Confused about different Rites

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KendraDZ1902

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I’m not sure where to put this and I figured here would be ok. 🙂

Forgive me, I don’t mean to offend, but I’m confused. I thought The Catholic Church was one. From reading different threads, it seems like different rites do things differently. I’m not understanding why.
How many different Rites are there? Why are they in communion with one another if they do things differently? How do I know that a church is a certain rite before going? I might have more questions later.

Thanks! 👍
 
The Catholic Church is one - we have one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. But that one faith is expressed in many different ways throughout the world, and from the earliest times, the rituals of worship that developed in different places were influenced by the different cultures and languages of the various parts of the ancient world, and became deeply rooted in the local areas. The most common is the Latin Rite, which is the collection of rituals that are used in the worship of God in the Roman Catholic Church. The Eastern Catholic Churches (of which there are 22) use one of the Eastern Rites that have also been approved by the Church for the correct worship of God by those in the Eastern part of the world. Of those, the most common is the Byzantine Rite.

This is a pretty good rundown:
catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0804.html
 
KendraDZ1902 said:
I’m not sure where to put this and I figured here would be ok. 🙂

Forgive me, I don’t mean to offend, but I’m confused. I thought The Catholic Church was one. From reading different threads, it seems like different rites do things differently. I’m not understanding why.
How many different Rites are there? Why are they in communion with one another if they do things differently? How do I know that a church is a certain rite before going? I might have more questions later.

Thanks! 👍
Click to expand...
The Catholic Church has an interesting mix of unity and diversity. Our beliefs are unified (where defined), we worship the same God, we celebrate the same Eucharist, we share the same Baptism. But there is certainly diversity in expression and approach (and opinion on the undefined questions and on application).

All of the various rites of the Mass do the same thing and are based on and express the same truths. Eastern Churches have their own distinct rites of course, but I believe that some religious orders within the Latin Church do as well.

If it helps, consider that our one God is Triune - three distinct Persons perfectly united into one God. So that diversity manifests in His creation is not surprising. (That said, diversity is not excuse for dissent - the three Persons are perfectly united into one God.)

As for telling what rite will be celebrated by what parish - chances are that in the U.S. or most western countries, you’ll get the Latin Rite. Just for fun, I pulled up a list of Eastern Catholic Churches in California (where there are 70 listed), and from glancing at it, each parish listed had the fact that it was an Eastern Parish referenced in it’s name: “Annunciation Byzantine (Ruthenian) Church,” “Holy Cross Melkite Mission,” etc.

If you attend another rite, it may be hard to follow what’s going on, but there’s no reason why a Latin Catholic can’t attend an Eastern rite or the other way around.

Another link on the Eastern Churches: ericsammons.com/blog/2009/07/23/division-between-latin-and-eastern-catholics/
 
KendraDZ1902 said:
I’m not sure where to put this and I figured here would be ok. 🙂

Forgive me, I don’t mean to offend, but I’m confused. I thought The Catholic Church was one. From reading different threads, it seems like different rites do things differently. I’m not understanding why.
How many different Rites are there? Why are they in communion with one another if they do things differently? How do I know that a church is a certain rite before going? I might have more questions later.

Thanks! 👍
Click to expand...
ewtn.com/expert/answers/catholic_rites_and_churches.htm
 
KendraDZ1902 said:
I’m not sure where to put this and I figured here would be ok. 🙂

Forgive me, I don’t mean to offend, but I’m confused. I thought The Catholic Church was one. From reading different threads, it seems like different rites do things differently. I’m not understanding why.
How many different Rites are there? Why are they in communion with one another if they do things differently? How do I know that a church is a certain rite before going? I might have more questions later.

Thanks! 👍
Click to expand...
There are 6 Rites-Major - Roman, Byzantine, Alexandrian, Antiochene, Chaldean, and Armenian.

The Alexandrian and Roman both have multiple Rites-Minor -
Alexandrian - Coptic and Ethiopian.
Roman - Latin (Both OF and EF), Ambrosian, Mozarabic (Toledo, Spain), Bragan (Braga, Portugal), Dominican, Carmelite, Carthusian, Norbertine… and the Anglican Use.

Each Rite-Minor has it’s own liturgies. Each has its own office of the hours. Each has its own liturgical calendar. All 6 Rites Major have the same core faith - but each has a unique expression in liturgy of those beliefs, and a unique and culturally relevant way of teaching the faith.

The only Western Rites you’re going to encounter are the Roman, Anglican and Dominican, unless you go to Florence, Braga, or Toledo. And Anglican Use parishes will note such typically.

The Eastern Catholic Parishes (the other 5 rites-major) may be harder to notice… until you get there. Just look for the papal commemoration in the liturgical texts if unsure. Or ask the pastor.

Oh, and any parish that claims to be “Old Catholic” is not in union with Rome.
 
Thanks for the OP and for the enlightening responses! I have always wanted to have this information, too.
 
aemcpa said:
The Catholic Church is one - we have one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. But that one faith is expressed in many different ways throughout the world, and from the earliest times, the rituals of worship that developed in different places were influenced by the different cultures and languages of the various parts of the ancient world, and became deeply rooted in the local areas. The most common is the Latin Rite, which is the collection of rituals that are used in the worship of God in the Roman Catholic Church. The Eastern Catholic Churches (of which there are 22) use one of the Eastern Rites that have also been approved by the Church for the correct worship of God by those in the Eastern part of the world. Of those, the most common is the Byzantine Rite.

This is a pretty good rundown:
catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0804.html
Click to expand...
👍🙂
 
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