One tradition
Orthodox and Catholic icons: what is the difference?
Many think icons belong only to the Orthodox Churches. In fact the icon was born in the first millennium, when the Eastern and Western Churches were united: it is a heritage shared by all Christians, and the Catholic Church has always venerated it.
A first-millennium tradition
The great rules of the icon were set before the separation between Rome and Constantinople (1054). The Second Council of Nicaea (787), which defended the veneration of sacred images, is recognised as ecumenical by both the Orthodox and the Catholic Church. The oldest Marian icons in Rome, such as the Salus Populi Romani of Santa Maria Maggiore or the Madonna of San Sisto, are icons in every sense.
The icon in the Catholic Church
- Byzantine-rite Catholic Churches live the same liturgy and art as the Orthodox Churches: in Italy, the Italo-Albanian eparchies of Lungro and Piana degli Albanesi and the abbey of Grottaferrata, founded in 1004 by Saint Nilus of Rossano.
- Our Lady of Perpetual Help, one of the most widespread images in the Catholic world, is a Cretan icon.
- The Catechism of the Catholic Church explicitly cites Christian iconography and the Second Council of Nicaea (nos. 1159-1162).
- Saint John Paul II, in the letter Duodecimum saeculum (1987), recalled the value of icons for the whole Church.
Where the differences lie
The differences concern not the icon itself but its use and some subjects. In Orthodox churches the icon is an essential part of the liturgy and the iconostasis separates sanctuary from nave; in Latin churches the icon lives alongside Western painting and sculpture. Some saints are venerated mainly by one of the two Churches, and some feasts have different names or dates: 15 August, for instance, is the Dormition in the East and the Assumption in the West.
Concetta Basile paints in the Byzantine tradition for Catholic, Orthodox and all Christian faithful, with inscriptions in Greek or Latin. Like every icon by Concetta Basile, it is fully gilded with 23¾ karat gold, with inscriptions in Greek or Latin, and is commissioned with an offering proportionate to the time and materials of the work.
Frequently asked questions
Can a Catholic keep and pray with an Orthodox icon?
Yes. The icon is a form of prayer recognised by the Catholic Church; it can be blessed by a Catholic priest and placed at home or in church.
Are icons painted by a Catholic iconographer different?
No: the canons of the icon (inverse perspective, light, proportions, inscriptions, materials) are the same. What matters is faithfulness to tradition and the prayer with which the icon is painted.