How can I become Catholic and what are the steps?

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The Roman manuals for RCIA specifically include provisions for baptized christians as well as heathens coming into the church.

Canon law has the provisions for the Orthodox.
You’re right. I should have said that aspects of RCIA don’t apply to baptized Christians…and in the case of a baptized Christian who is also already well versed in Catholic faith and spirituality, much of RCIA is “optional”.
 
The Church were Reception of the Sacraments of Initiation is not the “most significant”. Reception of the Sacraments does not determine Church membership.

The most significant is the Church of membership of the parents, mainly the father.
That post which was about the norm of enrollment in the Church of baptism applies to the Catholic ritual churches because the norm is to be baptized in the ritual of the ritual Church (CCEO Canon 683) that one is to be enrolled in, but also generally such as baptiszed Orthodox. For infants it derives from the Catholic parent or guardian, whereas adults choose freely (CCEO Canon 30):

CCEO Canon 30
Anyone to be baptized who has completed the fourteenth year of age can freely select any Church sui iuris in which he or she then is enrolled by virtue of baptism received in that same Church, with due regard for particular law established by the Apostolic See.

CCEO Canon 683
Baptism must be be celebrated according the liturgical prescriptions of the Church sui iuris in which according to the norm of law the person to be baptized is to be enrolled.
 
Hello everyone!

I would personally like to thank all of you for all of the info that was given. I have a update, I have talked to a few priests on the subject and I will be entering the Ukrainian Greek catholic church on November 15th! Ill keep everyone posted with updates if you would like:D
I’m sure you will being many gifts to your new parish from your years of formation in Holy Orthodoxy. A great way to start the Nativity Fast. 👍

(Just don’t neglect our wonderful Russian saints. 🙂 We just celebrated St Innocent, Metropolitan of Moscow, Enlightener of the Aleuts and Apostle to America and Wednesday is the Feast of St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and Apostle to America. 😃 Father (Orthodox) mentioned on Saturday that St Innocent became friends with the Franciscan Friars during his time living at Fort Ross. He visited 4 of our California Missions and the records at Mission San Rafael show that, being fluent in Latin, he prayed the Pater Noster and Ave Maria with the friars there. 👍 )
 
That post which was about the norm of enrollment in the Church of baptism applies to the Catholic ritual churches because the norm is to be baptized in the ritual of the ritual Church (CCEO Canon 683) that one is to be enrolled in, but also generally such as baptiszed Orthodox. For infants it derives from the Catholic parent or guardian, whereas adults choose freely (CCEO Canon 30):

CCEO Canon 30
Anyone to be baptized who has completed the fourteenth year of age can freely select any Church sui iuris in which he or she then is enrolled by virtue of baptism received in that same Church, with due regard for particular law established by the Apostolic See.

CCEO Canon 683
Baptism must be be celebrated according the liturgical prescriptions of the Church sui iuris in which according to the norm of law the person to be baptized is to be enrolled.
Yet it does happen at times where an infant is baptized in a sui iruis Church that they are not enrolled into.

Also the other Sacraments of Initiation may then take place in the same Church.

The reception of those Sacraments does not necessarily set sui iruis Church enrollment.
 
i will pray for you!! congratulations, welcome to the family and welcome home!!
 
Yet it does happen at times where an infant is baptized in a sui iruis Church that they are not enrolled into.

Also the other Sacraments of Initiation may then take place in the same Church.

The reception of those Sacraments does not necessarily set sui iruis Church enrollment.
Good point. That is what I read in the canons also.
 
A Catholic can partake of Communion in any Catholic parish, Western or Eastern. You are technically a Latin/Roman Catholic. Your Russian Orthodox Chrismation/Confirmation is accepted as valid by the Catholic Church. You could talk with your priest about changing from Western-Rite to Eastern-Rite. Here is an Eastern Catholic parish directory: byzcath.org/index.php/find-a-parish-mainmenu-111?catid=6
Thanks for the link. Very interesting conversation. There may not be a practical solution immediately available. He could attend a local Roman/Latin Rite Catholic Church if an Eastern Catholic was not within practical distance. In any case he should begin attending one or the other and speak to the pastor about his situation and how he could get it regularized. And he must also consider his children. 👍
 
"And while we are there we eat the Heavenly Bread, Jesus Christ, in Holy Communion. Jesus said, ‘If you do not eat the Flesh of the Son of Man or drink His Blood you have no life in you.’

NO life in you. These are serious words from the Word of God Himself. (Perhaps it now makes sense to us as to why an apostolic canon and a canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council advise that a person who misses three Sunday divine liturgies in a row — assuming an person is not sick or traveling — is in need of Holy Confession in order to unite themselves again to the Church)." - Fr Michael Shanbour

Source: [againandagain(name removed by moderator)Welcome to eace.com](http://againandagain(name removed by moderator)Welcome to eace.com)
This is an Orthodox source. Catholic discipline is different I’m sure. I never heard of the discipline mentioned above. And since I attended Catholic schools all my life, I don’t see how it was never mentioned. However " Orthodoxguy " may have a problem in that he lived in practical schism for so long. It may not have been his fault. But it may need a practical remedy of some type such as an Oath of some sort. That is why he needs to speak to a knowledgeable Catholic priest of any rite, preferably Eastern, ASAP. Now it is becoming a moral issue. 👍
 
This is not a ritual Church transfer situation. Since the parent’s or guardian’s Catholic ritual Church establishes an infants enrollment at the time of baptism.

According to canon law those first baptized Latin Catholic (per Church of Catholic parent or guardian) remains that unless meeting one of the conditions in CIC canon 112 to transfer, for Latin Catholics.

CIC Can. 111 §1 Through the reception of baptism a child becomes a member of the Latin Church if the parents belong to that Church or, should one of them not belong to it, if they have both by common consent chosen that the child be baptized in the Latin Church: if that common consent is lacking, the child becomes a member of the ritual Church to which the father belongs.
§2 Any candidate for baptism who has completed the fourteenth year of age may freely choose to be baptized either in the Latin Church or in another autonomous ritual Church; in which case the person belongs to the Church which he or she has chosen.

CIC Can. 112 §1 After the reception of baptism, the following become members of another autonomous ritual Church:
1° those who have obtained permission from the Apostolic See;
2° a spouse who, on entering marriage or during its course, has declared that he or she is transferring to the autonomous ritual
Church of the other spouse; on the dissolution of the marriage, however, that person may freely return to the latin Church;
3° the children of those mentioned in nn. 1 and 2 who have not completed their fourteenth year, and likewise in a mixed marriage the children of a catholic party who has lawfully transferred to another ritual Church; on completion of their fourteenth year, however, they may return to the latin Church.
§2 The practice, however long standing, of receiving the sacraments according to the rite of an autonomous ritual Church, does not bring with it membership of that Church.

Canon 112 (NCCCL, Beal, Coriden, Green)
“… because ascription to a ritual church is definitive, it belongs to the status of persons.”
“In effect, the canon distinguishes membership from liturgical practice. This means that change of ritual church membership occurs in one of the three ways provided for in paragraph one.”

For eastern Catholics:

CCEO Canon 29
  1. By virtue of baptism, a child who has not yet completed his fourteenth year of age is enrolled in the Church sui iuris of the Catholic father; or the Church sui iuris of the mother if only the mother is Catholic or if both parents by agreement freely request it, with due regard for particular law established by the Apostolic See.
  2. If the child who has not yet completed his fourteenth year is:
    (1) born of an unwed mother, he is enrolled in the Church sui iuris to which the mother belongs;
    (2) born of unknown parents, he is to be enrolled in the Church sui iuris of those in whose care he has been legitimately committed are enrolled; if it is a case of an adoptive father and mother, 1 should be applied;
    (3) born of non-baptized parents, the child is to be a member of the Church sui iuris of the one who is responsible for his education in the Catholic faith.
CCEO Canon 32
  1. No one can validly transfer to another Church sui iuris without the consent of the Apostolic See.
  2. In the case of Christian faithful of an eparchy of a certain Church sui iuris who petition to transfer to another Church sui iuris which has its own eparchy in the same territory, this consent of the Apostolic See is presumed, provided that the eparchial bishops of both eparchies consent to the transfer in writing.
CCEO Canon 33
A wife is at liberty to transfer to the Church of the husband at the celebration of or during the marriage; when the marriage has ended, she can freely return to the original Church sui iuris.

Transfer correspondences from Comparative Sacramental Discipline in the CCEO and CIC, Canon Law Society of America, pp. 255-258):

Eastern:
Orthodox Church of America → Ruthenian or Ukrainian or Russian Catholic
American Carpatho-Rusyn Orthodox → Ruthenian or Slovak Catholic
Serbian Orthodox → Krizevci Catholic
Macedonian Orthodox → Macedonian Catholic
Greek Speaking Eastern Orthodox → Hellenic Greek Catholic
Arabic Speaking Eastern Orthodox → Melkite Greek Catholic
Romanian Orthodox → Romanian Catholic
Russian Orthodox → Russian Catholic
Belarussian Orthodox → Belarussian Catholic
Ukrainian Orthodox → Ukrainian Catholic
Bulgarian Orthodox → Bulganian Catholic
Hungarian Orthodox → Hungarian Catholic
Albanian Orthodox → Albanian Catholic

Oriental:
Armenian Orthodox–> Armenian Catholic
Coptic Orthodox → Coptic Catholic
Ethiopian Orthodox → Ethiopian Catholic
Syrian Orthodox → Syrian Catholic
Indian Orthodox → Syro-Malankara Catholic
Mar Thoma Syrian → Syro-Malankara Catholic
Orthodox Syrian (Jacobite) → Syro-Malankara Catholic
Malabar Independent Syrian Church (Thozhiyoor) → Syro-Malankara Catholic
Church of South India, St. Thomas → Syro-Malankara Catholic

Assyrian:
Assyrian Orthodox → Chaldean Catholic
Syrian Malabarese → Syro-Malabar Catholic
Syro-Chaldean → Syro-Malabar Catholic

Latin:
Church of South India, not St. Thomas → Latin Catholic
Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, and their derivatives. → Latin Catholic
Excellent. Not only a philosopher but a fountain of resources. :tiphat::tiphat:
 
This is an Orthodox source. Catholic discipline is different I’m sure. I never heard of the discipline mentioned above. And since I attended Catholic schools all my life, I don’t see how it was never mentioned. However " Orthodoxguy " may have a problem in that he lived in practical schism for so long. It may not have been his fault. But it may need a practical remedy of some type such as an Oath of some sort. That is why he needs to speak to a knowledgeable Catholic priest of any rite, preferably Eastern, ASAP. Now it is becoming a moral issue. 👍
I’m afraid I have to very strongly disagree with what you are saying here, Linus. OrthodoxGuy can of course become Catholic if he so chooses, but he does not need to become Catholic.

You should read the Balamand Statement, particularly the part that says that “Pastoral activity in the Catholic Church, Latin as well as Eastern, no longer aims at having the faithful of one Church pass over to the other”.
 
P.S. A suggestion for anyone who takes issue with what I’ve said here: don’t feel like you need to take my word for it, but do try making Zekariya’s statement (that breaking communion with Rome is a grave sin) to an Orthodox friend, and see whether he/she agrees.
As an innocent observer I would say that if one left the Orthodox Church for any other church, Catholic, Protestant, Lutheran, etc. the Orthodox Church would excommunicate that individual. And if one left any Catholic Rite Church for the Orthodox Church, they would be excommunicated from the Catholic Church, auothmatically. I am sure this is what Zekariya meant. 👍
 
Hello everyone!

I would personally like to thank all of you for all of the info that was given. I have a update, I have talked to a few priests on the subject and I will be entering the Ukrainian Greek catholic church on November 15th! Ill keep everyone posted with updates if you would like:D
Well, keep us in suspense if you want, then!!! Did you or will you be required to make an Oath or sign a form declaring belief in Catholicism and declaring a wish to enter that Rite? Do you have to do anything prior to just attending Church and receiving the sacraments. In other words will you have to take some initiation steps? Let us know. After all that has been what this whole conversation has been about. 👍
 
I’m afraid I have to very strongly disagree with what you are saying here, Linus. OrthodoxGuy can of course become Catholic if he so chooses, but he does not need to become Catholic.
Well of course I look at it from the Catholic side. Schism is still a serious issue right? Since that is so, one who acknowledges he is in schism is under a serious moral obligation to remedy the situation ASAP. I will read your link in a moment but I’m sure it never came from the Vatican. 👍

O.K. Your statement is a Theological Opinion haveing no binding moral force whatsoever.
Orthodoxguy or anyone else recognizing they are living in schism would be morally bound to remedy the situation ASAP. We live our moral lives by the teaching of the Magisterium not according to Theological Opinion. 👍:eek:

You should read the Balamand Statement, particularly the part that says that “Pastoral activity in the Catholic Church, Latin as well as Eastern, no longer aims at having the faithful of one Church pass over to the other”.
 
Well of course I look at it from the Catholic side. Schism is still a serious issue right? Since that is so, one who acknowledges he is in schism is under a serious moral obligation to remedy the situation ASAP. I will read your link in a moment but I’m sure it never came from the Vatican. 👍
The Balamand Statement didn’t come from The Vatican?

Well … yes, technically you’re right, it didn’t. Does that invalidate it?
 
The Balamand Statement didn’t come from The Vatican?

Well … yes, technically you’re right, it didn’t. Does that invalidate it?
Theological symposiums indicate opinion among theologians. And perhaps the conclusion is meant as an advisory for the Vatican but in the end it is the Magisterium that determines the discipline which binds conscience. So, in my opinion, as the symposium has advisory validity only. Until the Magisterium accepts or rejects the opinion the standing discipline would apply. But Orthodoxguy has already taken the needed action on his own, so for him the question is now moot. 👍
 
Theological symposiums indicate opinion among theologians. And perhaps the conclusion is meant as an advisory for the Vatican but in the end it is the Magisterium that determines the discipline which binds conscience. So, in my opinion, as the symposium has advisory validity only. Until the Magisterium accepts or rejects the opinion the standing discipline would apply.
That’s alright, I’m not trying to shove it down your throat or anything. I just wanted to let you (and anyone else reading this thread) know that some of your posts directly violate what the Balamand Statement said.
But Orthodoxguy has already taken the needed action on his own,
If by “*needed *action” you mean “the action needed in order to become Catholic” then I agree. But my point is that if an Orthodox hasn’t decided on his/her own to become Catholic, then we are not to push him/her to do so. (As you said, that’s moot in this case.)
 
Well of course I look at it from the Catholic side. Schism is still a serious issue right? Since that is so, one who acknowledges he is in schism is under a serious moral obligation to remedy the situation ASAP. I will read your link in a moment but I’m sure it never came from the Vatican. 👍

O.K. Your statement is a Theological Opinion haveing no binding moral force whatsoever.
Orthodoxguy or anyone else recognizing they are living in schism would be morally bound to remedy the situation ASAP. We live our moral lives by the teaching of the Magisterium not according to Theological Opinion. 👍:eek:

You should read the Balamand Statement, particularly the part that says that “Pastoral activity in the Catholic Church, Latin as well as Eastern, no longer aims at having the faithful of one Church pass over to the other”.
Those born into the Orthodox Faith are not living in schism.
 
To be fair/FWIW, Linusthe2nd was talking about someone who was Catholic as an infant, then became Orthodox at a young age.
 
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Friar_David_O.Carm:
Those born into the Orthodox Faith are not living in schism.

And it is a violation of the rules of this forum to label them as either heretics or schismatics.
 
The Balamand Statement didn’t come from The Vatican?

Well … yes, technically you’re right, it didn’t. Does that invalidate it?
It isn’t from the Vatican? :confused: Well it’s in the Vatican website documents library within the "Roman Curia: Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity."
Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue **Between the Catholic Church **and the Orthodox Church

Is there some other Vatican? 🙂
 
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