Becoming an Eastern Rite Priest?

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nsper7

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It sometimes seems like the Latin Rite has gotten a lot of liberalism and modernism infiltrating it, especially their Seminaries and a fair number of religious orders. Are the Eastern Rites better along these line? I know the Eastern Orthodox about maintaining…well…‘orthodoxy’ (I have heard even a high level Bishop can get excommunicate if they advocate something deemed heretical).

If the Eastern Rites are more conservative/‘Traditional’ (obviously, in an Eastern way…they are not going to celebrate a TLM), would it be possible for a Latin Rite person like myself to go Eastern Rite in terms of discerning a vocation to the Priesthood (I am very conservative/Traditional)? I give my promise that it is not a backdoor attempt to get married and still be a Priest and I would be willing to sign something attesting to that.
 
If you’re traditional/conservative, why not consider FSSP?

fssp.org/en/index.htm

I too have considered the Eastern Catholic priesthood. And then there’s Orthodoxy…sigh.
 
First off, the proper term is “Eastern Catholic Churches,” not “Eastern rites.”

Next, don’t think you will find the last remnants of 1950’s American pre-Vatican 2 Latin Catholicism.

You won’t.

Many Latin traditionalists have gone to Eastern Churches with this hope and have been very unhappy with what they experienced.

Take the Eastern Churches on their own terms. Realize they have a different spiritual patrimony and experience and spirituality.

Then you will find a world beyond your dreams.
 
The Eastern Churches have always been faithful to the Pope and the magisterium. The only thing you will find in there are sometimes people who are orthodox minded schismatics and think they still belong to the “one, holy, catholic, apostolic” church. However, I haven’t encountered one of them, yet. And the sad fact that many Eastern Catholics attend Latin Rite Masses.

The Eastern Rite Churches are a story for themselves, you can’t compare them to the Latin Rite Church. Both emphasize different things and have different styles of worshiping and living.

I do agree with the post above that you won"t find pre 1962 Latin Catholicism in there, but you’ll find pre 1054 Catholicism in there 😉

However: You will find 3 things in the Eastern Rite Churches which would have done good to the Latin Rite Church.
  1. Continuity.
  2. Discipline.
  3. Fear of God.
One more thing: When you’re registered in the Latin Rite, you’ll have to switch Ritual churches to become Priest in the Eastern Rite Churches since Ordination is the only Sacrament/Mystery which you can’t receive in the other corresponding church. And switching’s nowadays really hard. I know that, I’ve talked with my priest 😦

If you plan on staying celibate, become a Roman Catholic Priest and then obtain bi-ritual faculties.

Hope your journey goes well! 👍
  • Богu с’тобом!
 
This has been said many times in this forum. If the only reason to change sui juris churches is to be ordained in the other church, the change will most likely be denied by both your Latin Bishop and the Eastern Catholic Bishop.

To change * sui juris* churches you need to be released by your Latin Bishop and accepted by the Eastern Catholic Bishop. If either do not allow this then you will not change churches.

You must feel a true calling to the Eastern Church in question. Wanting to be ordained is not enough.

Also it is a long process, you must worship for some time in the Eastern Church before you apply to change, some of the Churches require around 3 to 5 years. Then many would make you wait another couple of years before allowing you to enter into the application process.

It can be done but it is not an easy thing to do.
 
So if I wanted to become a priest (felt the calling and all) in the Eastern Catholic church and I’m an Eastern Catholic would I have to switch to Roman Catholic to be an Eastern Catholic Priest?
 
gmcbroom said:
So if I wanted to become a priest (felt the calling and all) in the Eastern Catholic church and I’m an Eastern Catholic would I have to switch to Roman Catholic to be an Eastern Catholic Priest?
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I am guessing that you are asking the original poster but the obvious answer is no, you become a priest in your Eastern Catholic Church.
 
gmcbroom said:
So if I wanted to become a priest (felt the calling and all) in the Eastern Catholic church and I’m an Eastern Catholic would I have to switch to Roman Catholic to be an Eastern Catholic Priest?
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If you are Maronite, I should think you’d want to become a priest in the Maronite Catholic Church.
 
If I’m ever called, Maronite would be the one I’d prefer. 🙂 I like the service, the Liturgy, and the tradition it holds. I still have a long way to go.
 
gmcbroom said:
If I’m ever called, Maronite would be the one I’d prefer. 🙂 I like the service, the Liturgy, and the tradition it holds. I still have a long way to go.
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Since you are Maronite, you need only your bishop’s approval to become a Maronite priest.

If you wanted, instead, to be Chaldean, for example, you’d need to go straight from Maronite to Chaldean.

The general guideline I’ve heard often is 5 years of praxis before translation, and 5 years post-translation praxis before seminary.
 
nsper7 said:
If the Eastern Rites are more conservative/‘Traditional’ (obviously, in an Eastern way…they are not going to celebrate a TLM), would it be possible for a Latin Rite person like myself to go Eastern Rite in terms of discerning a vocation to the Priesthood (I am very conservative/Traditional)? I give my promise that it is not a backdoor attempt to get married and still be a Priest and I would be willing to sign something attesting to that.
Click to expand...
One of the problems is this idea of traditionalism.

What Latin Catholics think of as traditional is not the same as what Eastern Cahtolcis view as traditional.

There would also need to be a feeling of being drawn to Eastern spirituality.

Then there is the added need to change sui juris Churches which would add anywhere from 6 to 10 years or so before you could enter the seminary.
 
nsper7 said:
It sometimes seems like the Latin Rite has gotten a lot of liberalism and modernism infiltrating it, especially their Seminaries and a fair number of religious orders. Are the Eastern Rites better along these line? I know the Eastern Orthodox about maintaining…well…‘orthodoxy’ (I have heard even a high level Bishop can get excommunicate if they advocate something deemed heretical).

If the Eastern Rites are more conservative/‘Traditional’ (obviously, in an Eastern way…they are not going to celebrate a TLM), would it be possible for a Latin Rite person like myself to go Eastern Rite in terms of discerning a vocation to the Priesthood (I am very conservative/Traditional)? I give my promise that it is not a backdoor attempt to get married and still be a Priest and I would be willing to sign something attesting to that.
Click to expand...
I’m traditional but hardly “conservative”. That is, at least not in the way I think you’re looking for.
😉
 
I will chime in and repeat what others have said - these are the wrong reasons for heading East. You must do so for love of the liturgy, theology, faith, people, and the whole tradition. If you don’t have these motivations, whatever your real motivations are will be easily seen through.
 
May I add that modernism and liberalism isn’t only prevalent in the Latin Right.

Infact a lot of the stuff that happened in the Latin Church a few deacades ago is happening in certain parts of the Eastern Church now.

For example: Kaslik University in Lebanon or Chaldean Seminary in Baghdad
 
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