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one until they began to fragment in the 10th century and finally separate in the 14th century (over political reasons, not spiritual or of the faith).

Theologically there is not much difference between the two. However, there is one basic attitude difference….namely, the West (RC) practices with a God “that’s gonna getcha if you don’t watch out and the church is here to protect you”. The East believes in a God of Love who wants to grant us life and that abundantly…..but here the bulk of the responsibility lies with the individual and not the church. The clergy are to be used as a resource and guide on a course upon which both laity and clergy are embarked. This has caused the Western church to be more controlling and, yes, even dictatorial. That is not to say that the East has not fallen into the same trap from time to time but the underlying truth is the love of God who gave His only Son for our sins. Our sins being those things that separate us from God and not the many, often superficial, things that are taught to be sins.

It is not difficult to see that a church that makes major effort to be controlling would need to be skillful at covering up those happenings that are less than desirable in followers of Jesus Christ. This has become tragically evident today. It is no different than ourselves when we start to cover up something and get in deeper and deeper until it hits the fan and is all over the barn.

So, being Orthodox Catholics dedicated to letting God the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit use us in any way they see fit, we try to live a life as God has asked us to do. We are not always successful, but God knows that and provides forgiveness (Grace) upon our genuine repentance and pledge to try not to sin again. It is in this vein that Holy Communion is so important for we believe (as all Catholics do) in the ‘real’ presence of our Lord in the consecrated Body and Blood. Again, the Orthodox Catholic attitude towards this, and all the Sacraments, is not to attempt to dissect them or explain them logically but to simply call them Mysteries and how He does it is God’s business….ours is to obey and partake of the Divine Nature.