fisher
It's less that Coptic bishops WON'T, and more that they CAN'T. Explicitly because unlike the smaller Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Coptic Church is 1 big Church, kind of like Rome's. In order to let individual bishops allow that sort of thing, you would have to declare it for the whole Church. Which it seems the OCA and Antiochians do because of their size, but the Copts cannot.
I will tell you what my priest told me. The talks in the 90s were really escalating, and we were in fact set to reunify then and there. Yet some Elders on Mt. Athos vetoed the reunification, and talks have sadly died ever since. I would really like to know why those Elders did such a thing. I cannot find any info on it, but my priest knows those who were there, so I trust his word.
James Carter
As an EO, i like Mount Athos, and would love for it to become a pan-apostolic monastic state one day, but seriously, it's also a lair for semi-schismatic monks pushing their isolationist memes, and since we have a lot of respect for monks, rousing various devout, but naive believers in protest against the Church.
Speaking of you, i'd like to thank you guys for giving us the Desert Fathers and St. Anthony the Great(it's also funny seeing EO icons of old Patriarchs of Alexandria dressed in the coptic style)
Robert Hernandez
Oh come on now, let's be honest. It doesn't take long as an Orthodox here to get called a "schismatic", get accused of practicing "yoga", and have everyone misunderstand/belittle our theology as if it doesn't matter and we're just stubborn "Catholics minus the Filioque". Mods literally remove posts in Orthodox threads defending Orthodox positions from Catholics trying to derail our conversations. You're not wrong that this place is more hostile towards Protestants, but it's not like we don't get our own significant share of flack either.