Eastern Catholic Churches and the Universal Church

[user1234]

I have grown up knowing that the word catholic means universal. Recently, I met an Eastern Catholic (Meklite Greek) Monk at my parish (In case your wondering, he’s from a monastery in Syria, and was visiting his family here). I had never really heard of Eastern Catholics. My question is if the Catholic Church is universal, why does it seem to be divided. I am pretty sure that the Roman Catholic Church and all of the Eastern Catholic share the same doctrine (I found a lot of contradiction online about this). However, I also read that several Eastern Catholics, such as Byzantine Catholics have a different code of cannon law, and might use leavened bread for the Eucharist (I have another question about this). My question is if the Catholic church is universal or ‘one whole,’ why does it seem divided.

Now onto my next question. I read on one of the forums here that the use of leavened bread vs unleavened bread is not a question of validity, but licitness (link below). Does this mean the Eastern Catholic Eucharist is illicit? I thought they were in communion with the Pope.

catholic.com/quickquestions/eastern-rite-catholics-use-leavened-bread-in-holy-communion-but-roman-rite-catholics-

I hope this makes sense,

Pietro Contolini

 

[SyroMalankara]

Leaven is licit for SOME Eastern Catholic Churches - depending on their Holy Tradition.

It is illicit for Latin Catholics, as the Latin Church’s Holy Tradition is to use unleavened bread.

As to Catholics being divided - one definition of Catholics is “universal”, another is “whole”, a third is “complete, not lacking”. Unity does not mean uniformity however. Our uniqueness and coming together fully, while maintaining our differences in harmony - is what makes us Catholic.

 

[user1234]

Thank you for the swift answer.

Okay, That makes sense, but I don’t understand why they have different code of cannon law.

Thank you

 

[SyroMalankara]

Thank you for the swift answer.

Okay, That makes sense, but I don’t understand why they have different code of cannon law.

Thank you

The Code of Canons reflect the differences in practices between East and West. The Eastern Code is a base edition. Each Eastern Church has particular laws for itself as well.

An example is this - the Roman Church in Italy follows the Italian law for minimum age of marriage; while the Roman Church in the US follows the US law, while the Roman Church in Spain follows the Spanish law. These differences don’t affect the unity of the Church, but each nations customs are valid within that country and should be respected. The differences between East and West are more substantial, however, it does not mean division.

 

[phil19034]

Thank you for the swift answer.

Okay, That makes sense, but I don’t understand why they have different code of cannon law.

Thank you

Cannon Law differs per each of the individual Catholic Churches in communion with Rome.

The Latin Church (commonly called the Roman Rite or Roman Catholic Church) is by far the largest, so most people are only familiar with the Latin Church.

Furthermore, each Rite has it’s own Liturgy. Some of the Churches have more than one Liturgy. For example: in the Latin Church, there is the Roman Rite, the Ambrosian Rite, the Rite of Braga, etc. But the Roman Rite is the one most used in the Latin Church.

God Bless

 

[Augustine]

The Catholic Churches of the East and of the West also have different theological understanding of the same Apostolic Faith shaped by the respective histories living this faith out. This is why each has its own code of canon law that reflects the particular way of life in the same faith.

Pax Christi

 

[angelic06]

To the OP: another thing to remember is that when the apostles went out to “proclaim the Gospel to all nations”, they did just that. And as they did, they started having different forms of worship and customs, but the Church by the power of the Holy Spirit saw to it that the differences were not differences in dogma. That is to say, the expressions of the Holy Catholic Faith changed, but the substance thereof did not.

So, then we have the Latin Church, the one to which most of us belong (including myself, though I am leaning heavily towards Byzantium).

Byzantines, Maronites, Armenians, Syro-Malabars, etc.

I encourage my fellow Latin Catholics to go to an Eastern Catholic parish or chapel at least once in your lifetime. Their terms for the Eucharistic offering will differ (i.e., Byzantine Divine Liturgy, Maronite Qurbono, Armenian Badarak, etc.).

 

[Vico]

…My question is if the Catholic church is universal or ‘one whole,’ why does it seem divided…

A Catholic is not a member at large, but rather by enrollment in a Catholic church sui iuris. This is to protect the different liturgical traditions and sacramental disciplines. The eastern norm is that one is enrolled by baptism in the church sui iuris of the Father, but then other cases exist also, and sometimes a transfer is approved.