How can a Priest become Bi-ritual?

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Anathama_Sit

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Greetings Eastern Catholicism Forum,

How can a Latin Priest become bi-ritual? I could not find this anywhere in the Code of Canon Law. Does he have to get the approval of his bishop and that of the Rite he wants to be in? But in this hypothetical case the priest does not want to leave the Latin Rite.

If my terms are messed up, I apologize as this is still very new to me.

Thank you for answering my question.

God Bless,
Anathama Sit
 
I think he has to grow up in the Eastern Rite, to begin with…
 
The circumstances should present itself. For a Latin Rite priest, there should be no Eastern Rite priest available in the area for a particular Church. If the faithful petition either their bishop or the Latin bishop to provide Liturgy in their Rite, then no priests can be sent from somewhere else, the Latin Rite bishop can look to his own priests if there is one knowledgeable or at least interested and willing to be trained in the Eastern Liturgy, then a petition would be sent to Rome for approval.
 
Briefly, this is something that requires the consent of both the Latin Ordinary and the Eastern/Oriental Ordinary. Application must then be made to Rome for bi-ritual faculties, and I believe this is done by the Ordinary of the second (rather than the priest’s primary) Church. If granted, those faculties are for a specified period subject to period review (I think it’s annually) and must be renewed by Rome. (I use the term “Ordinary” rather than “bishop” since a religious priest who his subject to the Superior of his Order/Congregation may also apply for and be granted bi-ritual faculties.)

Note that the process can work both ways. A Latin priest may be granted bi-ritual faculties for an Eastern/Oriental Church and an Easter/Oriental priest may likewise be granted faculties for the Latin Church.

I probably should add here that any priest in good standing may be granted ad-hoc faculties to concelebrate in another Church, but in order to be principal celebrant in the liturgy of another Church, he must have been granted bi-ritual faculties from Rome.
 
ConstantineTG said:
The circumstances should present itself. For a Latin Rite priest, there should be no Eastern Rite priest available in the area for a particular Church. If the faithful petition either their bishop or the Latin bishop to provide Liturgy in their Rite, then no priests can be sent from somewhere else, the Latin Rite bishop can look to his own priests if there is one knowledgeable or at least interested and willing to be trained in the Eastern Liturgy, then a petition would be sent to Rome for approval.
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Well … not necessarily. A priest may, of his own volition and for his own reasons, ask for bi-ritual faculties.
 
malphono said:
Well … not necessarily. A priest may, of his own volition and for his own reasons, ask for bi-ritual faculties.
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But there still should be a good reason for it, right? And the bishops (his own and the bishop of the other Church-Rite he is getting second faculties for) would still have to both approve, right?
 
ConstantineTG said:
But there still should be a good reason for it, right? And the bishops (his own and the bishop of the other Church-Rite he is getting second faculties for) would still have to both approve, right?
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Right. Both have to approve. But there doesn’t have to be the same necessity that you described earlier. Lack of a priest from one rite is certainly a good reason, but there could be others.

Example: let’s say that I’m a Latin priest, and there’s an Eastern parish in the neighborhood–one that has a resident pastor. It might be helpful for me to get those faculties so that I can be of assistance to him whenever the need arises (vacation, illness, retreats, etc.).
 
Another way to become bi-ritual is for a member of one Church to join a religious community of another Church.

Or to join a specific province of a religious community that is bi-ritual in nature.
 
FWIW, the Society of St. John Cantius had tri-ritual aspirations at the begining.
SM: Tell us about the bi-ritualism of the parish.
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Kolinski: Ever since the Tridentine Mass came here, we have continued to also use the Novus Ordo Missae. Fr. Phillips originally imagined that the new community would be tri-ritual, as a way of making a bridge between East and West. But it became apparent that there were important juridical issues in formalizing the Byzantine rite here. This plan was tabled, and our focus has been on the two forms of the Roman Rite.
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musicasacra.com/kolinski/

From this it’s tough to say if a priest CAN become Bi-ritual.
 
FrDavid96 said:
Right. Both have to approve. But there doesn’t have to be the same necessity that you described earlier. Lack of a priest from one rite is certainly a good reason, but there could be others.

Example: let’s say that I’m a Latin priest, and there’s an Eastern parish in the neighborhood–one that has a resident pastor. It might be helpful for me to get those faculties so that I can be of assistance to him whenever the need arises (vacation, illness, retreats, etc.).
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Father, isn’t what you described a need itself?
 
ConstantineTG said:
Father, isn’t what you described a need itself?
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Oh sure. As I said, there does have to be some legitimate need. But the standard is not all that high. If both bishops agree that there is some good reason, the petition goes off to Rome, and the decision of the two bishops is usually enough to warrant the approval.

I only wrote my earlier post to explain that the reason does not have to be a dire one—like no priest of a given rite to serve a parish of that rite.
 
FrDavid96 said:
Oh sure. As I said, there does have to be some legitimate need. But the standard is not all that high. If both bishops agree that there is some good reason, the petition goes off to Rome, and the decision of the two bishops is usually enough to warrant the approval.

I only wrote my earlier post to explain that the reason does not have to be a dire one—like no priest of a given rite to serve a parish of that rite.
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Gotcha! Thanks Father 🙂
 
ConstantineTG said:
The circumstances should present itself. For a Latin Rite priest, there should be no Eastern Rite priest available in the area for a particular Church.
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While historically true and still so in many circumstances, it is not necessarily the only case or instance where bi-ritual facilities might be granted. For some time now, interested seminarians affliated with the Archdiocese of Newark have been trained in the liturgical practices of the Byzantine-Ruthenian Rite. The recent Archbishops of Newark and the nearby Eparchy of Passaic have enjoyed a great, collegial relationship, and saw the value of their young priests being knowledgeable of both Western and Eastern traditions. In my days as a parishioner of the Passaic Cathedral parish, we enjoyed celebrating the Divine Liturgy with many of these young priests of the Archdiocese, who were very glad to be able to render service to the Lord in both traditions (although remaining in the Latin Archdiocese).

Also, the current Bishop of Manchester, NH, the Most Rev. Peter Libasci, has bi-ritual facilities. While still Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Center, NY, he would occasionally substitute for our pastor. In his position, there was absolutely no pastoral reason for him to be granted bi-ritual facilities. Rather, it was done out of the utmost respect for him and his love of our tradition. While his father was a devout Italian-American Catholic, his mother’s family hails from Slovakia and had great familiarity with the Byzantine Church.

unionleader.com/article/20111211/NEWS08/712119978

This article also notes that there was one other very recognizable Latin hierarch with bi-ritual facilities - none other than +Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. He is shown in traditional Eastern episcopal vestments below:

 
malphono said:
Briefly, this is something that requires the consent of both the Latin Ordinary and the Eastern/Oriental Ordinary. Application must then be made to Rome for bi-ritual faculties, and I believe this is done by the Ordinary of the second (rather than the priest’s primary) Church. If granted, those faculties are for a specified period subject to period review (I think it’s annually) and must be renewed by Rome. (I use the term “Ordinary” rather than “bishop” since a religious priest who his subject to the Superior of his Order/Congregation may also apply for and be granted bi-ritual faculties.)

Note that the process can work both ways. A Latin priest may be granted bi-ritual faculties for an Eastern/Oriental Church and an Easter/Oriental priest may likewise be granted faculties for the Latin Church.

I probably should add here that any priest in good standing may be granted ad-hoc faculties to concelebrate in another Church, but in order to be principal celebrant in the liturgy of another Church, he must have been granted bi-ritual faculties from Rome.
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This is all very consistent with my understanding, as well.

I would add that some priests, despite their canonical heritage, chose to be ordained directly into another particular church and canonical rite. Our current pastor was raised in a solidly Irish Catholic family, yet grew up near a Byzantine-Ruthenian church and was both inspired by the form of worship and encouraged by that parish family to pursue his vocation. While his education was more traditionally Latin, he ultimately chose to serve in the Ruthenian Church.

There was a recent thread regarding Servant of God Fr. Walter Ciszek, who although being raised as a Roman Catholic and trained as a Jesuit, was ordained as a Russian Greek-Catholic priest and went behind the Iron Curtain to minister in the Soviet Union.

Anathama Sit - hope this is all helpful!
 
ByzCathCantor said:
This is all very consistent with my understanding, as well.

I would add that some priests, despite their canonical heritage, chose to be ordained directly into another particular church and canonical rite. Our current pastor was raised in a solidly Irish Catholic family, yet grew up near a Byzantine-Ruthenian church and was both inspired by the form of worship and encouraged by that parish family to pursue his vocation. While his education was more traditionally Latin, he ultimately chose to serve in the Ruthenian Church.
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From what I have heard this is greatly frowned upon these days. To the point that I have heard that the Oriental Congregation is no longer granting the necessary dispensations to Byzantine religious in Roman communities.

I will let you know when the issue comes up for me (God willing that it does).
 
ByzCath said:
From what I have heard this is greatly frowned upon these days. To the point that I have heard that the Oriental Congregation is no longer granting the necessary dispensations to Byzantine religious in Roman communities.

I will let you know when the issue comes up for me (God willing that it does).
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Br. David - distressing to hear that, as I am sure you have it from good sources.

So much for “both lungs”, eh?

I’m trying to imagine just what might be the rationale for such a change in position. Any thoughts (even if its your own best guess)?
 
ByzCathCantor said:
Br. David - distressing to hear that, as I am sure you have it from good sources.

So much for “both lungs”, eh?

I’m trying to imagine just what might be the rationale for such a change in position. Any thoughts (even if its your own best guess)?
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Not at all. It is just the opposite.

Those who are of one ritual Church should be ordained within that Church even if they are destined to be serving within another Church.

The Oriental Congregation is not stopping them from being bi-ritual just making them be ordained within their rite.

Disclaimer:
Having said that, though, I am not making a statement about my future. I am open to the process of my formation and dialogue with my superiors on the matter. I just make that statement as one of the possible motives as to why such dispensations may be denied and why I have no problem with it if they are.
 
ByzCath said:
Not at all. It is just the opposite.

Those who are of one ritual Church should be ordained within that Church even if they are destined to be serving within another Church.

The Oriental Congregation is not stopping them from being bi-ritual just making them be ordained within their rite.
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Oh, got it! I kinda see that.

Blessings to you, Brother, on your vocational journey!
 
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