1. Are you Jewish?
No. The Greek Orthodox Church is Christian.
2. Are you Catholic?
If by "Catholic" you mean "Roman Catholic", then no.
The word "Catholic" by itself means "having wholeness", or "universal". The Orthodox Church is Catholic in that sense, since it professes and maintains the fullness of the Apostolic Faith. The Orthodox Church is the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
The Roman Catholic Church originated when the Bishop of Rome (i.e. the Pope) separated from the other Bishops of the Church in the eleventh century. Roman Catholicism has developed apart from Orthodoxy since then, with its modern form coming about in the late 19th century when the Pope introduced the doctrines of "Papal Infallibility" and the "Immaculate Conception".
3. Do you have to be Greek to be a member of your Church?
Absolutely not. In fact, members of our parish come from a variety of nationalities. Most of our members were born here in America, and a steadily growing number have converted to Orthodoxy from other faiths.
4. What does Orthodox mean?The word "Orthodox" comes from the Greek words orthos and doxa. Orthos means "correct", and doxa means "glory", "worship", and "doctrine", so "Orthodox" means "correct doctrine" as well as "correct worship". The term "Orthodox" came into use early on in Christian history as a way to describe the doctrines and faith that had been handed down from Christ and the Apostles, as well as the Church that maintained and professed that faith.
5. I've heard of Russian Orthodox. Is Greek Orthodox the same?
Yes. The Russian Orthodox Church and the Greek Orthodox Church are part of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. They share the same doctrine as well as the same liturgical worship, although there are varying liturgical customs between the two.
6. Do you have a Pope?
No single Orthodox Bishop has authority and jurisdiction over the entire Orthodox Church. The Patriarch of Constantinople has an honorary position among the other Patriarchs, but is in no way similar to the Roman Catholic Papacy. While our Bishops have varying honorary ranks, they are all equals. The Patriarch of Alexandria is called "Pope" however, and was called such long before the Bishop of Rome assumed the title. (As a side note, the title "Pope" simply means "Papa", and was used out of affection for the local Bishop).
7. Aren't icons forbidden in the Bible?
You're probably referring to Exodus 20:4, which reads "You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth" (NKJV). Verses 5 and 6 make it clear, however, that the issue here is idolatry: "you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments". This is made clear by reading further in Exodus 25, where God is giving instructions for building the ark of the covenant: "And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat. And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat." (Exodus 25:18-20). So here, God actually commands the creation of images. There are other such instances as well in Scripture, such as Numbers 21:8.
If images were prohibited by God - "…any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath…" - then Christians would have to destroy all photos of family members and refuse to use a driver's license! It is clear that Scripture does not forbid images, but tells us simply that worship is due to God alone.
8. So do you worship icons?
No. Our Church teaches that it is proper to venerate the icons, but that worship is due to God and God alone. We kiss icons as a sign of veneration, because we believe that the honor we show them passes to the person depicted. This is no different than a person showing adoration to a photo of a loved one - they are not adoring the material that the photo is printed on, but rather the loved one shown on it. In the same way, the Orthodox Church has icons of our Lord Jesus, His mother, the Apostles, and of all the Saints who have gone on before us - the loved ones of the Church!
9. Do you worship Mary?
We worship only God, but we greatly honor the Virgin Mary because through her salvation (i.e. Jesus Christ) came to mankind. We refer to her as "Theotokos", which is Greek for "Mother of God". This title is an affirmation of the Deity of Christ. The Orthodox Church believes that Mary was set apart from birth for the purpose of bringing God into the world, and that by God's Grace she led an extremely holy and sanctified life. The Church does not teach, however, the Roman Catholic doctrine of "Immaculate Conception".
10. Do you worship Saints?
We honor those Christians who have gone before us who, by their lives (or deaths in the case of the Martyrs) have lived to the fullest extent the Gospel of Christ. Their lives teach us in this day and age how to be Christ-like. Because we know the Saints to be beloved of Christ and we believe them to be in His presence, we ask for their prayers to Christ on our behalf. The Church consists not only of those who are living, but those departed as well, and so just as we ask for each other's prayers, we also ask for the prayers of those in the Church who have passed on.