Byzantine Catholic

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Dt4v29

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Ok… how about Byzantine Catholic? Does going to a Byzantine Catholic Mass fulfill my obligations as a Roman Catholic, and can I receive communion there? Sorry for confusion, and as you can tell, am still confused.

Is Byzantine Catholic an Eastern Catholic, an Eastern Orthodox? Helppppppp. I should have explored this more fully before Dec 23. :o
 
Dt4v29 said:
Ok… how about Byzantine Catholic? Does going to a Byzantine Catholic Mass fulfill my obligations as a Roman Catholic, and can I receive communion there? Sorry for confusion, and as you can tell, am still confused.
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If it says “Byzantine Catholic” (not “Orthodox Catholic” – see below) then it’s a “yes” on all counts. 🙂
Dt4v29 said:
Is Byzantine Catholic an Eastern Catholic, an Eastern Orthodox? Helppppppp. I should have explored this more fully before Dec 23. :o
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Unless it says “Orthodox Catholic” (a designation sometimes used by some of the Russian Orthodox groups) you’re OK and good to go. 🙂
 
malphono said:
If it says “Byzantine Catholic” (not “Orthodox Catholic” – see below) then it’s a “yes” on all counts. 🙂

Unless it says “Orthodox Catholic” (a designation sometimes used by some of the Russian Orthodox groups) you’re OK and good to go. 🙂
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Then there is the example of the OCA prior to 1970 - the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church (I understand the reasons for the name, but it wasn’t very well thought out, but I guess it was coined in a different time).

While we Orthodox do use “Orthodox Catholic”, it is rare to find it on signs and in names. Most often the Churches that use both are schismatics (Usually from the West, often Protestant, but sometimes from the East) who are trying to blend Eastern and Western spirituality.
 
Nine_Two said:
Then there is the example of the OCA prior to 1970 - the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church (I understand the reasons for the name, but it wasn’t very well thought out, but I guess it was coined in a different time).

While we Orthodox do use “Orthodox Catholic”, it is rare to find it on signs and in names. Most often the Churches that use both are schismatics (Usually from the West, often Protestant, but sometimes from the East) who are trying to blend Eastern and Western spirituality.
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Oh yeah, I know. 😃 I was simply addressing a neophyte’s question. Since I’m not a Byzantine of any stripe, if it were anything more complicated I wouldn’t have posted at all . Getting involved in the intra-Byzantine “wars” is not my balliwick. :eek: 😉
 
Did you go to a Byzantine church and did you go up for communion?
I did. lol
 
Here’s the long answer:

Most people are not aware that the “Catholic Church” is actually comprised of twenty-three self-governing Catholic Churches, all in union with the pope. The Western, or Latin Catholic Church, is so large, however, that many people, even Catholics, are completely unaware of the other twenty-two churches, which make up the Eastern Branch. (Some have from only a few thousand members to a few million.)

Originally, there was only one denomination… the Catholic Church (the word Catholic meaning “universal”). However, there were five cities that early on were singled out as being important centers of Christianity. They were Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople, and of course, Rome. Each developed its own unique traditions and liturgy, but ALL shared a common theology and were in communion with each other and the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope. However, about 1000 years ago, due to a variety of unfortunate problems, the other four cities, allied with the Byzantine Empire, mutually broke off from Rome, forming the various Eastern Orthodox Churches. Although doctrinally, they are virtually identical to Catholics, they refuse to acknowledge that the pope is more than a “first among equals”. (A couple groups broke of much earlier in the 400s AD also, to form what are known as the Oriental Orthodox Churches).

What has happened is that over time, some portions of each of the various Orthodox groups have decided to reconcile with the Catholic Church and come back into communion with Rome. When they do, they are allowed to keep all of their traditions and much of their independence, although they acknowledge the authority of the Pope. They become truly Catholic, in that anyone from ANY branch of the Catholic Church can participate in the liturgy and ceremonies of any OTHER branch of the Catholic Church. The only two Eastern groups that never fell out of communion with the Catholic Church were the Maronite Catholic Church, and the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church. So… for every branch of the Orthodox Churches that are NOT in communion with Rome, there is a corresponding and virtually identical branch of the Eastern Catholic Church that IS in communion with Rome. Since their customs and liturgies date from before the Council of Trent, they are allowed to remain.

The following liturgies are used by the Eastern Catholic Churches:
  • The Liturgy of St. Basil
  • The Chaldean Mass
  • The Order of the Divine and Holy Liturgy of Our Father Among the Saints Gregory the Theologian (or Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts)
  • The Liturgy of St. James
  • The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
  • The Liturgy of St. Mark
  • The Holy Qorbono
continued…
 
Here is a listing that includes EACH of the twenty-three Catholic Churches in union with the Pope. Do not confuse “churches” with “rites”. A rite is a series of traditions, that includes different customs and liturgies. Several different churches may use the exact same rite. A Church has its own rules and separate line of authority to the Pope. It may also have a figure in charge, like a Metropolitan or a Patriarch (like an Archbishop), since these churches are generally very small and work very hard to preserve their unique traditions. The major rites are the Latin, Alexandrian, Antiochian, Armenian, Chaldean, and Byzantine.

**The Western (Latin) Catholic Church

Latin liturgical tradition**
  1. Ordinary Form (This is the form of the Mass that you will find in virtually every Latin Catholic Church almost every day of the week. This Mass has existed since the mid-1960s, ever since reforms were made following the Second Vatican Council.)
  2. Extraordinary Form (This is the form of the Mass that was used in virtually every Latin Catholic Church from the Middle Ages until the mid-1960s. It may still be said in Catholic Churches should a priest choose to use it. Some of the differences from the Ordinary Form include the exclusive use of the Latin language (except for the homily), the receipt of Communion exclusively on the tongue and kneeling, the priest facing the same direction as the people (toward the altar and God) so he can lead the people in prayer, no lay participation on the altar, and usually, no responses by lay people.)
  3. Ambrosian Rite (Only permitted in the Archdiocese of Milan)
  4. Mozarabic Rite (Only permitted in the Cathedral of Toledo, Spain and a few surrounding churches of the diocese)
  5. Bragan Rite (Only permitted in the Archdiocese of Braga, Portugal)
  6. Anglican-Use Mass (This form was once only permitted in the extremely rare circumstance in which an Anglican priest converted to Catholicism and brings his entire parish with him. In that event, a parish could continue to use the Anglican liturgy, with corrections to make it conform with Catholic teachings. It was originally meant as a transitional liturgy, and upon the death of the pastor, the church would revert to the Ordinary Form. With the recent provisions announced by the Vatican to allow Anglicans into the Catholic Church and keep their traditions, it seems that the Anglican-Use will now become both far more widespread AND permanent.)
**Rites of Religious Orders **
  1. Dominican Rite
  2. Carthusian Rite
  3. Carmelite Rite
  4. Cisternian Rite
Note: Technically, the forms of the Latin liturgy listed above are NOT different rites, but variations of the SAME rite, although people do tend to commonly use the term somewhat erroneously in this context. The differences between the Latin “rites” are FAR less than those between the Latin liturgy and any of the Eastern Rites.)

**The Eastern Catholic Churches
  1. Alexandrian liturgical tradition**
  2. Coptic Catholic Church (patriarchate): Egypt (1741)
  3. Ethiopian Catholic Church (metropolia): Ethiopia, Eritrea (1846)
    2. Antiochian (Antiochene or West-Syrian) liturgical tradition
  4. Maronite Church (patriarchate): Lebanon, Cyprus, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Argentina, Brazil, United States, Australia, Canada, Mexico (union re-affirmed 1182)
  5. Syriac Catholic Church (patriarchate): Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Palestine, Egypt, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, United States and Canada, Venezuela (1781)
  6. Syro-Malankara Catholic Church (major archiepiscopate): India, United States (1930)
    3. Armenian liturgical tradition:
  7. Armenian Catholic Church (patriarchate): Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Jordan, Palestine, Ukraine, France, Greece, Latin America, Argentina, Romania, United States, Canada, Eastern Europe (1742)
    4. Chaldean or East Syrian liturgical tradition:
  8. Chaldean Catholic Church (patriarchate): Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, United States (1692)
  9. Syro-Malabar Church (major archiepiscopate): India, Middle East, Europe and America.
    5. Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) liturgical tradition:
  10. Albanian Greek Catholic Church (apostolic administration): Albania (1628)
  11. Belarusian Greek Catholic Church (no established hierarchy at present): Belarus (1596)
  12. Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church (apostolic exarchate): Bulgaria (1861)
  13. Byzantine Church of the Eparchy of Križevci (an eparchy and an apostolic exarchate): Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro (1611)
  14. Greek Byzantine Catholic Church (two apostolic exarchates): Greece, Turkey (1829)
  15. Hungarian Greek Catholic Church (an eparchy and an apostolic exarchate): Hungary (1646)
  16. Italo-Albanian Catholic Church (two eparchies and a territorial abbacy): Italy (Never separated)
  17. Macedonian Greek Catholic Church (an apostolic exarchate): Republic of Macedonia (1918)
  18. Melkite Greek Catholic Church (patriarchate): Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Jerusalem, Brazil, United States, Canada, Mexico, Iraq, Egypt and Sudan, Kuwait, Australia, Venezuela, Argentina (1726)
  19. Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic (major archiepiscopate): Romania, United States (1697)
  20. Russian Catholic Church: (two apostolic exarchates, at present with no published hierarchs): Russia, China (1905); currently about 20 parishes and communities scattered around the world, including five in Russia itself, answering to bishops of other jurisdictions
  21. Ruthenian Catholic Church (a sui juris metropolia, an eparchy, and an apostolic exarchate): United States, Ukraine, Czech Republic (1646)
  22. Slovak Greek Catholic Church (metropolia): Slovak Republic, Canada (1646)
  23. Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (major archiepiscopate): Ukraine, Poland, United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, Germany and Scandinavia, France, Brazil, Argentina (1595)
 
malphono said:
If it says “Byzantine Catholic” (not “Orthodox Catholic” – see below) then it’s a “yes” on all counts. 🙂
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Actually, Malphono, that’s not a guarantee. There’s a Vagante/Old-Catholic group calling itself the “Byzantine Catholic Church, Inc.” and labeling their parishes Byzantine Catholic. mark1x1.tripod.com/

Not many of them, but it’s something to be aware of.
 
The Eastern Catholic Churches (historically known by the now non-complimentary term Uniate Churches, which is still in use in some areas, and also by the inaccurate term eastern-rite Churches) are autonomous, self-governing (in Latin, sui iuris) particular churches in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope. Together with the Latin Church, they compose the worldwide Catholic Church. They preserve many centuries-old eastern liturgical, devotional, and theological traditions, shared in most cases with the various other Eastern Christian churches with which they were once associated. A few have never been out of communion with the Pope, a claim made, for instance, by the Maronites. Although the Churches with which most were formerly associated may be of traditions out of communion with each other (Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, Church of the East), Eastern Catholic Churches of whatever tradition are all in communion with one another and with the Latin or Western Church. However, they vary in theological emphasis, forms of liturgical worship and popular piety, canonical discipline and terminology. They all recognize the central role of the Bishop of Rome within the College of Bishops and his infallibility when speaking ex cathedra. As a number of theological issues separate them from their counterparts who are of similar traditions, but who are out of communion with Rome, they do not admit members of such other churches to the Eucharist or the other sacraments except in the circumstances indicated in canon law. In the case of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, these issues result primarily, though not exclusively, from differences in the understanding of the role and the extent of the authority of the Bishop of Rome.

Historically, Eastern Catholic Churches were located in Eastern Europe, the Asian Middle East, Northern Africa, and India. Due to migration they are now also in Western Europe, the Americas and Oceania, where eparchies have been established alongside the Latin dioceses. Eritrea has only an Eastern Catholic hierarchy, with no Latin structure.

The terms Byzantine Catholic and Greek Catholic are used of those who belong to Churches that use the Byzantine Rite. The terms Oriental Catholic and Eastern Catholic include these, but are broader, since they also cover Catholics who follow the Alexandrian, Antiochian, Armenian and Chaldean liturgical traditions.

:angel1:
 
I ended up not going… The snow began to fall during dinner and due to the higher elevation it was smarter to begin the 40 minute drive home… It took about hr and fifteen. Son went though and said that it was different than Catholic mass…“really differs.” I asked about usage of spoon, and he said spoon was used… Just open your mouth and in it goes. He wasn’t sure if both species done with spoon. He said I would have loved the church, it was beautiful.

Again, thanks to all.
 
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