“Who are Eastern Catholics?” PART 1 with Fr. Maximos of Holy Resurrection Monastery
I would also search youtube.com for:Christ is Baptized!
Welcome to the Eastern Catholicism section of CAF.
“Who are Eastern Catholics?” PART 1 with Fr. Maximos of Holy Resurrection Monastery
“Who are Eastern Catholics?” PART 2 with Fr. Maximos of HRM
Thank you for your welcome. The links were helpful. He looks Orthodox. He used the term “chrismated.” He stated at one point “…confirmed or chrismated as we say…”Christ is Baptized!
Welcome to the Eastern Catholicism section of CAF.
“Who are Eastern Catholics?” PART 1 with Fr. Maximos of Holy Resurrection Monastery
“Who are Eastern Catholics?” PART 2 with Fr. Maximos of HRM
Thank you. I didn’t know that Eastern Catholics had their own Catechism. But if it’s the same as the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which is free on-line, I won’t need to spend any money. Anyway, I’m only at the beginning trying to get an overview. I’m not ready to study catechisms. Thanks, anyway.
Chrismated and Confirmed are the same thing, different terms.
The Ukrainian Catholic Church is actually coming out with their own Catechism. I eagerly await it. Its just explaining the same faith in the context of the traditions of that Church. While the Catechism of the Catholic Church has done a good job making small notes on how the practice in the East may be different, the approach to the theology is still very much Western.
Thank you much. You’ve been most helpful and I appreciate it.
Do you have any idea of when it will be published. I am really interested in getting a copy. I think that the online orthodox catechism is a good reference to give an idea to how the Eastern Catholics at the teachings of the Church.
No idea, I’m waiting for it as well. I don’t even know if the Ukrainian version is out. They just said its coming out soon. I guess “soon” is a relative term.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a wonderful document. It makes many references to writing that come from our Eastern Church but it is basically a document of the Latin Church due to the approach which comes from the Latin world view. The interview with the monks are a demonstration of the Eastern world view.
The Wikipedia articles Eastern Catholic Churches and Eastern Christianity are another overview…
) has a weekly radio program Light of the East which is archived and is very good for introducing people to the Eastern Catholic Churches
Check out ecpubs.com and oltv.tv. Those two websites are full of books, videos and cds that will help you to formulate a clearer picture of who Eastern Catholics are. Also attend the Divine Liturgy for a few weeks in a row if you have an Eastern Catholic parish near you. Attendance at the Divine Liturgy will help you enter into the mindset of Eastern Catholics and Orthodox.
So I read portions of that page from EWTN about the Treaty of Brest, and I found number 15 very interesting. It said, “15.—If in the future someone of our Religion should want to join the Roman Church, denying his own Religion and Ceremonies, let him not be accepted, since he is degrading the Ceremonies of the one Church of God, since, being already in one Church, we shall have one Pope.”
I’ve started to look back on this forum and I’ve found a reference thread right at the back that has a lot of information. Thanks for all your help.The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a wonderful document. It makes many references to writing that come from our Eastern Church but it is basically a document of the Latin Church due to the approach which comes from the Latin world view. The interview with the monks are a demonstration of the Eastern world view.
The Latin Church has its own Code of Canon Law, CIC. There is a separate Code of Canons of Oriental Churches, CCEO. Additionally individual Eastern and Oriental Churches may have their own canons.
The Catholic Church consists of 23 Churches or which the Latin Church AKA Roman Catholic is by far the largest. We Eastern Catholics and Oriental Catholics make up the other 22 Catholic Churches. It’s often confusing for Catholics of the Latin Church and since you are only trying to get an overview it may seem confusing to you as well.
I happen to like videos. Here are a couple more. The “Introduction to the Eastern Catholic Churches” gives a good overview by Fr. Loya. Fr Loya (now older
Looking back at older threads here you will see many from people seeking to learn more about Eastern and Oriental Catholics.
Wow, there sure is a lot to take in. It’s going to take me months. But I’ll try to focus on the largest one to start.A question after my own heart!
There are a few difficulties with responding to such an enormous question. The first is that there are 22 Eastern and Oriental Catholic Churches and every one of them has its unique history, culture, tradition, liturgy, and so on.
The second is that most of the documents written specifically about those churches were written within their native tongues.
The third is that every person who reads or speaks such a large and vague question really has a different set of particular questions which they interpret it to mean. One might want to know the history. One might question if they’re Catholic. One might want to pursue some of the spirituality. One might be looking for a Novus Ordo alternative. Every person who responds similarly has personal interpretations for what it means that shapes how he responds.
I would propose that focusing on one Eastern Catholic Church would be a good start. The Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church is probably a good choice for several reasons. They’re the largest Eastern Catholic Church, they have many English resources in comparison to other Eastern Catholic Churches, they don’t have any significant controversies which will cause someone who doesn’t know anything about the Eastern Catholic Churches to be overwhelmed up front, and there’s a lot of documentation about them from numerous points of view.
UGCC official website. This website covers the history well.
St. Elias UGCC in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. This website has a lot of cultural content like definitions, church ettiquette, and videos.
EWTN. This webpage has an English translation of the Union of Brest which reunited the Ukrainians and the Roman Catholics.
Once you’ve read that, which isn’t much, then you’ll probably have some more specific questions that you could then ask.
Thank you for your help. Can I ask… If Eastern Catholics and Orthodox share the same mindset (which presumably differs from the western mindset/theology), why do Eastern Catholics not just become Orthodox? I guess I don’t get what “communion with Rome” actually means in practice.Check out ecpubs.com and oltv.tv. Those two websites are full of books, videos and cds that will help you to formulate a clearer picture of who Eastern Catholics are. Also attend the Divine Liturgy for a few weeks in a row if you have an Eastern Catholic parish near you. Attendance at the Divine Liturgy will help you enter into the mindset of Eastern Catholics and Orthodox.
There are many reasons why Eastern Catholics don’t just become Orthodox. Some who were born Eastern Catholic remain so simply because they were raised as such, their family is Eastern Catholic, and they just never really think about being anything else. Some who became Eastern Catholic, having been raised Roman, become Eastern Catholic instead of Orthodox because, while they completely adopt an Orthodox mindset, they look at the Patristic sources and see that the Pope of Rome does have a certain central role and authority within the universal Church. This is also true of many Orthodox who become Eastern Catholic. In short, the reasons for become or remaining Eastern Catholic instead of becoming Orthodox are about as numerous as the individuals who think about and make such choices.
Its hard for any Eastern Catholic to become Roman Catholic. Many Popes have expressed interest in preserving the numbers of Eastern Catholics. Given the sheer number or Roman Catholics around the world and the number of Roman Catholic parishes, many Eastern Catholics could just easily switch Churches for convenience. Especially Eastern Catholics here in North America. So while Roman Catholics can relatively switch Churches easily, it would be very, very difficult for an Eastern Catholic to do so because the Church herself wants to preserve the numbers of Eastern Catholics so that there will be those who carry the traditions.