For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

This right here is a perfect example of what I mean when I say a lot of Eastern Orthodox go around pushing their personal opinions as if they’re the official dogmatic teaching of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Qai is basically claiming that EOs are obligated to believe that other churches, like the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Church, don’t have the mysteries of God (the holy sacraments). But Qai didn’t provide a universally binding source within Eastern Orthodoxy that says Catholics and Orientals don’t have valid sacraments. The reality is, there’s no official dogmatic position in Eastern Orthodoxy that denies the validity of Catholic and Oriental sacraments. It’s a divided issue among the Eastern Orthodox themselves, and people need to stop treating their personal take as if it’s what all Eastern Orthodox believe.

The Orthodox Church of America even admits Eastern Orthodox are divided on whether Catholics have valid sacraments or not:

“Concerning the Eucharist: Many Orthodox Christians do view the Roman Catholic Eucharist as the Body and Blood of Christ; others today would not subscribe to this. The answer is linked to whether one believes that Roman Catholicism is “with grace” or “devoid of grace.”
Concerning the “grace of the priesthood”: This is partially answered in point 1 above. The answer to this is also intimately linked on whether the Orthodox view Roman Catholicism as a body that is “with grace” or “devoid of grace.” Some Orthodox would say that Roman Catholic priests do possess grace; others would say that they do not.”
_
https://www.oca(dot)org/questions/romancatholicism/validity-of-roman-catholic-orders

The majority of Eastern Orthodox Churches accept the Balamand Document of 1993, which states that Catholics have valid sacraments:

"In fact, especially since the panorthodox Conferences and the Second Vatican Council, the re- discovery and the giving again of proper value to the Church as communion, both on the part of Orthodox and of Catholics, has radically altered perspectives and thus attitudes. On each side it is recognized that what Christ has entrusted to his Church - profession of apostolic faith, participation in the same sacraments, above all the one priesthood celebrating the one sacrifice of Christ, the apostolic succession of bishops - cannot be considered the exclusive property of one of our Churches. In this context, it is clear that any rebaptism must be avoided." - Balamand Document, Article 13

Here’s more:

🔸Eastern Orthodox synod affirming Catholics have valid sacraments

Holy Synod of Moscow (1903) -
“We believe in the sincerity of their faith in the Most Holy and Life-Giving Trinity and therefore we accept the baptism of both. We honor the apostolic succession of the Latin hierarchy and receive the clergy who come to our Church in their present dignity.”

🔸Eastern Orthodox saints who believed Catholics have valid sacraments:

Eastern Orthodox St. Theophan:

“We are private individuals; and in their opinions they must conform to the decision of the Orthodox Church. It seems that our Church is condescending to Catholics and recognizes the power of not only the baptism of the Catholics and other sacraments, but also the priesthood, which is very significant.” (Quoted from Sergei Fedorov, The Reality of Sacraments Outside the Church)

Eastern Orthodox St. Seraphim Sobolev:

“Among the errors of Vladimir Solovyov, one should also refer to his calling Catholicism the Church. Catholicism should be called a schism with heretical confession, due to which, although there is apostolic succession with the sacraments here, but the inner regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit is not effective for Catholics and, therefore, it does not regenerate and does not save them. Vladimir Soloviev is even more mistaken when he calls Protestantism the Church. There is no regenerating grace here at all, for there is no sacrament of holy chrismation and there is no apostolic succession.

Therefore, Protestantism , as an unauthorized gathering, is even farther away, than Latinism, from the Orthodox Church… although, according to the apostolic succession, the inner regenerating grace is communicated in Catholicism through the sacraments of baptism and chrismation. (Quoted from Valery Sinilschikov” St. Seraphim Bogucharsky on the reality of heretical sacraments)

Eastern Orthodox St. Philaret of Moscow:

“Mark you, I do not presume to call false any Church which believes that Jesus is the Christ. The Christian Church can only be either purely true, confessing the true and saving divine teaching 0without the false admixtures and pernicious opinions of men, or not purely true, mixing with the true and saving teaching of faith in Christ the false and pernicious opinions of men… but I just simply look upon them; in part I see how the Head and Lord of the Church heals the many deep wounds of the old serpent in all the parts and limbs of his Body, applying now gentle, now strong, remedies, even fire and iron, in order to soften hardness, to draw out poison, to clean wounds, to separate out malignant growths, to restore spirit and life in the numbed and half-dead members. In this way I attest my faith that, in the end, the power of God will triumph openly over human weakness, good over evil, unity over division, life over death.” (Quoted in Fr. Georges Florovsky, The Limits of the Church)

“Anyone baptized in the name of the Trinity is a Christian, no matter what confession he belongs to.”(Quoted from Sergei Fedorov, The Reality of Sacraments Outside the Church)

🔸Eastern Orthodox sources teaching Anglicans have a valid priesthood:

"Our Holy Synod, therefore, came to an opinion accepting the validity of the Anglican priesthood"
- Encyclical of Ecumenical Patriarch Meletius IV to the Primates of the Orthodox Churches, 1922

"Today, explaining this telegram, we inform Your Grace that the Holy Synod, having as a motive the resolution passed some time ago by the Church of Constantinople, which is the Church having the First Throne between the Orthodox Churches, resolved that the consecrations of bishops and ordinations of priests and deacons of the Anglican Episcopal Church are considered by the Orthodox Church as having the same validity which the Orders of the Roman Church have, because there exist all the elements which are considered necessary from an Orthodox point of view for the recognition of the grace of the Holy Orders from Apostolic Succession."
- Letter of Patriarch Damianos of Jerusalem to the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1923

"It being understood that the Apostolic Succession in the Anglican Church by the Sacrament of Order was not broken at the Consecration of the first Archbishop of this Church, Matthew Parker, and the visible signs being present in Orders among the Anglicans by which the grace of the Holy Spirit is supplied, which enables the ordinand for the functions of his particular order, there is no obstacle to the recognition by the Orthodox Church of the validity of Anglican Ordinations in the same way that the validity of the ordinations of the Roman, Old Catholic, and Armenian Church are recognized by her."
- Letter of Archbishop Cyril of Cyprus and his Synod to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, 1923

"The Church of Alexandria withdraws its precautionary negative to the acceptance of the validity of Anglican Ordinations, and, adhering to the decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, of July 28, 1922, pronounces that if priests, ordained by Anglican Bishops, accede to Orthodoxy, they should not be re-ordained, as persons baptized by Anglicans are not rebaptized."
- Letter of Patriarch Meletius of Alexandria and His Synod to the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1930

"[F]rom the historical point of view no obstacle exists to the recognition of the Apostolic succession of Anglican orders." - Resolution of the Synod of The Church of Romania on Anglican Orders, 1936

Brothers and sisters, please fast and pray that God will grant us another saintly Pope, not the one we deserve.

Today is the day to begin the Conclave Novena Prayer:

I kneel before you, O Virgin Mother of God, Our Lady of Guadalupe, the compassionate mother of all who love you, cry to you, seek you, and trust in you. I plead for the Church at a time of great trial and danger for her. As you came to the rescue of the Church at Tepeyac in 1531, please intercede for the Sacred College of Cardinals gathered in Rome to elect the Successor of Saint Peter, Vicar of Christ, Shepherd of the Universal Church. At this tumultuous time for the Church and for the world, plead with your Divine Son that the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, His Mystical Body, will humbly obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Through your intercession, may they choose the most worthy man to be Christ’s Vicar on earth. With you, I place all my trust in Him Who alone is our help and salvation. Amen. Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who trust in Thee, have mercy upon us! Our Lady of Guadalupe, Virgin Mother of God and Mother of Divine Grace, pray for us!

If you know, you know lol.

This was one of the biggest stumbling blocks that made me hesitant to become Catholic. But over time, I realized natural theology is deeply biblical and firmly backed by the Church Fathers and Doctors of the Church. Vatican II was right … I was wrong.

https://youtu.be/whBernptSkM?si=GUavMr-f1btvcqgo

St. Ephrem the Syrian on the Primacy of St. Peter:

“[Jesus said:] Simon, my follower, I have made you the foundation of the holy Church. I betimes called you Peter, because you will support all its buildings. You are the inspector of those who will build on earth a Church for me. If they should wish to build what is false, you, the foundation, will condemn them. You are the head of the fountain from which my teaching flows; you are the chief of my disciples. Through you I will give drink to all peoples. Yours is that life-giving sweetness that I dispense. I have chosen you to be, as it were, the firstborn in my institution so that, as the heir, you may be executor of my treasures. I have given you the keys of my kingdom. Behold, I have given you authority over all my treasures” [Homilies 4:1 (c. A.D. 353)].

This is deep bruh..

This is an old post I made about Vatican Il's statement that Muslims and Christians worship the same God. Since then, my understanding of the topic has grown a lot, so God willing, I'll be posting an updated version soon with more depth. I'll also show how this is actually a dogmatic belief for the Eastern Orthodox as well.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DJGEhyqMfhV/?igsh=aXJkYnBwMXJkN2o5