History Lesson: When did your Eastern Catholic Church/Rite enter into union with Rome & why?

[1Tim215Mommy]

While I by no means wish to belittle the true suffering Eastern / Oriental Catholics have experienced down through the centuries, I am getting a very distinct “woe are we!” vibe from this thread. The OP, who is Orthodox, asked a question and the general response of Eastern Catholics seems to be “our existence is one of woe - we were forced to be Catholic - it is all tragedy”. Surely there is more nuance to the reality? If not, why be Catholic at all?

As I’m reading through these posts, I’m surprised because I thought the reasons would have been theological, but it seems more political or Latin-take-over in some instances.

I was thinking that the issues surrounding the reunification would have been doctrinal like maybe exact the opposite of what divided them from Rome in the first place is what triggered their union with Rome. That perhaps they had come to some new realization or had received some new perspective that caused the dividing issues to be seen in a new light. The reason I started this thread is I was hoping to discover this and personally research those issues. I’m coming away from the answers with nothing to study for potential mind-changer.

Now I’m wondering if Eastern Catholics feel being in Union with Rome is worth being divided from all the other Orthodox Patriarchs and if so, how/why? I think I’ll start a new thread to pick some brains in a different way that might lead me to new areas/issues of research.

 

[Peter_J]

While I by no means wish to belittle the true suffering Eastern / Oriental Catholics have experienced down through the centuries, I am getting a very distinct “woe are we!” vibe from this thread.

Now I’m wondering if Eastern Catholics feel being in Union with Rome is worth being divided from all the other Orthodox Patriarchs and if so, how/why?

Well, I think that most questions about GCs/OCs would, in fact, receive fairly positive responses. But I don’t think it is all that surprising that this specific question (“When did your Eastern Catholic Church/Rite enter into union with Rome & why?”) got some less-positive responses.

Now, having said that, I think a couple things ought to be noted. For one, I think there’s a little bit of a “pendulum swing”: before Vatican II, there was a ‘Isn’t it great that Easterners were brought out of schism and into the Church?’ (in so many words) attitude; perhaps nowadays we have a bit of a rebound, exaggerating the negative side which was previously disregarded.

Secondly, the tragedy of “uniatism” was not entirely one-sided. What I mean is, one of the factors (among others of course) that led some Orthodox to switch-sides was that they were oppressed by their fellow Orthodox. (This fact is, not surprisingly, sometimes exaggerated by Catholics and ignored by Orthodox.)

Disclaimer: My intention here is only to provide 1Tim215Mommy with helpful info, not to present a precise treatise on Greek Catholicism or uniatism. I imagine anyone who goes over my statements with a fine-tooth comb can find a lot of room for improvement.

 

[mardukm]

Dear sister 1Tim215Mommy,

I’m coming away from the answers with nothing to study for potential mind-changer.

THIS was the purpose of this thread/your question? To be honest, that is a very strange way to approach it. The ROC and the Bulgarian Churches started because of political pressure. A lot of local Slavic tribes were “converted” (rather, conquered) into Orthodoxy in the same way a lot of natives were “converted” (rather, conquered) into the Catholic Church. But the Catholics who are the descendants of those people (who may have initially been forced into the Church(es)) are faithful followers of their Faith.

In any case, I can say confidently that every Church that came into reunion has joined the Catholic Church for the simple fact that they knew the Catholic Church taught the full, unadulterated Truth (they would not have joined otherwise). The circumstances of those reunions may not have been ideal, but you can bet that every single one who joined the Catholic communion understood (among other theological matters) the importance of being united to the Chair of Peter, and that is indeed a theological reason (at least, one) to join.

I hope that helps.

I think your new thread gets to the actual heart of the matter, so kudos for starting it.

Blessings,
Marduk