u/venesia123

I don't get it - why?

Why do African kids have to wave a flag which they have no connection with?

Why do they have to sing a Greek national anthem on every major holiday connected to Greece?

Just to be clear - I don't think that the example in the photo is necessarily bad, but why not try to preserve their identity and culture instead of making them adopt Greek one?

I remember one African priest (or even a bishop), convert to Greek Orthodoxy who proudly said "We are Greeks" with Greek flags all around.

Since when is Christianity an ethnoreligious group?

This whole process of making people praise the country they have no connection with was always weird to me.

I don't know about Russian missions in Africa, but I've seen numerous videos of Africans in Greek costumes, waving Greek flags, singing anthem, dancing folk dances...Liturgy is often in Greek (which is different from Catholics and Protestants who actually translate Services to local languages).

I'm interested in your opinions...is this just another "ethnic club" situation?

Maybe my opinion is completely wrong and this is actually better than rejecting people as some parishes do 🤔 On the other hand, this might slowly replace the native culture of these people which is also weird.

Not sure about the whole thing, but why can't Church simply spread Christianity without national stuff?

Are the flags on schools and orphanages truly that necessary?

This is not a post against Fr. Seraphim Rose, but against one toxic trait among some Orthodox.

I cannot stand judging people based on their appearance...it's so common nowadays in the Church. Whenever some cleric says something "bad" (or acts like an ecumenist, God forbid!), individuals will immediately find some photo where they look "scary" and say stuff like "It was clearly visible in the eyes"...wtf?

There are literally photos of this man when he was younger, he looked like a completely normal person, but no, let's use one photo where guy could pass as "movie villain" to prove that our faith changed him for the better.

I know numerous people who completely stopped taking care of themselves after converting or returning, because "they don't care about worldly appearance anymore" and somehow, those guys are never mentioned.

Sorry for the rant, I just don't like the whole "you will be changed" narrative.

Žumberak je planina nedaleko od Zagreba, na granici sa Slovenijom.

U 16. veku, ovaj kraj naseljavaju uskoci sa područja istočne Hercegovine, Crne Gore, Raške i severne Albanije - pravoslavno stanovništvo koje je pozvano da brani Vojnu krajinu pod Habsburškom monarhijom.

U 17. veku primaju uniju i postaju grkokatolici - katolici vizantijskog obreda, identičnog onom koji se koristi u Pravoslavnoj Crkvi.

Vremenom, uz unijaćenje, počinje i odnarođivanje - neki postaju Hrvati, neki Slovenci, ali ipak, u selu Radatovići i okolnim zaseocima, Srbi.

I dalje svaka porodica ima krsnu slavu. Stavljam link u opis da se malo pogledaju i prezimena.

Ovim pitanjem se bavio i pukovnik JNA Dragan Vukšić (i sam rođen u Žumberku), koji je napisao knjigu "Žumberački uskoci".

Knjiga je izazvala lavinu reakcija od strane hrvatskih vlasti jer jasno prikazuje duh tih ljudi nekada - od krsne slave, preko imena poput Miloš, Dušan, Jovo i Stevo, pa do navijanja za Zvezdu i Partizan.

Koliko vas je čulo za ove ljude? Zanimljivo je da su u Beloj Krajini - preko reke Kupe u Sloveniji, isti potomci Uskoka ostali pravoslavni i nazivaju se Srbima (sela Marindol, Adlešiči, Miliči, Paunovići). Nisu sklapali brakove sa Žumberčanima zbog verske razlike.

Veliki broj Žumberačkih Srba je kasnije naseljen u Slavoniju i Vojvodinu (Kljajićevo, Sonta), a deo se odselio u Sloveniju. Danas su većinom etnički Hrvati, pa se o njima malo govori među srpskim istoričarima.

Link s popisom porodicnih prezimena i krsne slave:

https://www.zumberacki-vikarijat.com/krsne-slave-zumberackih-uskoka/

Link za PDF cele knjige "Žumberački Uskoci":

https://snv.hr/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/vuksic.pdf

Koliko znate o ovoj "izgubljenoj" frakciji srpskog etničkog korpusa?

Hello guys!

Seeing some of the comments here made me interested about those who converted to (Eastern) Catholicism. Not only Byzantine and Latin style, but including all rites (Western and Eastern Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopian...).

Basically, what were your experiences?

Every now and then, I get a wish to give it a try, but I'm scared because my whole life, I've listened about "Evil Vatican Uniates" and every single contact between Orthodox and Catholics is seen as a sign of potential "Unia".

Everything I was taught about Catholics from our monks is how Crusaders sacked Constantinople, Filioque is a heresy, Pope is a CIA agent, modernism, everything is gay and one that I could never accept - no Grace present in their churches.

Now, before one asks "why would one switch to a basically same thing", there are numerous differences from my perspective, most notably:

• lack of ethnocentrism
• much bigger involvement in charity work (from soup kitchens to volunteering in medical fields)
• education; opening schools and colleges
• much more opened towards dialogue with other Christians
• youth groups are a common thing
• much more open towards different ideas and theological views
• clergy is much more educated (Catholics MUST have theology masters degree, Orthodox can become ordained only with high school and strong family ties)...
• Canon Law and Catechism make things more clear (no Re-baptism or "Corrective Baptism", no opposing views, no specific viewpoints influenced by individual Elders etc.).

I am still Orthodox and pretty much tied to it because of my ethnicity, just writing this makes me feel like a traitor, but I cannot ignore the fact that I feel like an ethnic club closed community weirdo, while Catholics (and Protestants) do everything they can to spread the Gospel and help people. While they feed the poor, we spend money on folk / ethnic festivals.

Keep in mind - this is NOT preaching, rather some kind of venting - expressing how I see things which I'm supposed to ignore. Maybe I am completely wrong and became a typical "grass looks greener on the other side" person.

Every Orthodox in the "old country" or a cradle in diaspora knows very well what it means to change Orthodoxy for Catholicism, so I am truly interested in how people manage to overcome the threats and fear. Most people around me would judge me simply for attending, let alone converting.

Tldr; all those who became Eastern Catholics (or Catholics in general), especially cradles - what were the biggest and most obvious differences and how did you overcome the fear of things like "If you leave Orthodoxy for Latin heresy, you will lose Salvation" and similar things we hear every now and then from our Orthodox priests.

That's it - sorry, I know, some people don't like questions like this one, but this is something many ex-Orthodox get judged or even disowned for, so I truly want to get honest answers. Ethnic stuff and national supremacy is driving me crazy.

If I ask this in Orthodox sub, I will get judged for "belittling" our Church - while on the Catholic sub, I will get only one sided answers.

Thank you in advance and all the best to everyone on this sub - regardless of the path you've chosen.