The topic of the thread was ‘What is Rome Worth to You?’. I think the defense of the Papacy (as the final authority for Catholics – Eastern or Western) is in direct answer to the topic’s thread question. In contrast to my responses, the answer I’m hearing, from a majority of the submissions, is segregated and conditional.
Some are still maintaining that catholic only means universal-- small c-- and denying or ignoring that Catholic with a big C means much more, historically and theologically.
**I have no doubts that you enjoy attending the liturgy of St.John Chrysostom and St.Basil. The question is whether or not there is any place in your thought for the 22 Churches within Catholicism that are not the Latin Church.**
You say you don’t want to assimilate them, but in effect, if what you said were true, then they would already be assimilated.
Of course! I am a BYZANTINE CATHOLIC…my children have been baptized as BYZANTINE RITE CATHOLICS. My older brother is a BYZANTINE CATHOLIC PRIEST. I don’t just ‘enjoy’ the Liturgies. They aren’t meant for my personal approval or entertainment anyhow. Regardless, I view them as among the most ancient and beautiful, and I love the words of the prayers. I believe that the Liturgy of the East is beautiful, and I find it more to my liking than the Latin Mass (while both are equally valid).
Also, I’d really like to make a good point here. There is ample room, for the Eastern rites of the Church (one Church, different rites/churches with a small ‘c’). Hypothetically, if you suspect that ‘Rome’ (or I) feel(s) there there is no ‘place for the Eastern rites’ in the Catholic Church (which is a false accusation), or that they have been somehow ‘assimilated’, then I’d like to ask why our Church (a Byzantine Catholic church) has been told to change the fililoque, back to its original form (in the Nicene Creed)? I would imagine, if the Latin Rite wanted to overshadow all the Eastern rites, this change would be unheard of, and certainly not encouraged! Yet, here it is. If you go to the Byzantine churches, of the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, you will discover that the fililoque has been changed to reflect the ancient wording (unless an individual priest hasn’t yet enacted the change, which would be against ‘orders’). And that’s not the only item on the list, for a ‘return’ to the customs, rituals, and traditions, that the Pope(s) encourage(d). What’s would be your response to that fact (returning to the original Eastern fililoque)?
Moreover, while I do feel a kinship with other Churches that are Byzantine rite, of which there are several, those others are not my home Church and they are not interchangeable. If someone told me they were Byzantine Catholic, I would assume they were BCC, not that it was some generic term for liking the Divine Liturgy. If I say I am Melkite, it designates what Church I belong to – though I will often say I am Catholic if I want to avoid a conversation: it gets old explaining that Catholicism is made up of a communion of 23 Churches, of which the Roman Catholic Church is only 1 (if by far the largest), and they usually have no idea what you are talking about anyway. Of course most Latins have no idea what you are talking about either.
In return, it also gets old explaining that Catholic means one Church, not several. There are 23 rites of the Catholic Church, all sharing the same faith. Any Catholic can go to any Catholic church, no matter what the rite. That is the beauty of Catholicism. Anywhere in the world, a Catholic can walk into any Catholic church and be at home. It doesn’t matter if it’s an Eastern or Latin Rite, nor whether it has any particular ‘ethnic’ history. That is the problem with the Orthodox Church (as expressed in previous posts). Nationalism has divided them into feeling that other ‘Orthodox’ (of another ethnic Church)’ are neither welcome to their church (small c) nor would they attend any other Orthodox Church (if it wasn’t the same nationality). That’s an error in thinking. Catholicism is about a unity.
From the Byzantine Catholic web site:
we are Catholics **in union with the Bishop of Rome **(the Pope)
whom we recognize as the visible Head of the Catholic Church. We are recognized as being “Catholic” by the local Roman Catholic Bishops and the Bishops of the United States of America and the whole world.
“
Having said that we are "Catholics”, we must now state that we are NOT Roman Catholics, but Catholics who are identified as being Eastern Catholics.
AS Catholics, we Eastern and Roman Catholics share the same faith and have the same seven sacraments. The difference is that we Eastern Catholics have a different way or rite of expressing our faith in regards to Liturgy and customs.]At the Last Supper, after Jesus changed bread and wine into His own Body and Blood, He told His disciples to “Do this in Memory of me.” This they did. As the disciples brought the Gospel to different parts of the world, they adapted ceremonies of the Liturgy to the customs and music of that people. In the end, four great centers of Christianity emerged with distinctive Christian customs, but the same faith. These centers were located in the great cities of Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome and Alexandria. A couple of centuries later when the capital of the Roman empire was moved to the Eastern city of Byzantium and renamed Constantinople, an adaptation of the Antioch way of celebrating Liturgy was made. Thus a new center of Christianity arose in Constantinople and her ritual became known as the Byzantine Rite. From Constantinople the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe were converted by Sts. Cyril and Methodius and naturally followed the Byzantine Rite. Today the Byzantine Rite is subdivided into ecclesiastical jurisdictions based on ethnic groupings, such as Greek, Ukrainian, Ruthenian, Russian, etc
The spiritual heritage of the Byzantine Catholic Church is the same given to us by the Apostles and which matured in the Christian East, during the period of the Byzantine Empire. This heritage includes the doctrines, liturgical practices and underlying theology and spirituality which came from the Christian Church of the Byzantine Empire. This heritage is shared among all of the Christian peoples, regardless of ethnicity or nationality, who trace their spiritual roots to the Great Church of Constantinople, and the Byzantine religious culture which grew from that Church. From the First Millennium, Christians of the Byzantine tradition have referred to themselves as “Orthodox Christians”. Byzantine Catholics are Orthodox Christians who embrace full communion with the Church of Rome and its primate, Pope John Paul II, the successor of St. Peter, the first among the Apostles. "
See:
raeshomepage.bravehost.com/byzantine.html