Can a Catholic attend an Eastern Orthodox Church?
July 2, 2025 at 1:10 p.m.
Q: There's a really beautiful Eastern Orthodox Church in my neighborhood. Every time I pass by it, I always wonder, is this one of the Churches that Catholics can attend? (Ohio)
A: I think you might be confusing the Orthodox with Eastern Catholics. While the Orthodox have valid sacraments and very similar doctrinal teachings as Catholics – and even similar liturgies to many Eastern Catholic Churches – the Orthodox are not Catholic and do not acknowledge the authority of the Pope in Rome.
The Orthodox Churches came into being as a result of the "Great Schism" that occurred in the year 1054, when Pope St. Leo IX and the Patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated each other.
There are many complex historical reasons for this, but broadly speaking this division arose because of some theological differences with respect to the Nicene Creed, as well as a fundamental disagreement on the nature of the Pope's authority over the universal Church.
We consider the Orthodox Churches to be in "schism," which our current canon law, reflecting a consistent legal tradition, defines as: "withdrawal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or from communion with the members of the Church subject to him" (Canon 751).
However, the Orthodox Churches had and continue to have Apostolic succession, meaning that Orthodox priests and bishops, like Catholic priests and bishops, have been validly ordained by a long line of bishop predecessors that goes back to the time of the apostles in an unbroken chain.
Thus, although they are separated from us, the Orthodox still have valid sacraments. That is, their celebration of the sacrament "works," meaning that their sacraments have the effects – like really turning bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, or truly absolving sins in the sacrament of penance – that they are intended to have.
Because the Orthodox are separated from the Catholic Church by schism, under normal circumstances Catholics are not permitted to receive the sacraments at Orthodox Churches. Likewise, since the Orthodox are not Catholic, attending an Orthodox Eucharistic liturgy would not fulfill a Catholic's obligation to attend Mass on Sunday. (See Canon 1248, which specifies that the obligation is fulfilled by attending a Catholic Mass.) Although there is no prohibition against a Catholic simply attending an Orthodox liturgy without participating in its sacraments, as might happen if, for example, a Catholic was invited to the wedding of an Orthodox friend.
Additionally, our Catholic canon law does permit a Catholic to receive sacraments from an Orthodox priest in more extreme situations when the Catholic in question does not have access to a Catholic community and would otherwise go a long time without receiving any sacraments at all.
As we read in Canon 844, 2: "Christ's faithful for whom it is physically or morally impossible to approach a Catholic minister, may lawfully receive the sacraments of penance, the Eucharist and anointing of the sick from non-Catholic ministers in whose Churches these sacraments are valid."
But as a caveat, this is what the Catholic Church allows her own people to do; the Orthodox on the other side of such a situation might not permit Catholics to receive sacraments from them in such a case. Overall, these considerations are a reminder of the need for all of us to pray for greater Christian unity.
Circling back to Eastern Catholics, these are Catholic Churches that, while often having many cultural and liturgical similarities with some Orthodox Churches, are fully in union with Rome. Eastern Catholic Churches have their own distinct liturgies and traditions that differ from the Latin (or "Roman") Catholic customs that most of us in North America are more familiar with, and Eastern Catholics have their own separate canon law.
Still, for the most part, any Catholic, whether Latin or Eastern, is permitted to receive the sacraments in any Catholic Church of any ritual tradition. So if you are interested in learning more about Eastern Christian spirituality, you might see if there is an Eastern Catholic Church near you.
Jenna Marie Cooper, who holds a licentiate in canon law, is a consecrated virgin and a canonist whose column appears weekly at OSV News. Send your questions to [email protected].
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Q: There's a really beautiful Eastern Orthodox Church in my neighborhood. Every time I pass by it, I always wonder, is this one of the Churches that Catholics can attend? (Ohio)
A: I think you might be confusing the Orthodox with Eastern Catholics. While the Orthodox have valid sacraments and very similar doctrinal teachings as Catholics – and even similar liturgies to many Eastern Catholic Churches – the Orthodox are not Catholic and do not acknowledge the authority of the Pope in Rome.
The Orthodox Churches came into being as a result of the "Great Schism" that occurred in the year 1054, when Pope St. Leo IX and the Patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated each other.
There are many complex historical reasons for this, but broadly speaking this division arose because of some theological differences with respect to the Nicene Creed, as well as a fundamental disagreement on the nature of the Pope's authority over the universal Church.
We consider the Orthodox Churches to be in "schism," which our current canon law, reflecting a consistent legal tradition, defines as: "withdrawal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or from communion with the members of the Church subject to him" (Canon 751).
However, the Orthodox Churches had and continue to have Apostolic succession, meaning that Orthodox priests and bishops, like Catholic priests and bishops, have been validly ordained by a long line of bishop predecessors that goes back to the time of the apostles in an unbroken chain.
Thus, although they are separated from us, the Orthodox still have valid sacraments. That is, their celebration of the sacrament "works," meaning that their sacraments have the effects – like really turning bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, or truly absolving sins in the sacrament of penance – that they are intended to have.
Because the Orthodox are separated from the Catholic Church by schism, under normal circumstances Catholics are not permitted to receive the sacraments at Orthodox Churches. Likewise, since the Orthodox are not Catholic, attending an Orthodox Eucharistic liturgy would not fulfill a Catholic's obligation to attend Mass on Sunday. (See Canon 1248, which specifies that the obligation is fulfilled by attending a Catholic Mass.) Although there is no prohibition against a Catholic simply attending an Orthodox liturgy without participating in its sacraments, as might happen if, for example, a Catholic was invited to the wedding of an Orthodox friend.
Additionally, our Catholic canon law does permit a Catholic to receive sacraments from an Orthodox priest in more extreme situations when the Catholic in question does not have access to a Catholic community and would otherwise go a long time without receiving any sacraments at all.
As we read in Canon 844, 2: "Christ's faithful for whom it is physically or morally impossible to approach a Catholic minister, may lawfully receive the sacraments of penance, the Eucharist and anointing of the sick from non-Catholic ministers in whose Churches these sacraments are valid."
But as a caveat, this is what the Catholic Church allows her own people to do; the Orthodox on the other side of such a situation might not permit Catholics to receive sacraments from them in such a case. Overall, these considerations are a reminder of the need for all of us to pray for greater Christian unity.
Circling back to Eastern Catholics, these are Catholic Churches that, while often having many cultural and liturgical similarities with some Orthodox Churches, are fully in union with Rome. Eastern Catholic Churches have their own distinct liturgies and traditions that differ from the Latin (or "Roman") Catholic customs that most of us in North America are more familiar with, and Eastern Catholics have their own separate canon law.
Still, for the most part, any Catholic, whether Latin or Eastern, is permitted to receive the sacraments in any Catholic Church of any ritual tradition. So if you are interested in learning more about Eastern Christian spirituality, you might see if there is an Eastern Catholic Church near you.
Jenna Marie Cooper, who holds a licentiate in canon law, is a consecrated virgin and a canonist whose column appears weekly at OSV News. Send your questions to [email protected].