Do Eastern Catholic Churches have valid sacraments?

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Can anyone please enlighten me as to the nature of the Eastern Catholic Churches? For those who are in full communion with the pope, why have they retained their rites and not adopted the Latin or the Western rite? Are these churches in communion with Rome have valid sacraments, especially a valid Mass? Are there any difference in terms of spiritual grace with a mass in the Latin rite compared to a mass in the Eastern rite? Are these Eastern churches have exactly identical teachings and doctrines with that of the Roman Catholic Church? Lastly, what about those Eastern (Orthodox) churches not in communion with Rome, what does the Roman Catholic Church say about them?
 
Yes, they have valid everything, as do the Orthodox. The Mass is the Mass regardless of the rite. Your post betrays an extreme ignorance of church history, please look into the history of the development of the liturgy and Greek Christianity. Latinization of ECCs was banned in 1894 by Pope Leo XIII, but progress didn’t start until after Vatican II the document on eastern churches.
 
according to the roman teachings, they are just as catholic and valid sacraments as any western church.

they keep their Eastern traditions because they are, according to Rome, have the same venerable traditions as the Latin west, and to lose these traditons would be detrimental to the roman church. the catholic church also subscribes to the other lung theory, saying that they both are needed

also, the teaching may be the same, but the idea behing the theology is different in their approach to it.

There are also many Eastern Rites(4-5), and they are called Divine Liturgys(some else in the assyrian church of the east, but i forget the name)

the ROmans also accent unconditionally our(orthodox, of which i will soon fully be a part) holy mysteries(called sacraments in the west, and also sometimes in the east)
 
As Chrisrianity spread different cultures formed their own liturgical practices of the same valid sacrifice of the Mass, which we Byzantines call the Divine Liturgy. These are very ancient and venerable, there is no reason to adopt the Western Rite and Rome doesn`t want us to either.
 
MarcusAndreas said:
Yes, they have valid everything, as do the Orthodox. The Mass is the Mass regardless of the rite. Your post betrays an extreme ignorance of church history, please look into the history of the development of the liturgy and Greek Christianity. Latinization of ECCs was banned in 1894 by Pope Leo XIII, but progress didn’t start until after Vatican II the document on eastern churches.
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👍
 
pjcsisabel said:
Can anyone please enlighten me as to the nature of the Eastern Catholic Churches?
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for some overview:
newadvent.org/cathen/05230a.htm
ewtn.com/series/light/index.htm
ssjc.org/church.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Catholic_Churches
For those who are in full communion with the pope, why have they retained their rites and not adopted the Latin or the Western rite?
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_Brest
newadvent.org/cathen/15130a.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_Uzhhorod
Are these churches in communion with Rome have valid sacraments, especially a valid Mass? Are there any difference in terms of spiritual grace with a mass in the Latin rite compared to a mass in the Eastern rite? Are these Eastern churches have exactly identical teachings and doctrines with that of the Roman Catholic Church? Lastly, what about those Eastern (Orthodox) churches not in communion with Rome, what does the Roman Catholic Church say about them?
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Read and research some of the above links for answers to the many questions posed here.

Yes, the Eastern Catholic Churches have valid sacraments, as evidenced by this document from the Vatican:
vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19641121_orientalium-ecclesiarum_en.html which states-

vatican.va said:
3. These individual Churches, whether of the East or the West, although they differ somewhat among themselves in rite (to use the current phrase), that is, in liturgy, ecclesiastical discipline, and spiritual heritage, are, nevertheless, each as much as the others, entrusted to the pastoral government of the Roman Pontiff, the divinely appointed successor of St. Peter in primacy over the universal Church. They are consequently of equal dignity, so that none of them is superior to the others as regards rite and they enjoy the same rights and are under the same obligations, also in respect of preaching the Gospel to the whole world (cf. Mark 16, 15) under the guidance of the Roman Pontiff.
4. Means should be taken therefore in every part of the world for the protection and advancement of all the individual Churches and, to this end, there should be established parishes and a special hierarchy where the spiritual good of the faithful demands it. The hierarchs of the different individual Churches with jurisdiction in one and the same territory should, by taking common counsel in regular meetings, strive to promote unity of action and with common endeavor to sustain common tasks, so as better to further the good of religion and to safeguard more effectively the ordered way of life of the clergy.(3)
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Whether it is the Eastern rite Catholic or Latin Rite Catholic Church they are both in union with Rome.
 
pjcsisabel said:
Can anyone please enlighten me as to the nature of the Eastern Catholic Churches? For those who are in full communion with the pope, why have they retained their rites and not adopted the Latin or the Western rite? Are these churches in communion with Rome have valid sacraments, especially a valid Mass? Are there any difference in terms of spiritual grace with a mass in the Latin rite compared to a mass in the Eastern rite? Are these Eastern churches have exactly identical teachings and doctrines with that of the Roman Catholic Church? Lastly, what about those Eastern (Orthodox) churches not in communion with Rome, what does the Roman Catholic Church say about them?
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And even not all “Western” Catholics are of Latin Rite.
There are western “rites”, for in the west itself there are several rites. Rites of Braga, Ambrosian, Mozarabic comes to mind.
For instance, the Diocese of Milan in Italy is not using Latin Rite, but Ambrosian Rite.
 
Welcome to CAF Eastern Catholicism section. 🙂
pjcsisabel said:
Can anyone please enlighten me as to the nature of the Eastern Catholic Churches? … Are these Eastern churches have exactly identical teachings and doctrines with that of the Roman Catholic Church? Lastly, what about those Eastern (Orthodox) churches not in communion with Rome, what does the Roman Catholic Church say about them?
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S Prazdnikom! How apt that you should ask these questions on this great Feastday which so speaks to the unity of the Body of Christ East and West!. In the Holy Icons of Sts Peter and Paul we see them in an embrace, although in life they had conflicts. In this YouTube their successors, His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I & His Holiness Pope Bendict of Rome, recite together the Nicene Creed in Greek. 😃

(I guess Vespers is past so really this Feast has ended…)
Rejoice, Apostle Peter, true friend of Christ our God!
Rejoice, beloved Paul, herald of the faith and teacher of the universe!
You have boldness before him, O chosen pair; pray unceasingly that our souls may be saved!

Read the Sermon of St. Augustine of Hippo on Sts. Peter and Paul here

Couldn’t help that digression, especially since the Latin Church seems to nearly slumber through this great Feast of the unity of the Church East and West.

Two place you can get more about the Eastern Churches concerning what you ask are the Apostolic Letter Orientale Lumen of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II to the Bishops, Clergy, and Faithful to Mark the Centenary of Orientalium Dignitas of Pope Leo XIII, and the interviews “Who are Eastern Catholics?” with Fr. Maximos of Holy Resurrection Romanian Catholic Monastery PART1 and PART 2. Other useful interviews with the monks can be found here.
 
MarcusAndreas said:
Yes, they have valid everything, as do the Orthodox. The Mass is the Mass regardless of the rite. Your post betrays an extreme ignorance of church history, please look into the history of the development of the liturgy and Greek Christianity. Latinization of ECCs was banned in 1894 by Pope Leo XIII, but progress didn’t start until after Vatican II the document on eastern churches.
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I think you meant to say “your post portrays an extreme ignorance of Church history.” You are absolutely right. But I was confused to when I returned to the Catholic Church. While searching into Eastern Orthodoxy I discovered Eastern Catholicism. I didn’t know anything except that the Orthodox Church has priests and that I had heard they went as far back as the Catholic Church.
 
I posted this about a year and a half ago using information from here, Wikipedia, and some of my own commentary. People have found it helpful, so I’ll repost it again:

Most people are not aware that the “Catholic Church” is actually comprised of twenty-three independent 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)
 
My pastor shared an interesting event that happened a few weeks ago. A Latin Rite couple visited our byzantine church and after the liturgy, approached the pastor with a few questions. First, are you in communion with the pope. My priest answered, yes of course we are. Did you hear during the litanies, for Benedict XVI, the Pope of Rome, let us pray to the lord.

Next, they asked if he believed in transubstantiation. Father said, yes, we believe the eucharist is the body & blood of Christ, yet the Eastern Church does not focus on the notion of the substance and actions, rather on the holy mystery that is the eucharist. The couple said, Oh, so you’re not Catholic and turned around and left.

Oh boy.
 
Rolltide said:
Latin liturgical tradition
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…
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.)

Actually, with the exception of (1) (2) and (6), they are considered separate Rites. Note, for example, that one of the titles of the Archbishop of Milan is capo rito of the Ambrosian Rite. Those proper to the religious Orders are also considered Rites.
 
In fairness to the OP, I believe they are trying to remedy their ignorance, not perpetuate it. The Eastern Churches can be a confusing thing for people who have no knowledge of them and have only been exposed to the Latin tradition.

I think we should charitably assume the best intentions of the OP and answer the question with care and gentleness.

Peace and God bless!
 
ByzCath08 said:
My pastor shared an interesting event that happened a few weeks ago. A Latin Rite couple visited our byzantine church and after the liturgy, approached the pastor with a few questions. First, are you in communion with the pope. My priest answered, yes of course we are. Did you hear during the litanies, for Benedict XVI, the Pope of Rome, let us pray to the lord.

Next, they asked if he believed in transubstantiation. Father said, yes, we believe the eucharist is the body & blood of Christ, yet the Eastern Church does not focus on the notion of the substance and actions, rather on the holy mystery that is the eucharist. The couple said, Oh, so you’re not Catholic and turned around and left.

Oh boy.
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When I was a greeter I got this kind of interogation on a regular basis (not every week, but often enough). Sometimes they were accusatory and sometimes they would raise their voices so that they could be heard across the parking lot. It seems like being on trial.

One woman, part of a tour group (I volunteered to docent), nearly cried when I said I was raised in the Latin church, she really thought I had abandoned the faith of my fathers.

I remember walking away from one such an encounter with beads of sweat on my forehead, and some of the old-timers who were standing off in the distance heard the whole thing and said, “now you know what it’s been like for us all these years” - that was about ten years ago.

It was my understanding that my saintly pastor got it much worse.
 
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