Byzantine Catholic Church

  • Thread starter Thread starter Edwin1961
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
E

Edwin1961

Guest
What is everyone’s perception of the Byzantine Catholic Church? Any thoughts, questions, experiences, etc. For me, the Byzantine Catholic Church has energized my Catholic faith.

Let’s start a discussion/(name removed by moderator)ut thread. 👍
 
My brother converted to Byzantine Catholic when he married his wife. My first exposure to the rite was when I was Best Man at their wedding. At the time, I was an atheist (and still a young high-school punk) so I thought it was all just wierd.

I have since converted to Roman Catholicism, and we attend the Byzantine Mass every time we visit my brother’s family. I enjoy their Mass, though it can be hard to follow at times. I think the richness of their ceremony adds something to the experience. You really feel as though you are part of something mystical, wheras sometimes the Roman rite (depending on where you go) can get to be pretty pedestrian, almost banal sounding.
 
I’ve always enjoyed the Divine Liturgies I’ve attended ( a few Byzantine, a few Chaldean)

The Eastern Churches are true Jewels in the crown of the Queen of Heaven.

I would like to seem them recover more of their Eastern roots. Drop the pews, more married parish priests, more iconosatasis, etc…
 
My lament is that most Eastern Catholic liturgies, at least in this country, are really watered down forms of the way these liturgies are supposed to be celebrated. There are some notable exceptions, but if you compare an Orthodox liturgy to an average Byzantine Catholic liturgy, you’ll find many differences (cheaper vestments, abridged litanies, etc,).
 
I once even saw a picture of a Chaldean Catholic liturgy, celebrated in Iraq, that had female altar servers! And Liturgy said facing the people!
 
There’s a rather infamous Ukranian Catholic Cathedral in Chicago that uses no incense, and whose liturgy is said, never sung. A truly horrid abomination. The Cathedral itself looks like something out of The Jetsons.
 
i think the problem is that we’ve been infected by the same disease that the romans have. besides, what good is a long liturgy if you can’t cut half of it out? all these prayers really cut into sunday afternoon football.

but, again, like the romans, there are lots of youths that love all the traditional stuff: singing, incense, etc. and while it may take a while for all the football and golf oriented byzantines to stop wrecking stuff for the rest of us, we can still form small groups on our own to celebrate in a more solemn way the liturgy and vespers and matins on weekdays. there’s always some young priest willing to do it.

so is there anyone from toronto out there who’s into it?
 
40.png
Edwin1961:
What is everyone’s perception of the Byzantine Catholic Church? Any thoughts, questions, experiences, etc. For me, the Byzantine Catholic Church has energized my Catholic faith.

Let’s start a discussion/(name removed by moderator)ut thread. 👍
Click to expand...
We need to keep in mind that within the Byzaintine Rite, there are fourteen (14) different Churches:

Albanian - Albanian Christians, numbering only 1400 today, who resumed communion with Rome in 1628. Liturgical language is Albanian. Most Albanian Christians are Albanian Orthodox.

• Belarussian/Byelorussian - Unknown number of Belarussians who returned to Rome in the 17th century. The liturgical language is Old Slavonic. The faithful can be found in Belarus, as well as Europe, the Americas and Australia.

• Bulgarian - Bulgarians who returned to Rome in 1861. Liturgical language is Old Slavonic. The 20,000 faithful can be found in Bulgaria. Most Bulgarian Christians are Bulgarian Orthodox.

• Czech - Czech Catholics of Byzantine Rite organized into a jurisdiction in 1996.

• Krizevci - Croatian Catholics of Byzantine Rite who resumed communion with Rome in 1611. The liturgical language is Old Slavonic. The 50,000 faithful can be found in Croatia and the Americas. Most Croatians are Roman (Rite) Catholics.

• Greek - Greek Christians who returned to Rome in 1829. The liturgical language is Greek. Only 2500 faithful in Greece, Asia Minor (Turkey) and Europe. Greek Christians are almost all Orthodox, whose Patriarch is the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople.

• Hungarian - Descendants of Ruthenians who returned to Rome in 1646. The liturgical languages are Greek, Hungarian and English. The 300,000 faithful are found in Hungary, Europe and the Americas.

• Italo-Albanian - Never separated from Rome, these 60,000 Byzantine Rite Catholics are found in Italy, Sicily and the Americas. The liturgical languages are Greek and Italo-Albanian.

• Melkite - Catholics from among those separated from Rome in Syria and Egypt who resumed Communion with Rome at the time of the Crusades. However, definitive union only came in the 18th century. Melkite Greek Patriarch of Damascus. Liturgical languages are Greek, Arabic, English, Portuguese and Spanish. The over 1 million Melkite Catholics can be found in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Canada, US, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina and Australia.

• Romanian - Romanians who returned to Rome in 1697. The liturgical language is Romanian. There are over 1 million Romanian Catholics in Romania, Europe and the Americas. Most Romanian Christians are Romanian Orthodox.

• Russian - Russians who returned to communion with Rome in 1905. The liturgical language is Old Slavonic. An unknown number of the faithful in Russia, China, the Americas and Australia. Most Russian Christians are Russian Orthodox, whose Patriarch is the Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow.

• Ruthenian - Catholics from among those separated from Rome in Russia, Hungary and Croatia who reunited with Rome in 1596 (Brest-Litovsk) and 1646 (Uzhorod).

• Slovak - Byzantine Rite Catholics of Slovakian origin numbering 225,000 and found in Slovakia and Canada.

• Ukrainian - Catholics from among those separated from Rome by the Greek Schism and reunited about 1595. Patriarch or Metropolitan of Lviv. Liturgical languages are Old Slavonic and the vernacular. The 5.5 million Ukrainian Catholics can be found in Ukraine, Poland, England, Germany, France, Canada, US, Brazil, Argentina and Australia. During the Soviet era Ukrainian Catholics.

(ref. ewtn.com/expert/expertfaqframe.asp?source=/vexperts/conference.htm)

I routinely attend a Byzatine Ruthenian parish. It’s absolutely wonderful. A true gift from God.
 
So are these separate rites or are all these a subdivision of one rite?
 
40.png
cmom:
So are these separate rites or are all these a subdivision of one rite?
Click to expand...
One (1) RITE (Byzantine) and fourteen (14) different CHURCHES (see list.)
 
Hello, My wife was Ukrainian Catholic when we were married. They have beautiful services and the music is great. The artwork in her church was just gorgeous. After we were married in the Roman Catholic Church the priest who married us told my wife that if she wanted to become Roman Catholic all she had to do was decide in her heart that this is what she wanted. This was in 1959. Peace and Blessings. Chuck Clifford
 
And if you follow the link that Crusader provided, you’ll see that there are Eastern Catholic Churches of other rites as well, over 20 Eastern Catholic Churches altogether. Some came from the Eastern Orthodox Churches, some from the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and from the Assyrian Church.

I do have one problem with that article though…it talks about how the Syro-Malabar Church and the Chaldean Church came out of the Nestorian heresy…but the Church has since signed a common declaration on Christology with the Assyrian Church…they are no longer considered heretics (as far as Christology is concerned). Likewise, EWTN seems to label the Oriental Churches as adhering to the monophysite heresy. Likewise, the Catholic Church has signed a common declaration on Christology with the Oriental Churches. (And the Oriental Churches themselves strongly object to the monophysite label, likewise with the Assyrians and the Nestorian label). It’s very un-ecumenical.

For those who don’t know of the Oriental Churches or the Assyrian Church, take a look at cnewa.org/ecc-introduction.htm (which gives a description of all of the Eastern Churches, whether Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian, or Eastern Catholic) or cired.org/ for the Assyrian Church. These churches (The Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Assyrian Church) are not to be confused with Eastern Orthodoxy…they are separate communions. The Assyrians left communion with the Catholic Church in the 5th century, at the Council of Ephesus, if I am not mistaken, while the Orientals left at the Council of Chaldean of the same century. The Eastern Orthodox Churches did not leave communion with Rome until several centuries later.
 
When most people in this country refer to the “Byzantine Catholic Church,” they are referring to the Byzantine-Ruthenian Metropolia of Pittsburg, informaly known as the “Byzantine Catholic Church of America.”

The BCA is actually completely autonomous from the Eastern European Ruthenian Catholic Church. It’s a sui iuris Church in its own right.

Its schismatical counterpart is the Orthodox Church of America.

The only Eastern Catholic Churches without a schismatic counterpart are the Maronite Catholic Church, the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church, and the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, and the Syro-Malankarese Catholic Church.

The Maronites and the Italo-Albanians have the distinction of never having separated from Rome. There are some who would say the same of the Syro-Malabars.
 
I actually haven’t attended a Byzantine rite yet, but I’ve been to Eastern Orthodox parishes before. But I suppose they’re virtually the same in terms of liturgy. After attending their Divine Liturgy, I was tempted to want to become Orthodox even though I’m Catholic! I absolutely love their liturgy, that it was pulling me towards their liturgy. Then I realized that there’s an eastern rite in the Catholic Church 🙂

-Jason
 
I have gone full circle in my faith: Baptized and Confirmed Byzantine, yet at school age, my mother had me go to Roman Rite school education (there was no Byzantine grade school in my area), and then in my young adult years, I just dropped out of church for 15 years. Returning back to the Church in 1997 in Roman Rite and now after 2 years ‘returning home’ to Byzantine Catholic Church.

I felt ‘cheated’ that my mother did not just kept me going to the Byzantine Rite.

Now that I have returned, my spiritual life has been tested and becoming full filling.

About the Divine Liturgy, the Pastor here have been restoring the Liturgy to the practices of the our faith. We chant everything and he has been ordering more and more icons. As for the pews, Father would like to rid them, but the older folks would protest.

When will Catholic Answers Radio have an Eastern Catholic guest?
 
I was raised Latin Rite, and have a deep love for it. However,
I really feel at home as a Byzantine Catholic now. I always felt that some of the Latin (or Roman, if you prefer) Rite churches seem a bit “Protestant-ized” in some ways. I adore the ‘sacredness’ of the Byzantine Liturgy and churches with their icons, incense, etc… It’s a great atmosphere for ‘worship’. I love it!
 
Amen to what you’ve said Rae! 👍

The Byzantine (Eastern) Catholic DIvine Liturgy really is ‘heaven on earth’.

There is such a spiritual vein that flows through the Eastern Rites that when Pope John Paul II stated: that the Catholic Church “breaths with both it’s lungs.” Orentale Lumen 1995.

I welcome all Roman Rite members to visit a Byzantine Catholic Church near you, but there are some (here in the Eparchy of Parma) that are still Lationized to a degree (i.e. spoken liturgy instead of Chanted, priest facing the people instead of leading the people East, not enough icons, etc).

Glory be to Jesus Christ, Glory to Him Forever! :bowdown: :bowdown:
 
40.png
DominvsVobiscvm:
The BCA is actually completely autonomous from the Eastern European Ruthenian Catholic Church. It’s a sui iuris Church in its own right.

Its schismatical counterpart is the Orthodox Church of America.

The only Eastern Catholic Churches without a schismatic counterpart are the Maronite Catholic Church, the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church, and the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, and the Syro-Malankarese Catholic Church.

The Maronites and the Italo-Albanians have the distinction of never having separated from Rome. There are some who would say the same of the Syro-Malabars.
Click to expand...
DV,

Actually, the counterpart to the Ruthenian Catholic Church is the American Carpatho-Rusyn Orthodox Diocese of the US(commonly referred to as ACROD or the Johnstown Diocese), a jurisdiction in communion with the Ecumenical Patriarch. Many of its individual parishes style themselves as “American Carpatho-Rusyn Orthodox Greek Catholic”, reflecting their historical heritage. The OCA is an autocephalous church under the Patriarchate of Moscow; it is Russian Orthodox and also includes Bulgarian, Romanian, and Albanian jurisdictions within it.

There are counterparts to both the Syro-Malabarese and Syro-Malankarese Catholic Churches. There are actually two counterparts to the Syro-Malankarese Catholic Church: the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Autocephalous Malankara Orthodox Church, Catholicosate of the East.

The Syro-Malabarese were indeed separated from Rome and in communion with the Assyrian Church of the East for several centuries. The Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church of India is the Orthodox sister Church to the Syro-Malabarese Catholic Church.

Many years,

Neil
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top