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I heard that in some of Catholic churches (I mean parishes) in Europe there are icons of Russian Saints, such as Seraphim of Sarov, for example (may be I'm wrong, I personally haven't seen this).

So I wonder, does Roman Catholic Church recognize (officially) some Eastern Orthodox Saints?

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  • Just to be clear, are you differentiating between the Saints recognized by the Uniate Church (which, though Orthodox is practice, technically falls under the aegis of the Bishop of Rome) or are you looking for saints recognized because they were first recognized by the Patriarch of Constantinople, not the Uniates? And, if coincidentally certain Saints happen to predate the mutual anathemas, do they count?
    – Affable Geek
    Jun 24, 2013 at 12:10
  • I'm sure that coincidentally both churches would recognize a certain body of saints common to the historical common ties of each.
    – Affable Geek
    Jun 24, 2013 at 12:11
  • @AffableGeek 1) Just to clarify, I'm not speaking about common Saints, which were canonized before schism. 2) I'm not care about which part of Catholic Church officially recognize some Eastern Orthodox Saints, because it is clear, that if some Saint is recognized by Uniate Church, it could be automatically be recognized in Roman Catholic Church, couldn't be?
    – Andremoniy
    Jun 24, 2013 at 12:14
  • @AffableGeek BTW, as an example, if we are talking about Seraphim of Sarov, imho he can not be recognized by Uniate Church for some historical and political reasons.
    – Andremoniy
    Jun 24, 2013 at 12:16

1 Answer 1

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One such appears to be St Vladimir the Great, who is revered as a saint by Churches in communion with both Constantinople and Rome. That said, it's not clear when he was canonised — that might have occurred before the Great Schism; and nor is it clear whether this is a local celebration or one recognised by Rome for the whole Church.

According to Wikipedia, St Seraphim of Sarov was called Saint by Pope Bl John Paul II in his book Crossing the Threshold of Hope.

Wikipedia also claims that St Sergei of Radonezh is recognised in the Roman Canon, but there appears to be little or no corroboration for this. In fact, the list of saints is so long that there exists no complete version, so it's probably not easy to confirm or deny it categorically, particularly in view of what is taught about saints...

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, at para 945–962, explains the communion of the saints, and there appears to be no reason why Christians of Churches temporarily in imperfect communion with Rome could not be held as saints. The Catechism quotes Lumen Gentium:

We worship Christ as God's Son; we love the martyrs as the Lord's disciples and imitators, and rightly so because of their matchless devotion towards their king and master. May we also be their companions and fellow disciples!

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  • Ok, thank you very much for your answer. According to this statement I should rise hence new question (may be it would be better to form this new question as separate): if Catholic Church recognize, that there are Saints among Easter Orthodox Christians (after schism), why does Catholic Church consider Easter Orthodox Churches as a schisms? Doesn't the fact of existence there the Saints talk about existence of the Saving Grace there?
    – Andremoniy
    Jun 24, 2013 at 20:21
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    The Roman Catholic Church recognises signs of grace in the Church of England! How much more, then, in the Eastern Churches?!
    – Andrew Leach
    Jun 24, 2013 at 21:01
  • I just wondering, because I'm not deeply understand some points of Roman Catholic doctrine. I think, that this question must be discussed in details in separate brunch. Thanks a lot.
    – Andremoniy
    Jun 24, 2013 at 21:15

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