P
PMV
Guest
Am I ‘Roman’ Catholic? I had a conversation with someone on another forum and want to know if this person is correct;
I was baptised Roman Catholic while my father was in the Latin rite as well. I had first confession and communion in the RC Church. However, I was confirmed Byzantine as an infant. Not only was I raised in the Latin Rite, but also this is something that annoys me and I wish to be confirmed in the Latin rite. Am I Roman Catholic or Byzantine Catholic?
Quote:
I wish to be confirmed in the Latin rite. Am I Roman Catholic or Byzantine Catholic?
When you say you were confirmed Byzantine, I will understand that to mean Byzantine Catholic, and that the other references refer to the same.
From the details you give, here is my initial assessment.
You were enrolled into the Latin Church by baptism. Subsequent Confirmation would not change that by itself, how you were raised is not juridically relevant, and the rite in which you made your first confession and received “first” Communion is similarly irrelevant.
Something else would need to have happened (see canons 111-112 of the Latin Church below.) Perhaps you can share why your parents brought you to an Eastern Catholic Church for confirmation, and that might nail the answer down. The only scenario I can imagine is that your Latin rite father would have to have transferred to an Eastern Church and brought you along as a minor. But you don’t say this.
You appear to have received the Sacrament of Confirmation (i.e., Chrismation with Holy Myron) validly if my understanding as above is correct. An Eastern Catholic presbyter (or bishop) confers this sacrament validly on all the Christian faithful, including t.ose of the Latin Church (CCEO Canon 696, paragraph 1).
The sacrament cannot be repeated.
One way to double check is to obtain an annotated baptismal certificate from the parish of baptism. If you had been transferred to another Catholic Church sui iuris by an action of your parents, that would be on record. If you have completed 14 years of age, you need only make a declaration that you wish to return to the Latin rite to do so, as the canon below says.
Hope this is sufficiently clear to be helpful.
Canon 111:§1. A child of parents who belong to the Latin Church is ascribed to it by reception of baptism, or, if one or the other parent does not belong to the Latin Church and both parents agree in choosing that the child be baptized in the Latin Church, the child is ascribed to it by reception of baptism; but, if the agreement is lacking, the child is ascribed to the Ritual Church to which the father belongs. §2. Anyone to be baptized who has completed the fourteenth year of age can freely choose to be baptized in the Latin Church or in another Ritual Church sui iuris, and in this case the person belongs to that Church which is chosen.
Canon 112:§1. After the reception of baptism, the following are enrolled in another Ritual Church sui iuris: (1) one who has obtained permission from the Apostolic See; (2) a spouse who declares at the time of marriage or during marriage that he or she is transferring to the Ritual Church sui iuris of the other spouse; but when the marriage has ended, that person can freely return to the Latin Church; (3) children of those in nn. 1 and 2 under fourteen complete years of age; and similarly children of a Catholic party in a mixed marriage who legitimately transferred to another Ritual Church. But, when such persons reach fourteen complete years of age, they may return to the Latin Church. §2. The custom, however prolonged, of receiving the sacraments according to the rite of another Ritual Church sui iuris, does not carry with it enrollment in that Church.
God bless.
Dcn. John M Cameron JCL
Lansing, Michigan
cameron_lansing wrote:
When you say you were confirmed Byzantine, I will understand that to mean Byzantine Catholic, and that the other references refer to the same.
That is correct.
cameron_lansing wrote:
Perhaps you can share why your parents brought you to an Eastern Catholic Church for confirmation, and that might nail the answer down.
Unfortunately, when I asked my mother why she did this she said it was so that I could be confirmed earlier, and wouldn’t have to go to CCD longer.
I was baptised Roman Catholic while my father was in the Latin rite as well. I had first confession and communion in the RC Church. However, I was confirmed Byzantine as an infant. Not only was I raised in the Latin Rite, but also this is something that annoys me and I wish to be confirmed in the Latin rite. Am I Roman Catholic or Byzantine Catholic?
Quote:
I wish to be confirmed in the Latin rite. Am I Roman Catholic or Byzantine Catholic?
When you say you were confirmed Byzantine, I will understand that to mean Byzantine Catholic, and that the other references refer to the same.
From the details you give, here is my initial assessment.
You were enrolled into the Latin Church by baptism. Subsequent Confirmation would not change that by itself, how you were raised is not juridically relevant, and the rite in which you made your first confession and received “first” Communion is similarly irrelevant.
Something else would need to have happened (see canons 111-112 of the Latin Church below.) Perhaps you can share why your parents brought you to an Eastern Catholic Church for confirmation, and that might nail the answer down. The only scenario I can imagine is that your Latin rite father would have to have transferred to an Eastern Church and brought you along as a minor. But you don’t say this.
You appear to have received the Sacrament of Confirmation (i.e., Chrismation with Holy Myron) validly if my understanding as above is correct. An Eastern Catholic presbyter (or bishop) confers this sacrament validly on all the Christian faithful, including t.ose of the Latin Church (CCEO Canon 696, paragraph 1).
The sacrament cannot be repeated.
One way to double check is to obtain an annotated baptismal certificate from the parish of baptism. If you had been transferred to another Catholic Church sui iuris by an action of your parents, that would be on record. If you have completed 14 years of age, you need only make a declaration that you wish to return to the Latin rite to do so, as the canon below says.
Hope this is sufficiently clear to be helpful.
Canon 111:§1. A child of parents who belong to the Latin Church is ascribed to it by reception of baptism, or, if one or the other parent does not belong to the Latin Church and both parents agree in choosing that the child be baptized in the Latin Church, the child is ascribed to it by reception of baptism; but, if the agreement is lacking, the child is ascribed to the Ritual Church to which the father belongs. §2. Anyone to be baptized who has completed the fourteenth year of age can freely choose to be baptized in the Latin Church or in another Ritual Church sui iuris, and in this case the person belongs to that Church which is chosen.
Canon 112:§1. After the reception of baptism, the following are enrolled in another Ritual Church sui iuris: (1) one who has obtained permission from the Apostolic See; (2) a spouse who declares at the time of marriage or during marriage that he or she is transferring to the Ritual Church sui iuris of the other spouse; but when the marriage has ended, that person can freely return to the Latin Church; (3) children of those in nn. 1 and 2 under fourteen complete years of age; and similarly children of a Catholic party in a mixed marriage who legitimately transferred to another Ritual Church. But, when such persons reach fourteen complete years of age, they may return to the Latin Church. §2. The custom, however prolonged, of receiving the sacraments according to the rite of another Ritual Church sui iuris, does not carry with it enrollment in that Church.
God bless.
Dcn. John M Cameron JCL
Lansing, Michigan
cameron_lansing wrote:
When you say you were confirmed Byzantine, I will understand that to mean Byzantine Catholic, and that the other references refer to the same.
That is correct.
cameron_lansing wrote:
Perhaps you can share why your parents brought you to an Eastern Catholic Church for confirmation, and that might nail the answer down.
Unfortunately, when I asked my mother why she did this she said it was so that I could be confirmed earlier, and wouldn’t have to go to CCD longer.