Currently my wife and I are canonically Roman - although both of our children were baptized, chismated, and received Holy Communion in the Melkite tradition. We had planned on officially becoming Melkite because we both fell in love with, and felt at home in the Melkite tradition. But we knew we’d be moving back to the Greater Cincinnati area. Since the closest Melkite parish to where we are now is at least two hours away, we decided that it would not be wise to officially change our canonical status only to not have our church sui iuris within a reasonable distance to us. So we’ve held off.
It’s also been a good learning experience for us as well. Most Roman Catholics, when they think of the “Eastern Lung” of the Church, think only of the Byzantine tradition. It’s been good to experience an Eastern tradition that is not Byzantine but Syriac. I do miss the Byzantine Melkites,though. Had there been a Melkite parish here in Cincinnati we would’ve gone there in a heartbeat.
