Hypothetical "Roman" Orthodox?

[drummerboy]

Just a hypothetical question or scenerio: if the main tenant if the Orthodox Church is the rejection of Petrine Primacy and Papal Infallibility, couldn't a Roman Catholic be a Roman Orthodox?  They would accept the bishop of Rome as just that, an equivalent of the Metropolitan of Moscow, and Constantinople, etc.  And accept the Roman practice as just part of how the Church grew in that culture?

[drummerboy]

Or would this be the Old Roman church's stance?

[Kent]

Just a hypothetical question or scenerio: if the main tenant if the Orthodox Church is the rejection of Petrine Primacy and Papal Infallibility, couldn't a Roman Catholic be a Roman Orthodox?  They would accept the bishop of Rome as just that, an equivalent of the Metropolitan of Moscow, and Constantinople, etc.  And accept the Roman practice as just part of how the Church grew in that culture?

This is called western Orthodoxy. Same principles of divergence as the eastern Orthodox, but western customs of expression (eg the discontinued Sarum and Gallican liturgical rites, among others). I don't know that much about it but from looking into it once, I developed the impression that western Orthodoxy doesn't date back to the great schism. Seems mostly to originate from various disaffected Catholics at relatively arbitrary points in history, which Catholics eventually would "enter communion with" the Eastern Orthodox.

These people have nothing to do with sedevacantism or sedevantists, as they reject the dogma of papal primacy altogether. Sedevacantists accept this doctrine, but reject the legitimacy of the recent claimants to the Roman See. Very big difference.

[LausTibiChriste]

Just a hypothetical question or scenerio: if the main tenant if the Orthodox Church is the rejection of Petrine Primacy and Papal Infallibility, couldn't a Roman Catholic be a Roman Orthodox?  They would accept the bishop of Rome as just that, an equivalent of the Metropolitan of Moscow, and Constantinople, etc.  And accept the Roman practice as just part of how the Church grew in that culture?

In reality, the differences between our two churches are far, far more nuanced than anyone likes to admit.

Latins will harangue about divorce, Purgatory etc without bothering to understand the Orthodox position.

Likewise, Orthodox will harangue about the Filioque, Papal Supremacy etc. without bothering to get into the nuances.


Drummerboy - to address your original question. I feel that pre-Vatican I the issue of Papal Primacy would be far down the list of issues. Only after VI and VII did the issue of the Papal office become such a "massive" issue.

[Michael Wilson]

The above stance is historically known by the group that called themselves "Old Catholics".

[drummerboy]

Thanks everyone for the replies