Orthodoxy – Papism: Union or Return?

“I struggled to leave Papism and run to the truth, to the Light, to Orthodoxy. And now you want to take me back?”

Formerly a Papist, Now Orthodox and Anti-Papist | September 11, 2026

 

 

I experienced the worst that Papism could offer me. And when I decided to leave, it was not an easy decision. I faced hostility, rejection, and exclusion even from people in my own circle. I lost relationships, paid a price, and was left alone.

But I did not do it because I hated people.

I did it because I wanted the truth.

I no longer wanted to live within what my conscience now regarded as error.

I did not want to continue down a path that I believed did not lead to God. I sought the Church, the faith of the Fathers, the Light I had been seeking for so long.

And when I came to know Orthodoxy, I understood why that entire struggle had been worthwhile.

That is why it pains me today to hear talk of union between Orthodoxy and Papism without genuine agreement in faith having first been reached.

With which Papism do we wish to unite?

With Papism as a teaching, with its dogmatic innovations and its understanding of papal primacy? With everything that continues to divide us theologically?

And even more, how can we ignore the profound crisis we see in aspects of contemporary papal reality, especially when certain positions and practices raise serious moral and ecclesiological questions?

I am not saying that every Papist is a bad person. Far from it. There are sincere, devout, and well-intentioned people. I love them and have nothing personal against them.

But the person is one thing, and the teaching is another.

Love for the person does not mean acceptance of error.

And that is precisely what frightens me today.

I left Papism to come to Orthodoxy. I traveled a difficult and painful road to find the truth. And now I see a union being discussed while fundamental dogmatic differences remain, such as the Filioque, papal primacy, and, worst of all, Papism as a “church” whose head is not Christ but the Pope…

And I wonder: do you want to take me back?

I do not want to go back.

I do not want a union achieved by Orthodoxy retreating from what it has received.

• I want union, but union in truth.

• I want dialogue, but honest dialogue.

• I want love, but love that is not afraid to speak the truth.

Because if Orthodoxy, in its effort to unite with Papism, begins to abandon or downplay those things for which the Saints and the Fathers struggled, then we will not have gained unity.

We will have lost Orthodoxy.

And I cannot accept that.

I traveled a long way to leave that place.

I do not want to go back.

I want to remain in the Light.

I want to remain in the truth.

I want to remain in Orthodoxy.

 

Greek source: https://aktines.blogspot.com/2026/09/blog-post_112.html