Catholic seriously considering Orthodoxy
About a year ago, I decided I wanted to join an Apostolic Church. At first, I was drawn to Orthodoxy, and for the first time in years I attended Divine Liturgy. I loved it, but I was also seriously considering Catholicism.
After about a month of attending Mass and seeing some friends begin RCIA, I turned away from Orthodoxy. Looking back, I think I came up with a lot of weak reasons not to pursue it, and I was confirmed in the Catholic Church this past Easter.
Since then, I’ve continued studying Church history, and the more I study, the more I feel I may have made the wrong decision. I’m really struggling with the doctrine of the papacy, and I’d appreciate some advice from you all.
The biggest objections I can’t get past are:
-The “Papal Circle”: it seems like the papacy is often proven by councils and doctrines whose authority already depends on accepting the papacy.
-First Council of Constantinople was held without papal approval or participation, yet Catholics still accept it as ecumenical.
-I don’t see clear evidence for Vatican I’s universal jurisdiction or papal infallibility in the first millennium.
-The condemnation of Pope Honorius seems difficult to reconcile with later Catholic claims.
-Canon 3 of Constantinople I appears to base Rome’s primacy on imperial status rather than divine institution.
-Papal authority looks like a historical development rather than something universally recognized from the beginning.
-St. Gregory Palamas’ essence-energies distinction seems to expose problems with the Catholic understanding of Absolute Divine Simplicity.
-Also the fact that Gregory Palamas’s ideas were condemned by the Catholic Church, and now Eastern Catholic are allowed to venerate him. It seems like a contradiction, because EED and Absolute Divine Simplicity are not merely semantics, but fundamental truths about God.
I’ve already confessed my “schismatic behavior” with my priest and most of my points he literally agreed with or couldn’t answer. So that makes Catholicism even harder for me to stand behind.
Thank you for any input or advice, I’m going to Divine Liturgy tomorrow to speak with an Orthodox Priest and see what he thinks.