Latin:
[non ...] quaerenda est religio sed apud eos solos qui Christiani catholici vel orthodoxi nominantur, id est integritatis custodes et recta sectantes.
Literal Translation of the English:
Religion must not be sought but among those alone who are named catholic or orthodox Christians, that is the guardians of completeness and [those] pursuing right things.
Christians have the misconception that the words "Catholic" and "Orthodox" are post-schism terms to describe each other. Here St. Augustine uses the words interchangeably in the early 5th century AD.
I think there is a real ecumenical opportunity in acknowledging the antiquity of these words as veritable synonyms. First off, we Orthodox should not be afraid to call ourselves "Orthodox Catholic" or even just "Catholic." If we are worried that someone will mistakenly think we are "Roman Catholic," clarification can come as the occasion allows.
But calling ourselves "Orthodox Catholic," especially when speaking with a non-Roman Catholic or non-Orthodox Catholic (see what I did there?) Christian is a way to acknowledge the very significant share of common beliefs and practices the two communions share.
I do admit also that this whole thing is much further complicated by the use of the term "Orthodox Catholic" within the Roman Catholic communion to [self-]describe as a conservative opposed to progressive change.
When speaking with a Protestant at my gym a while back, he asked me to describe what Orthodoxy is. When I said that we were shared a great deal of belief and practice with Catholics, he said, "But not all that Mary stuff, right?"
So here's the thing. To a Protestant Christian, the distinctions between the defined Dogma of the Assumption versus the Dormition and the question of the Immaculate Conception are meaningless to him. It would be enormously misleading for me to answer that question in any way besides the way I answered it: "No, we share with the Catholics all of what you call 'that Mary stuff'."
It is certainly true that today the words "Catholic" and "Orthodox" have become synonymous with the "Western" and "Eastern" Historical Churches. But this quote from St. Augustine should remind us that a millennium of division, which followed a millennium of shared communion, should not be further propagated by words that should unite us, and not separate us.
Here is a grammatical study of the passage:
|
Latin
|
English
|
Parsing
|
Grammar
Points
|
|
[non]
|
not
|
adv.
|
|
|
quaerenda
|
must be sought
|
nom. sing. fem. gerundive
|
quaerō,
quaerere, quaesīvī, quaesītus
|
|
est
|
[is]
|
3rd pers. sing. pres. ind. verb
|
sum, esse, fui; verb is used in gerundive
construction
|
|
religio
|
religion
|
nom. sing. fem. noun
|
religio, religionis
|
|
sed
|
but
|
conj.
|
|
|
apud
|
among
|
Prep. + acc.
|
|
|
eos
|
those
|
acc. pl. dem. adj.
|
is, ea, id
|
|
solos
|
alone
|
acc. pl. masc. adj.
|
solus, sola, solum
|
|
qui
|
who
|
nom. pl. rel. pron.
|
qui, quae, quod
|
|
Christiani
|
Christian
|
nom. pl. adj.
|
christianus, christiana, christianum;
adjective used as substantive
|
|
catholici
|
catholic
|
nom. pl. masc. adj.
|
catholicus, catholica, catholicum
|
|
vel
|
or
|
conj.
|
|
|
orthodoxi
|
orthodox
|
nom. pl. masc. adj.
|
orthodoxus, orthodoxa, orthodoxum
|
|
nominantur
|
are named
|
3rd pers. pl. pres. pass. ind. verb
|
nōminō,
nōmināre, nōmināvī, nōminātus
|
|
id
|
that
|
nom. sing. dem. adj.
|
is, ea, id
|
|
est
|
is
|
3rd pers. sing. pres. ind. verb
|
sum, esse, fui
|
|
integritatis
|
of completeness
|
gen. sing. fem. noun
|
integritas, integritatis
|
|
custodes
|
guardians
|
nom. pl. masc. noun
|
custos, custodes
|
|
et
|
and
|
conj.
|
|
|
recta
|
right (things)
|
acc. pl. neut. adj.
|
rectus, recta, rectum; adj. used as
substantive
|
|
sectantes
|
pursuing
|
nom. pl. masc. pres. act. part. of dep. verb
|
sector,
sectārī, sectātus sum
|
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