THE P RTAL
July 2015
over the centuries. For myself, I do not believe that
Orthodox and Catholics have a basically different
understanding of the Holy Spirit. We both believe that
he is the third person of the Trinity, equal to the other
two, so I don’t believe this is a fundamental question,
but other Orthodox might disagree with me!
“Other issues which have arisen over the centuries
concern a different understanding of the departed.
We Orthodox don’t use the word “Purgatory”, but we
do pray for the departed and we believe that these
prayers help them. Again, I don’t believe that this is
fundamental difference. Orthodox and Catholics also
differ over the Immaculate Conception. We Orthodox
consider that the Blessed Virgin Mary is indeed allHoly, that she was never guilty of personal sin, but we
believe that she was subject, like all the other persons
before the dispensation of Christ, to the effects of
Original Sin.
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time that a Pope and a Patriarch had met face to face
since 1438, at t H