Eastern Catholics assisting at Latin Rite Masses

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pickguard1

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I’ve been bumming around the Eastern Catholic forum for a bit now, trying to learn more about our Eastern bretheren. After some research (with lots of help from all of you!) I see that, at least in the U.S. there are very few Catholic Churches of Eastern Rites. For example, the closest one to where I live is about a 50 minute drive away.

My question is this. Is it common for members of Eastern Catholic churches who immigrate to the U.S. (or any majority Latin Rite country) to translate into the Latin Rite (or at least assist at Latin Rite parishes) if there isn’t a parish of their own rite (Byzantine, Copt, Syro-Malabar, etc.)? Is there a requirement (i.e. Canon) for Eastern Catholics that states you must assist at a Roman Catholic Mass, if your own Rite’s Divine Liturgy is not available? If so, is it rigidly adhered to, in your experience?

Maybe I’m missing the mark and asking a pointless question, because I suspect that most Eastern Catholics immigrate to an area where they do have thier Rite available to them. Correct me if I’m wrong, please. 🙂
 
As a post script, is it common for Eastern Catholics immigrating to the United States to attend Orthodox churches of the corresponding rite?
 
From what I understand, (and I don’t claim to know Eastern Canon Law) Some of the Eastern Rite Churches do not have imposed on them the obligation to attend Sunday Divine Liturgy. While it is encouraged, the issues that existed in the West with people not assisting at Mass on a regular basis. It is however encouraged to assist on Sundays and Holy Days.
 
pickguard1 said:
As a post script, is it common for Eastern Catholics immigrating to the United States to attend Orthodox churches of the corresponding rite?
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Depending on what country they are immigrating from, there are some who wouldn’t be caught dead in an Orthodox church.
 
Patchunky said:
Depending on what country they are immigrating from, there are some who wouldn’t be caught dead in an Orthodox church.
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And others who’d go Orthodox before Roman. Like one melkite I’ve met, attended an AO parish 20 miles away rather than the RC parish across the street.

As for translating to the RCC, A few do, many others just practice in the Roman.

For many Byzantines, if they can’t get to a DL, they may do vespers and matins instead, using the reader’s form. But that permission, also, varies widely.
 
For many Byzantines, if they can’t get to a DL, they may do vespers and matins instead, using the reader’s form. But that permission, also, varies widely.
I might point out that nobody ever needs special permission to pray the Divine Office of the Church.
 
bpbasilphx said:
For many Byzantines, if they can’t get to a DL, they may do vespers and matins instead, using the reader’s form. But that permission, also, varies widely.
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Once again, it varies greatly depending on the countries they are coming from.

For those with recent experience with Communist occupation and the trials and tribulations of dealing with the MP, they wouldn’t be caught dead in an Orthodox church!

I know of a family that drives 30 mins each way to attend a Polish Latin Rite Catholic church than to walk a block to an OCA parish.
 
Patchunky said:
Once again, it varies greatly depending on the countries they are coming from.

For those with recent experience with Communist occupation and the trials and tribulations of dealing with the MP, they wouldn’t be caught dead in an Orthodox church!

I know of a family that drives 30 mins each way to attend a Polish Latin Rite Catholic church than to walk a block to an OCA parish.
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I hadn’t even considered the political issues surrounding the political/jurisdiction relations between Catholic and Orthodox in the home countries. Thanks for bringing that up!
I would imagine in some cases that would be like a Catholic immigrating to England in the 16th century going to an Anglican Mass rather than nothing at all-considering the oppression of the Catholic Church by the Crown at that time was so severe, not going would have been the preferred stance.
 
bpbasilphx said:
For many Byzantines, if they can’t get to a DL, they may do vespers and matins instead, using the reader’s form. But that permission, also, varies widely.
I might point out that nobody ever needs special permission to pray the Divine Office of the Church.
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The pernmission is to use it in lieu of DL.
 
pickguard1 said:
Maybe I’m missing the mark and asking a pointless question, because I suspect that most Eastern Catholics immigrate to an area where they do have thier Rite available to them. Correct me if I’m wrong, please. 🙂
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I’m not an Eastern Catholic, but I just don’t think that’s true at all- at least from my reading of history.

The Ukrainians and Rusyn immigrants that came to the US in the late 19th/ early 20th came first- and where there were a sufficient number organized parishes and recruited priests from the old country.

Sometimes the whole process was a lot more complicated than anyone would have liked back then- you can read up on the meeting between the Eastern Catholic priest Toth and Archbishop Ireland to appreciate the friction of the time.
 
Kielbasi said:
The Ukrainians and Rusyn immigrants that came to the US in the late 19th/ early 20th came first- and where there were a sufficient number organized parishes and recruited priests from the old country.
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That is correct. Those settled where they could find jobs: in the steel mills, auto factories and coal mines, etc. Once they found jobs, they passed on the information to their friends and family, and then parishes started in those areas.

A question comes to mind-- where do more recent immigrants settle? The jobs are usually service or technology based. Do they look for places that have Eastern Churches?
 
mariyka said:
That is correct. Those settled where they could find jobs: in the steel mills, auto factories and coal mines, etc. Once they found jobs, they passed on the information to their friends and family, and then parishes started in those areas.

A question comes to mind-- where do more recent immigrants settle? The jobs are usually service or technology based. Do they look for places that have Eastern Churches?
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I don’t think there have been a significant number of immigrants from Eastern Catholic countries in quite some time in America. And those that we have had from the old USSR and other eastern bloc countries have been Jewish and not Eastern Catholic at all.

But most immigrants, regardless of their religion, usually settle near the agencies which sponsor them.

If you’re talking more about internal immigration, moving from the Rust Belt to Sun Belt locations, I don’t think that Eastern Catholics are any less likely than Latin Rite Catholics to accept employment in the south and west where there are relatively few EC churches. But that’s just an impression that I have, maybe I’m wrong.
 
Kielbasi said:
I don’t think there have been a significant number of immigrants from Eastern Catholic countries in quite some time in America. And those that we have had from the old USSR and other eastern bloc countries have been Jewish and not Eastern Catholic at all.
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Actually, there are huge numbers of people coming from Eastern Slovakia and Western Ukraine and settling in the NYC and Northern New Jersey areas. In a couple of cases, they have revitalized a couple of failing Ruthenian parishes that retried Bishop Andrew had ear-marked to be closed. They also continue to use OCS which he REALLY didn’t appreciate:p

The vast majority of these new immigrants are women working in the clothing factories of New Jersey. Like past generations, these women are here to make money to support their families in the Old Country. They’ve come, they work for a 2-3 years and then go back. It’s much easier to fly than to spend 2-3 weeks on a ship…

There is a HUGE Slovak Festival the last Sunday of September in New Jersey. 10-15 years ago you rarely heard Slovak, it was mostly English. Today, you rarely hear English, it’s all in Slovak and they get an attendance of 5,000+…
 
I can’t speak for the Eastern Catholic Churches, but I know if I couldn’t get to a Roman Rite, I’d rather go to an Eastern rite than miss mass.
 
From what I understand, (and I don’t claim to know Eastern Canon Law) Some of the Eastern Rite Churches do not have imposed on them the obligation to attend Sunday Divine Liturgy.
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Can any of our EC brethren expand? Is it a mortal sin to miss the Mass/DL on Sundays without a valid reason?
 
Eastern Catholic Churches have the option of allowing Sunday Vespers or Matins to satisfy the Sunday obligation in their particular law.

Fr. Deacon Lance
 
Kielbasi said:
I don’t think there have been a significant number of immigrants from Eastern Catholic countries in quite some time in America…
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Patchunky said:
Actually, there are huge numbers of people coming from Eastern Slovakia and Western Ukraine and settling in the NYC and Northern New Jersey areas. In a couple of cases, they have revitalized a couple of failing Ruthenian parishes…
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In Californian we have a large number of “recent” immigrants from from Iran and Iraq, “the other Holy land”, Assyrians and Chaldeans, also Coptic Rite and the Ge’ez Rite Catholics from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia.

They have recently opened a seminary in the Chaldean Church in San Diego, the first and only Chaldean seminary outside of Iraq. Glory to Jesus Christ!
 
Alaska has had a number of Russian and Polish defectors. (more than 20 Poles, more than 30 Russians, not counting Russian Eskimo who snuck in…)

The Poles, however, have all been RC.
 
Deacon_Lance said:
Eastern Catholic Churches have the option of allowing Sunday Vespers or Matins to satisfy the Sunday obligation in their particular law.

Fr. Deacon Lance
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Does this require the presence of clergy or is this something a layperson can practice alone?
 
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