Byzantine Catholic Iconostases?

[YHWH_Christ]

I hope this question makes sense to you guys, but coming from an Orthodox Catholic perspective, how come Byzantine Catholic iconostases always look “reduced”? Like I can usually immediately tell if a church is Orthodox Catholic or Byzantine Catholic by the iconostasis. Why this difference in style from Byzantine Catholics?

 

[adamhovey1988]

Orthodox Catholic or Byzantine Catholic by the iconostasis

I highly doubt that. The iconography in the local Byzantine church was done by both Orthodox and Catholics. It is possible that you mistake styles. I.E., Slavic vs Middle Eastern as Catholic V. Orthodox.

 

[DeniseNY]

THE ICONOSTASIS: A CHARACTERISTIC FEATURE OF THE BYZANTINE CATHOLIC CHURCH | Archeparchy of Pittsburgh

 

[Lasse]

How are they different? Is this what you are referring to? I quote from the page Denise just posted here:

“The iconostasis basically is composed of three doors and four rows of icons. Today it is the custom, especially here in the United States, to build much lower iconstases, with only one or two rows of icons as in the Seminary Chapel in Pittsburgh, Pa. parish are placed, and to the left, the icon of the Blessed Mother and of St. Nicholas, the Patron Saint of the Byzantine Catholic Church. If St. Nicholas is also the Patron Saint of the parish, the icon of St. John the Baptist, highly venerated in the Byzantine Rite ( Mt. 11 :11 ), is placed on the left corner.”

If that is so, this is also a trend in some Orthodox communities, and something I personally strongly support.

When I visited the US, I also noticed quite a few Orthodox parishes having pews and quite strong electric lights, which I however think is a pity. Not because it is a shibboleth of modernism or anything like that, but because I felt the lights ruined the atmosphere, and the pews made me feel like I was somehow enclosed from the rest of the community. At one place, it almost felt like a conference center.

 

[Lobster_Johnson]

I don’t know the answer to your question, but if I had to speculate:

Byzantine Catholics in America went through a long period of latinization, and it wasn’t uncommon for a church to have no iconostasis. In recent decades there has been a strong push to reclaim our traditions, almost every church today has one. If they are smaller than in the Orthodox church, it could be because the iconostasis is a recent addition, and with church attendance beign what it is they could not afford a larger/more beautiful one.

Again, this is just speculation.

 

[DeniseNY]

I don’t know the answer to your question, but if I had to speculate:

Byzantine Catholics in America went through a long period of latinization, and it wasn’t uncommon for a church to have no iconostasis. In recent decades there has been a strong push to reclaim our traditions, almost every church today has one.

I agree. This is particularly true in the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh. Not all parishes of course, but some.