Is the Roman Church the "Mother and teacher of all the rites"?

[Peter_J]

In another thread, the comment was made that “The Latin Rite is, though, the ‘Mother and teacher of all the rites’”. (This, in turn, was a response to the statement “The western church is not The Church.”) I thought it might be interesting and informative to hear how many CAF posters agree/disagree with the statement.

Thanks in advance to all responders,
Peter.

 

[Brenda_V]

“The Latin Rite is, though, the ‘Mother and teacher of all the rites’”

An interesting premise but one I think that is not true. We could say that the Latin Rite is the largest Rite but this means nothing as far as teacher of all rites. We can also say that the Pope, head of all Rites, has almost always been from the Latin Rite but that does not mean that the Holy Spirit may not choose a man from one of the other Rites!

From my limited understanding the only difference in the Rites is disciplinary in nature, outward appearances so to speak. We have the same core beliefs which is what makes us Catholics in the first place. This core set of beliefs is what is most important, not whether we stand throughout the Mass or what we call the Mass - Holy Sacrifice of the Mass or Divine Liturgy (there may be other names these are the only two that I personally know and yes, I am a Latin Rite Catholic hence probably my limited knowledge ).

There is much I don’t know about the different Rties of our Catholic Faith but I do know they are all valid.

Brenda V.

 

[Peter_J]

Thanks in advance to all responders,
Peter.

 

[Peter_J]

Sorry the question got cut off. It should say “Eastern Catholics: Is it accurate to say that the Latin Rite is the Mother and teacher of all the rites?”

 

[Catherine_Grant]

Moderator Note:
This question was divided between two threads. In order to keep the conversation in one place, the two poll threads were merged into this one. Please continue all conversation here.

 

[Harpazo]

No, I think that wouldn’t make much sense to say that. Considering that the other Churches completely preceeded the traditions of the Latin Church. For example, the Syriacs.

Granted, the Latin Church is the largest of the 23 Churches in the Catholic Church, it is certainly not the teacher in the sense that it is better than the others. No Church in the Catholic Communion of Churches in better than the other.

Al-Masih Qam!
Andrew

 

[Chaldean_Rite]

No Church in the Catholic Communion of Churches in better than the other.

Al-Masih Qam!
Andrew

Catechsim of the Catholic Church # 1203
**1203 **The liturgical traditions or rites presently in use in the Church are the Latin (principally the Roman rite, but also the rites of certain local churches, such as the Ambrosian rite, or those of certain religious orders) and the Byzantine, Alexandrian or Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Maronite and Chaldean rites. In “faithful obedience to tradition, the sacred Council declares that Holy Mother Church holds all lawfully recognized rites to be of equal right and dignity, and that she wishes to preserve them in the future and to foster them in every way.”

 

[Deacon_Lance]

The poll is inherently flawed. First, there is no Latin Rite. There is a Latin Church which contains the Roman Rite and it various usages, the Ambrosian Rite, and Mozarabic Rite. Second all Churches sui iuris are equal and therefore sisters. That Rome once taught it was superior to other Churches and its Rite superior to other Rites is an unfortunate fact of history, and happily the Church has rejected this and teaches that Pope in his function as Supreme Pontiff and Head of the Episcopal College must be impartial and act as father and protector of all Churches and their Rites. His role as Supreme Pontiff must not become entwined with his role as Patriarch of the West in a way that exalts the Latin Church over her sisters just because she has been honored by God with seat of the Successor of St. Peter.

 

[Hesychios]

…His role as Supreme Pontiff must not become entwined with his role as Patriarch of the West in a way that exalts the Latin Church over her sisters just because she has been honored by God with seat of the Successor of St. Peter.

Nicely expressed.

 

[rpp]

I was under the impression that the Rites of the Eastern Churches were handed down from the Apostle which initially evangelized that region. So the rites, while similar in many ways, had their own development from the beginning.

Is that correct?

If that is so, then the Latin Rite is not the mother of any of the Eastern Rites, be they in communion with Rome or not. What matters is Apostolic Succession, which many of the Eastern Orthodox Churches which are not in communion with Rome, have.

Am I missing something? Are my above statements correct? I always welcome well meaning and polite correction.

 

[bilop]

All the sui juris Churches are inherently EQUAL.

I am Latin Rite.

God Bless

 

[Peter_J]

First, there is no Latin Rite. There is a Latin Church which contains the Roman Rite and it various usages, the Ambrosian Rite, and Mozarabic Rite.

Good point. Truth is that I just copied the wording used by a poster in the other thread, without thinking it through.

Second all Churches sui iuris are equal and therefore sisters. That Rome once taught it was superior to other Churches and its Rite superior to other Rites is an unfortunate fact of history, and happily the Church has rejected this and teaches that Pope in his function as Supreme Pontiff and Head of the Episcopal College must be impartial and act as father and protector of all Churches and their Rites.

I agree with you, and it would appear that most posters here do as well: 100% of Eastern Catholics who responded to the poll said “no”, and so did more than 80% of other responders.

God bless,
Peter.