Are Eastern Catholics second class citizens?

[Zekariya]

Please forgive me moderators, if this thread is not allowed here. Since it concerns this forum, I posted it here.

Note: I understand that the Latin Catholics are the majority here. However, it is wrong discriminate against Eastern Catholics. Eastern Catholics enjoy spirituality just as much as our Western brethren.

I have always believed that the Catholic Living section is for both Western and Eastern Catholics. However, it seems that some believe that this is a Latin Church forum. Those who know me know that I do not belittle Western traditions by explaining the Eastern traditions.

Here are a few quotes (posted in the Spirituality Forum) that say that this is not a “Catholic Living” section but, rather, a Latin “Catholic Living” section:

I believe most Catholics ( I am using the term “Catholic” to refer to the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church which is a reasonable expectation for one to hold in a Latin Rite Spirituality forum).

If one calls voicing an opinion that doesn’t agree yours and piques one an imposition in a Latin Rite discussion forum than report me to the moderator. Uriel doesn’t appear in official texts of prayers or official teachings of the Catholic Church for the past 1300 years.

[emphasis is mine]

If I say that Uriel is a saint in the Byzantine Catholic tradition, I get told that this is a Latin forum. St Uriel has not had any veneration in the Latin Church for 1300, however, he has had veneration in the Byzantine Rite for 2000 years.

The Latin Church has suppressed the veneration of St Uriel. However, the Catholic Church is made up of different sui iuris Churches. The Latin Church does not venerate him, however, the Byzantine Rite Churches do venerate him.

The Latin Church venerates three archangels by name. The Byzantine Rite Churches venerate seven archangels by name. However, we all agree that all of the archangels are saints whether or not we use a name.

In Christ,
Zekariya

 

[bzkoss236]

Second class?

I tend to find Eastern Catholics to be more devout and spiritual than a lot of Latin Rite Catholics. (No offense to my own ‘kind’)

And I disagree with the one poster who says this is a Latin Catholic forum, this is an ALL Catholic forum. Just because one rite is a majority does not make it belong to that rite. That’s like saying that the US is a white nation and belongs to only white people because they’re the majority. That’s silly.

I welcome my Eastern Catholic brothers and sisters because you help me to better understand not just your rite’s culture, but help me to have a new look at my own, all to better understand and come in unity with the one, universal, and apostolic Catholic Church.

God be with you brother.

 

[Zekariya]

Second class?

I tend to find Eastern Catholics to be more devout and spiritual than a lot of Latin Rite Catholics. (No offense to my own ‘kind’)

And I disagree with the one poster who says this is a Latin Catholic forum, this is an ALL Catholic forum. Just because one rite is a majority does not make it belong to that rite. That’s like saying that the US is a white nation and belongs to only white people because they’re the majority. That’s silly.

I welcome my Eastern Catholic brothers and sisters because you help me to better understand not just your rite’s culture, but help me to have a new look at my own, all to better understand and come in unity with the one, universal, and apostolic Catholic Church.

God be with you brother.

Thanks! I certainly learn a lot from the Western Catholics on this forum.

 

[Schatzl]

Second class?

I tend to find Eastern Catholics to be more devout and spiritual than a lot of Latin Rite Catholics. (No offense to my own ‘kind’)

And I disagree with the one poster who says this is a Latin Catholic forum, this is an ALL Catholic forum. Just because one rite is a majority does not make it belong to that rite. That’s like saying that the US is a white nation and belongs to only white people because they’re the majority. That’s silly.

I welcome my Eastern Catholic brothers and sisters because you help me to better understand not just your rite’s culture, but help me to have a new look at my own, all to better understand and come in unity with the one, universal, and apostolic Catholic Church.

God be with you brother.

My thoughts exactly! We are one holy, catholic and apostolic Church. While we may have different traditions, we are all members of the Body of Christ.

God bless,
Schatzl

 

[powerofk]

No, Eastern Catholics are just as Catholic as Latin Rite (Western) Catholics - they’re just MUCH smaller in number, due to where their historical churches are - in areas currently primarily controlled by Muslims. Most of us in the Western church generally do not know much about the Eastern traditions due to 1400 years of the Eastern churches being oppressed by Islam - so severely, in some areas, that the Eastern rites had almost nearly disappeared. By the time of the Great Schism, the Byzantine Rite (which broke off into Greek Orthodoxy, with several bishops returning to Communion with Rome centuries later) was the only Eastern Rite that had not been severely suppressed, and remains as such to this day.

And that’s the second reason why we in the West know so little about the East - the Great Schism. We have only fairly recently started repairing the wounds of the Great Schism, and we have a long way to go. Much of the problem remains political, as it was back in the 11th century (when the Great Schism started with the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople excommunicating each other). To this day, though our faiths are nearly identical in belief, there is still a great deal of mistrust between the Orthodox and Catholics.

Honestly, though, FYI, St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican is historically the Great Basilica of the Patriarch of Constantinople. St. John’s on the Lateran is the Great Basilica of the Pope - and his cathedral.

 

[Zekariya]

Thanks, everyone! I am glad to see that you don’t discount Eastern Catholics. We are One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

 

[holyfamily1]

Nope. Traditionalists are second-class citizens.