Inquiring into Eastern Catholicism?

[OrthodoxJosh]

As Cavaradossi said, there will always be conflicts, but the conflicts of men do not change the nature of the Church. The Church remains the Body of Christ regardless of our problems. Remaining in the fullness of the Church is of utmost importance.

You say that you are weak in faith. Don’t be troubled, brother, so was St. Thomas. Christ has already shown you His Body, the Church so don’t be afraid to “put forth your hand and touch the print of the nails”, as it were. God will keep you, I believe this. I pray the Most Holy Theotokos be near you, and give you peace!

Still praying for you!

The sinner,
Josh
Most Holy Mother of God, save us!

 

[5Loaves]

Well that answers my inquiry there. I would rather die, than become Latin Rite (no offense to our Roman Catholic friends on this board, and no offense to the moderators). The beauty of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, the icons, the Theology of the Eastern Church is of no comparison…

Most of the parishioners in my Russian Greek Catholic Church are canonically Latin Church. Many EC parishes have lots of Latin Catholic whose main parish is the EC parish. Several were Chrismated in our church, baptized in the Latin Church as children. That did not change their canonical status. No one cares what your canonical status is, unless you seek holy orders, or to get married. Then your status comes into play. Otherwise one can live their whole life never going to a Roman Rite Mass, only going to the Divine Liturgy and all the other services, yet still be enrolled in the Latin Church. And should they wish to transfer enrollment to the EC Church they are active in, that only requires permission from the Latin Church bishop and the EC bishop, and the parish priest of the EC Church one is moving their enrollment into.

Discernment about coming into the Catholic Church would not properly be guided by the concern that one is enrolled in the Latin Church. There has already been a long thread recently about whether one baptized in a protestant ecclesial community and then Chrismated in the Orthodox Church would be enrolled in the Latin Church or an EC Church. Both have happened.

I hope you will attempt to resolve your issues with Holy Orthodoxy first since it appears you possibly have not been living as an Orthodox Christian for a significant period of years. If you continue to be convinced of the fullness of the faith lying in the Catholic Church then you can look further into that.

Prayers for you in your struggle.

 

[Vico]

…

No one cares what your canonical status is, unless you seek holy orders, or to get married. Then your status comes into play. Otherwise one can live their whole life never going to a Roman Rite Mass, only going to the Divine Liturgy and all the other services, yet still be enrolled in the Latin Church. …

Perhaps in the popular sense, no one cares (maybe due to lack of knowlege), but not according to the Cathoilc Church.

CCEO Canon 12

1. The Christian faithful are bound by an obligation in their own patterns of activity always to maintain communion with the Church.
2. They are to fulfill with great diligence the duties which they owe to the universal Church and to their own Church sui iuris.

CCEO Canon 17
The Christian faithful have the right to worship God according to the prescriptions of their own Church sui iuris, and to follow their own form of spiritual life consonant with the teaching of the Church.

CCEO Canon 403

1. With due regard for the right and obligation to preserve everywhere their own rite, lay persons have the right to participate actively in the liturgical celebrations of any Church sui iuris whatsoever, according to the norms of the liturgical books.

CCEO Canon 40. 3
Other Christian faithful are also to foster an understanding and appreciation of their own rite, and are held to observe it everywhere unless something is excused by the law.

CIC (Latin) CANON 209 – Obligations of Communion

Canon 209
§1. The Christian faithful are bound by an obligation, even in their own patterns of activity, always to maintain communion with the Church
§2. They are to fulfill with great diligence the duties they own to the universal Church and to the particular church to which they belong according to the prescription of law.

Commentary

The obligations of canon 209 are based on the bond of communion that incorporates one into the Catholic Church. This bond is an internal reality and has various external expressions. The canon limits itself to obligations relating to external elements – addressing first the generic expression of communion in whatever a member of the Christian faithful does (§1), then applying this principle to specific duties within the Church (§2). The actual listing of such duties is not given in this or in any one canon, but is contained in various provisions of Church law.

The canon is one of the few in this title taken from the 1977 schema De Populo Dei rather than from Lex Ecclesiae Fundamentalis. It is based on the general concept of communion, which is central to the Council’s view of the Church and which, in promulgating the Code, John Paul II indicated would be characteristic of the Code as well.

…

Moreover, the Church is a communion of churches. The catholicity of the Church admits a broad spectrum of spiritualities, theological systems and religious practices. If communion is an obligation, it is also a right to the diversity and breadth of Catholic communion. The law expressly recognizes this in canon 214 in reference to forms of spiritual life and implies in canon 837, which implies diversity in liturgical celebrations so that all may participate frequently and actively.

…

The Christian faithful cannot be excluded from the communion to which they are obliged unless they themselves break that communion. In other words, the Church cannot break off the communion; only individuals can do so. The procedures surrounding the infliction of censures are one way in which this right and obligation are safeguarded from capricious action, while at the same time, the Church can legitimately declare the fact of those who do break communion (see cc. 1341-1353).

Duties in Communion

Catholic communion is in a local church (parish or at least diocese: c. 102). Communion with a particular church is the basis for worldwide Catholic communion that exists in and from the communion of particular churches (LG 23; c. 368). The particular church to which one pertains is determined by several canons in the law. It is fundamentally a Ritual Church sui juris (cc. 111-112). For those in the Latin Ritual Church, the Code sets certain other determinates.

Reference: The Code of Canon Law, a Text and Commentary, The Canon Law Society of America, edited by James A. Coriden, Thomas J. Green and Donald E. Heintschel, Paulist Press, New York, NY/Mahwah, NJ, © 1985 by the Canon Law Society of America.