Different rites of the Catholic Church

[Pfaffenhoffen]

The Eastern Catholic churches are exactly that-churches. This is what they are called in Canon Law. There is one universal Church, but there are multiple particular churches.

One word may have several meanings: “operation” may be medical, military, financial, mathematical or other.
There is only One Church.
Look, even the buildings are called churches.

 

[Pfaffenhoffen]

If we look carefully, we see the differences are in LITURGY. It is the Lithurgy that is different.

 

[Pfaffenhoffen]

Rites and Churches are two different things. Rites are Liturgical traditions. Church as a word is scalable in its use. In the high level, there is one Church, the mystical body of Christ. In the atomic level, every diocese and eparchy is one Church, so there are literally thousands of Catholic Churches around the world. But when talking about the different Churches East and West that comprise the Catholic Church, those are called “sui juris” or self-governing Churches. They are distinct form one another. There are 23 Churches.

I would not talk that way, in the common sense.
For they are distinguished by customs and liturgy.
Why?
Because it confuses with the 30 thousand protestant churches.
I would call Rites.

 

[Pfaffenhoffen]

Please answer this question:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=677822
Thanks

 

[RyanBlack]

One word may have several meanings: “operation” may be medical, military, financial, mathematical or other.
There is only One Church.
Look, even the buildings are called churches.

There is only one universal Church, however, there are multiple particular churches. That is the teaching of the one universal Church. If you won’t take my word for it, look in Canon Law, the CCC, and the language used by recent popes.

 

[RyanBlack]

I would not talk that way, in the common sense.
For they are distinguished by customs and liturgy.
Why?
Because it confuses with the 30 thousand protestant churches.
I would call Rites.

And you would be incorrect in choosing to refer to the various particular churches as rites. As Constantine has pointed out, a rite and a church are not one and the same. For example, I am a member of the Ruthenian Church, which celebrates according to the Byzantine rite. It would be incorrect to call me a member of the Ruthenian rite, as there is no such thing. There are numerous particular churches that use the Byzantine rite, some of which are the Melike Catholic Church, the Ukrainian Catholic Church, the Russian Catholic Church, and so on, However, there is no Melkite rite, or Ukrainian rite, Russian rite, and so on. On the other hand, there is one particular church, the Roman Catholic Church, which includes in its liturgical heritage more than one rite.

 

[Fone_Bone_2001]

BUT Jesus said He is the vine and we are the branches?

Jesus is the vine. If in these discussions someone were to call eastern Catholic churches “branches,” that might make it look like Rome is the vine - or perhaps the Latin Church. That is the impression we must avoid giving. Because it’s untrue.

There is only One Church.
Look, even the buildings are called churches.

I know this poster has been banned, but for the sake of everyone still reading this thread, I still want to respond.

The buildings are called “churches” in colloquial English, but that is not technically correct. There’s a reason the Orthodox, for instance, call the actual buildings “temples.” An eastern Catholic priest I know of uses the same terminology. “I hate when we call this a church,” he said in his homily once. “This is a temple. We’re the church.”

Technically, every diocese - i.e. every community of Christians gathered around the Eucharistic table and united under the authority of a true bishop - is a church. The Catholic Church refers to dioceses therefore as “particular churches.”

If we look carefully, we see the differences are in LITURGY. It is the Lithurgy that is different.

It’s far more than the Liturgy that’s different. The theology and spirituality are different, too. Some people are uncomfortable with this fact at first, but you just have to get used to it.

I would not talk that way, in the common sense.
For they are distinguished by customs and liturgy.
Why?
Because it confuses with the 30 thousand protestant churches.
I would call Rites.

(a) That would be wrong. A “rite” and a “church” are two different things. There is no such thing as the “Melkite Rite,” or the “Ruthenian Rite,” etc. Catholics of those two self-governing churches both use the Byzantine Rite. To call such self-governing churches “rites” isn’t a valid terminological option; it’s just plain 100% incorrect.

(b) As others have said, there is no comparison to Protestant Christianity, which technically does not have churches - i.e. communities united by a valid Eucharistic Liturgy under a valid bishop. Protestant denominations are not churches…

 

[rciadan]

That’s not true.

If you are going to make such a statement, please accompany it with some statement as to why. Offer some sort of proof, if for the edification of those reading your post if not for the reason of plain civility…

 

[rciadan]

True, ccc1181

 

[rciadan]

I have read every post on this thread, starting from the beginning, and have found this thread to be overall very informative and civil. A breath of fresh air. Thanks to all who contributed and help me to understand the Eastern Lung a little better. And thanks for the chart! I copied it to my pictures…