Hi
You said, "...but is it *true* communion when there is dissent among the body. I find it hard to believe that no one cares if the Greeks and Russians celebrate the Nativity and so many other pertinent feasts at comepletely different times."
Well... no one has suggested that no one cares about this. However, it is far more important, as I've already indicated, to make certain that one is in communion with the vast majority of Orthodox Christians rather than a part of a schismatic, splinter group. If it is an issue with you as a possible potential convert, then I would strongly suggest you embrace Orthodoxy through one of the canonical Old Calendar jurisdictions (i.e. Ukrainian, Moscow Patriarchate, Carpatho-Russian, etc.) and not ROCOR or the so-called "t"rue Church of Greece. That way the calendar issue is resolved for you AND you are in communion with the rest of Orthodox Christians throughout the world.
"There is something going on rotten in the heiarchy; why don't they care about these things!! "
I find this disparaging statement somewhat rude, particularly coming from someone who is not Orthodox and has only a limited knowledge of the Orthodox Church. Would you take kindly to a seeker who enters a Roman Catholic board only to make disparaging remarks concerning the rotteness of the papacy? Please do not be so quick to cast a judgment upon the hierarchs of the Orthodox Church based upon the websites of schismatics.
"How can they even ponder entering into communion with Rome when they are not even in communion amongst themselves!!"
Again, this is your personal judgment. Orthodoxy has no intention of relinquishing anything to achieve unity with Rome. It is Rome who wandered from the path of truth and before there can be any unity, Rome will have to correct its course. There "IS" unity among all canonical Orthodox churches and even among the splinter groups, in terms of the doctrines and dogma of the Church.
"By the ROCOR "splintering", as you justifiably say, they are merely taking a vigilant stand in the hope of rallying and awakening the faithful."
WRONG! There is NO justifiable excuse for schism. St John Chrysostom says that schism is worse than heresy. The ROCOR is a scandal to the Orthodox world and as such we need to pray for our bretheren in the ROCOR who are no doubt faithful but pawns in the hands of their own hierarchs who have vested interests in keeping them separated. The ROCOR has recently undergone yet another sorry splintering... a sure sign that it is under the judgment of the Lord..
As to the history of the calendar, I can only share with you a bit of what I know. Back in the 1920's the Anglican Church was seeking admission to Orthodoxy. The Patriarch of Constantinople along with the majority of other Orthodox jurisdictions, adopted the Gregorian Calendar as an inducement for the Anglicans to make that conversion a bit easier. Yes, there were other reasons, but this was the primary issue. The fact is, we are only "New" Calendar outside the Great Fast, Pascha and on up to Pentecost. During this time the "New" Calendar churches revert to the Julian Calendar and all the Orthodox world is one.
You would only notice the difference during the Nativity. Oh... there is a difference in the times in which feasts are celebrated and the Saints commemorated. But in truth, there is little practical difference. I'll have more to say about this in another post.
james
