If a Roman Catholic became an Eastern Catholic

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MaeganFlinchum1

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Is it ok for a Roman Catholic to become an Eastern Catholic?? Not Eastern Orthodox but an Eastern rite that os is communion with Rome. What are the differences between the Western and Eastern rites? What makes an Eastern rite an Eastern rite? As a Roman Catholic could we recieve sacraments in the Easterm Church? And vice versa? Thanks!
 
MaeganFlinchum1 said:
Is it ok for a Roman Catholic to become an Eastern Catholic?? Not Eastern Orthodox but an Eastern rite that os is communion with Rome. What are the differences between the Western and Eastern rites? What makes an Eastern rite an Eastern rite? As a Roman Catholic could we recieve sacraments in the Easterm Church? And vice versa? Thanks!
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I used to attend an Eastern rite parish and there is nothing wrong with Roman rite Catholics receiving the sacraments in an Eastern rite Church. Or in attending one. The same is true for joining an Eastern rite parish, as far as I know.

They use the Byzantine rite, so it’s different from the Roman rite, but just as valid. If memory serves they use the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom.

There is a good article that explains a lot about them here - catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0246.html
 
MaeganFlinchum1 said:
Is it ok for a Roman Catholic to become an Eastern Catholic?? Not Eastern Orthodox but an Eastern rite that os is communion with Rome. What are the differences between the Western and Eastern rites? What makes an Eastern rite an Eastern rite? As a Roman Catholic could we recieve sacraments in the Easterm Church? And vice versa? Thanks!
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There are provisions for someone to change rites but its not often done and not required to receive the Sacred Mysteries (sacraments) in the Eastern Churches. Within the Catholic Church there are 21 Churches in communion with Rome. By far the largest is the Latin Church whose traditions and culture come from Rome. The other Churches follow particular rites that come from the traditions and culture other major centers of faith, Costantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria. One of the major differences is how the faith is expressed in the liturgy and everyday Christian life.
 
elizaveta01 said:
I used to attend an Eastern rite parish and there is nothing wrong with Roman rite Catholics receiving the sacraments in an Eastern rite Church. Or in attending one. The same is true for joining an Eastern rite parish, as far as I know.

They use the Byzantine rite, so it’s different from the Roman rite, but just as valid. If memory serves they use the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom.

There is a good article that explains a lot about them here - catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0246.html
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Well the are three that are used, the one you mentioned, the Liturgy of of St. Basil the Great and the Liturgy of St. James (rarely used)
 
Mgthesixth said:
Well the are three that are used, the one you mentioned, the Liturgy of of St. Basil the Great and the Liturgy of St. James (rarely used)
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Forgot about those! But then I’ve only seen the Liturgy of St Basil once or twice, and never the Liturgy of St James (I’m not even sure when it is used).
 
Thank you all for the replys! What would make someone want to be an Eastern Rite Catholic? What is the main reason for the split? Are all their beliefs the exact same of Roman Catholic Christians?
 
MaeganFlinchum1 said:
Thank you all for the replys! What would make someone want to be an Eastern Rite Catholic? What is the main reason for the split? Are all their beliefs the exact same of Roman Catholic Christians?
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  1. Some people are attracted to Eastern Orthodox spirituality, but don’t want to leave the Pope. Eastern Catholicism is close enough to at least get the Eastern flavor.
  2. Some people marry an Eastern Catholic.
  3. All of the above. 👍
 
We must remember that “Eastern Catholic” =/= Byzantine. Yes there are a large number of Byzantines of various stripes but there are also Chaldeans, Armenians, Syriacs, Copts, etc who are most definitely non-Byzantine yet just as must “Eastern” as our Greek and Slavic brethren.
 
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever!
My family transferred from the Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Church (back then Greek Catholic) in 1926. I was raised in the Latin Church and was very active for my entire life. In 2001 after much prayer and attending the local Byzantine Catholic parish for over a year, my wife, children and I transferred back. I took part in the Diaconate Program at Ss. Cyril and Methodius Seminary and was ordained Deacon on the Feast of Ss. Boris and Gleb in 2011. If you have any questions from the point of view of someone who went through the process I would be glad to discuss it.
Fr. Deacon Robert
 
MaeganFlinchum1 said:
Thank you all for the replys! What would make someone want to be an Eastern Rite Catholic? What is the main reason for the split? Are all their beliefs the exact same of Roman Catholic Christians?
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Well for me the way the faith is expressed in the liturgy is what started my journey into the ruethenian expression of the faith. There were many reasons for the Great Schism but it was mostly for political/authority reasons. I would say the the faith/beliefs are the same same just viewed through a different prism like the Assumption of theBlessed Virgin is celebrated as the Dormition of the Theotokos in the Byzantine traditions
 
MaeganFlinchum1 said:
Is it ok for a Roman Catholic to become an Eastern Catholic?? Not Eastern Orthodox but an Eastern rite that os is communion with Rome. What are the differences between the Western and Eastern rites? What makes an Eastern rite an Eastern rite? As a Roman Catholic could we recieve sacraments in the Easterm Church? And vice versa? Thanks!
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“One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Faith…”
We are all one in the Body of Christ, despite the differences in Liturgy. 🙂
 
McPhelan said:
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever!
My family transferred from the Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Church (back then Greek Catholic) in 1926. I was raised in the Latin Church and was very active for my entire life. In 2001 after much prayer and attending the local Byzantine Catholic parish for over a year, my wife, children and I transferred back. I took part in the Diaconate Program at Ss. Cyril and Methodius Seminary and was ordained Deacon on the Feast of Ss. Boris and Gleb in 2011. If you have any questions from the point of view of someone who went through the process I would be glad to discuss it.
Fr. Deacon Robert
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Was it difficult changing rites? I am wanting to do the same being that my wife is Ruthenian and of course because it has helped me deepen my Faith.
 
Thanks for all the replys!! Even though there are some doctinal differences (Purgatory, The Assumption etc) its totally ok for a Roman Catholic to change rites? I have been Catholic only since Easter Vigil, but am very interested in the Eastern rites. Particularly the Byzantine rite. I want to do a lot of studying and thinking on this rote in particular. Any resources, links, books etc would be appreciated.

Thanks!
 
Not really. We were active in the local parish for over a year. My wife, daughter, son and I each wrote a petition requesting transfer explaining our desire to be part of the Byzantine Church. (It was NOT a letter complaining about the Latin Church.) The petitions went from our Byzantine Pastor to the Byzantine Bishop to the Latin Bishop who checked with our former Latin pastor to make certain there were no problems. The Latin Bishop replied that there was no difficulty and the process went forward. We received the formal document of transfer on the Feast of the Beheading of St John the Baptist, which happens to be my wife’s birthday.
 
MaeganFlinchum1 said:
Thanks for all the replys!! Even though there are some doctinal differences (Purgatory, The Assumption etc) its totally ok for a Roman Catholic to change rites? I have been Catholic only since Easter Vigil, but am very interested in the Eastern rites. Particularly the Byzantine rite. I want to do a lot of studying and thinking on this rote in particular. Any resources, links, books etc would be appreciated.

Thanks!
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Here he deals some with the possibility of changing rite.

east2west.org/discipline.htm#Roman Catholics becoming Eastern Catholic:
 
MaeganFlinchum1 said:
Even though there are some doctinal differences (Purgatory, The Assumption etc)
Thanks!
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Just FYI: Eastern CATHOLICS accept the doctrines of Purgatory and the Assumption (we call it the Dormition). It’s Eastern ORTHODOX that have different beliefs about those things. 🙂
 
On the topic of Purgatory it might help to look at the many threads on this topic. The answers are a little complicated (no surprise), but very interesting
 
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