No Eastern Catholic Parish nearby

[Tallguy88]

Hi guys!

I’m currently an inquirer into Orthodoxy from a protestant background. However, I’m not opposed to the possibility of becoming an Eastern Catholic. The problem is that the nearest Eastern Catholic parish (Ruthenian) is nearly two hours away. I’m a college student who works on Sundays and there is no way I can travel that far on a regular basis.

As I said, at this point I’m just an inquirer who is divided between Orthodoxy and Catholicism. I am drawn to the East, but which east is the problem.

So what should I do? I’m afraid that if I go through RCIA in a Latin parish that I wouldn’t be able to transfer jurisdictions if I moved closer to an eastern parish.

Any advice?

 

[I_Thirst]

If you finish RCIA and become Roman Catholic, you can attend any Catholic Church – Western or Eastern (for they are all Catholic).

If at a later date you decide to switch rites (say from the Latin Rite to an Eastern one), you may do so. But you don’t need to do so in order to attend Divine Liturgy an Eastern Catholic Church as a Roman Catholic.

I’m not sure about transferring jurisdictions. You just go to another Catholic Church when you move. You don’t have to notify anyone. I attend both a Roman Catholic Church and an Eastern Catholic Church (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church), and I don’t have to notify anyone about which one I’m attending before I go.

 

[ConstantineTG]

Hi guys!

I’m currently an inquirer into Orthodoxy from a protestant background. However, I’m not opposed to the possibility of becoming an Eastern Catholic. The problem is that the nearest Eastern Catholic parish (Ruthenian) is nearly two hours away. I’m a college student who works on Sundays and there is no way I can travel that far on a regular basis.

As I said, at this point I’m just an inquirer who is divided between Orthodoxy and Catholicism. I am drawn to the East, but which east is the problem.

So what should I do? I’m afraid that if I go through RCIA in a Latin parish that I wouldn’t be able to transfer jurisdictions if I moved closer to an eastern parish.

Any advice?

Ultimately its your decision. It seems you need more discernment. Settle first the question whether you want to be Catholic or Orthodox before worrying about things like canonical transfers.

 

[5Loaves]

As I said, at this point I’m just an inquirer who is divided between Orthodoxy and Catholicism. I am drawn to the East, but which east is the problem.

So what should I do? I’m afraid that if I go through RCIA in a Latin parish that I wouldn’t be able to transfer jurisdictions if I moved closer to an eastern parish.

Any advice?

Whether to be Eastern Catholic or Orthodox is fundamentally unrelated to how close any church is. Have you been worshiping in the past in either Church? What leads you to believe you are called to one of these very distinct traditions? Being Catholic or Orthodox is a* life*, not just a faith community.

It sounds like there is an Orthodox Church near by. The Orthodox priest or deacon will be happy to explain to you the process for discerning if Holy Orthodoxy is the path for you.

As far as RCIA, I am an Eastern Catholic and I am a catechist in a Latin parish. Advice? Make contact with the priest or deacon at the Ruthenian Church near you. Ask for his direction about how to proceed.

If you are validly baptized (with water and in the name of the Holy Trinity) and have no impediments (you aren’t for example divorced and remarried) then you can be received into the Catholic Church after an appropriate period of instruction and active participation in the life of the Church, whenever you and the priest deem you are ready . It would be a challenge to seek to be part of a Church you can almost never worship in, by the description you give. That is for you to explore with the priest or other spiritual father or mother. The Ruthenian priest or deacon can tell you if there is anything in the statutes of the Ruthenian Church that in any way further specifies when a Christian can be received into the Ruthenian Church.

The Ruthenian priest or deacon may be willing to meet with you for catechesis every couple of weeks either there where their parish is, or someplace closer to you. Maybe you could meet by Skype in between. They might have someone who is qualified to be a catechist who lives close to where you are and could meet with you near by.

If you want to be an Eastern Catholic it could be very confusing for other Christian candidates in an RCIA seeking reception into the Latin Church to have you seeking instruction on becoming an Eastern Catholic. And, even in separate sessions apart from those folks coming into the Latin Church, the catechist in the Latin parish is unlikely to be equipt to catechize someone seeking reception into an Eastern Church.

I would ask the Ruthenian priest or deacon for recommendation about where to worship closer to home. He may have suggestions about a specific parish near you.

As a Ruthenian Catholic you would be free to go to Mass at a Latin Church. Again, it would be a challenge to seek to be part of a Eastern Catholic Church you can almost never worship in, by the description you give. However, this is all something for you to work on with the guidance of a spiritual father, or mother.

I assume you looked at Find-A-Parish re an ECC. You might also look for an OCF near you, since you’re a college student. You could try for a Newman Catholic Student Center, although in my experience these are not known for being orthodox Catholic groups.

 

[Tallguy88]

Whether to be Eastern Catholic or Orthodox is fundamentally unrelated to how close any church is. Have you been worshiping in the past in either Church? What leads you to believe you are called to one of these very distinct traditions? Being Catholic or Orthodox is a* life*, not just a faith community.

It sounds like there is an Orthodox Church near by. The Orthodox priest or deacon will be happy to explain to you the process for discerning if Holy Orthodoxy is the path for you.

As far as RCIA, I am an Eastern Catholic and I am a catechist in a Latin parish. Advice? Make contact with the priest or deacon at the Ruthenian Church near you. Ask for his direction about how to proceed.

If you are validly baptized (with water and in the name of the Holy Trinity) and have no impediments (you aren’t for example divorced and remarried) then you can be received into the Catholic Church after an appropriate period of instruction and active participation in the life of the Church, whenever you and the priest deem you are ready . It would be a challenge to seek to be part of a Church you can almost never worship in, by the description you give. That is for you to explore with the priest or other spiritual father or mother. The Ruthenian priest or deacon can tell you if there is anything in the statutes of the Ruthenian Church that in any way further specifies when a Christian can be received into the Ruthenian Church.

The Ruthenian priest or deacon may be willing to meet with you for catechesis every couple of weeks either there where their parish is, or someplace closer to you. Maybe you could meet by Skype in between. They might have someone who is qualified to be a catechist who lives close to where you are and could meet with you near by.

If you want to be an Eastern Catholic it could be very confusing for other Christian candidates in an RCIA seeking reception into the Latin Church to have you seeking instruction on becoming an Eastern Catholic. And, even in separate sessions apart from those folks coming into the Latin Church, the catechist in the Latin parish is unlikely to be equipt to catechize someone seeking reception into an Eastern Church.

I would ask the Ruthenian priest or deacon for recommendation about where to worship closer to home. He may have suggestions about a specific parish near you.

As a Ruthenian Catholic you would be free to go to Mass at a Latin Church. Again, it would be a challenge to seek to be part of a Eastern Catholic Church you can almost never worship in, by the description you give. However, this is all something for you to work on with the guidance of a spiritual father, or mother.

I assume you looked at Find-A-Parish re an ECC. You might also look for an OCF near you, since you’re a college student. You could try for a Newman Catholic Student Center, although in my experience these are not known for being orthodox Catholic groups.

You ask why I want to be a part of one of these communities. The answer is simply that I believe that one of them is the original church. The problem thus far, is determining which one. Obviously if it is Catholic, then the issue of Rite is less of a concern. Latin or Eastern, it’s all Catholic, as I Thirst hinted at. However, if it is Orthodoxy, then it’s Divine Liturgy and strict fasts for much of the year unless I find a Western Rite parish someday.

Truthfully, however, I love the Divine Liturgy much more than Western Rites. It just speaks to my heart more than a Mass. So no matter which I ultimately go with, I will most likely go Eastern

You are right, there is an Orthodox (OCA) parish nearby. I have been attending there for a few months now, but haven’t taken any steps to be formally recieved since I am still on the fence, so to speak. Actually, I have never been to an Eastern Catholic DL before. Is it any different than an EO one would be? I know that there are several Ruthenian parishes in the Orthodox Church in America, but mine is just a small mission established to care for the few Russian and Greek immigrants in this part of the country, and a few western converts as well.

Anyway, I may contact the Ruthenian parish and see if they have any advice. I hear good things about this particular parish, so hopefully we can work some sort of inquiry out.

Thanks for the detailed reply, it gave me a lot to think about.

 

[ConstantineTG]

Don’t rush. Discern where God wants you to be.

 

[Madaglan]

You are right, there is an Orthodox (OCA) parish nearby. I have been attending there for a few months now, but haven’t taken any steps to be formally recieved since I am still on the fence, so to speak. Actually, I have never been to an Eastern Catholic DL before. Is it any different than an EO one would be? I know that there are several Ruthenian parishes in the Orthodox Church in America, but mine is just a small mission established to care for the few Russian and Greek immigrants in this part of the country, and a few western converts as well.

Anyway, I may contact the Ruthenian parish and see if they have any advice. I hear good things about this particular parish, so hopefully we can work some sort of inquiry out.

Thanks for the detailed reply, it gave me a lot to think about.

After having attended Latin churches throughout my early life, I began attending a Ruthenian Catholic parish, where I stayed 2 years, before becoming Orthodox through ACROD (American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese). I have been going to an OCA parish the past three years.

The Ruthenian Divine Liturgy and the OCA Divine Liturgy are very similar. There are some differences: Ruthenians (and ACROD) use prostopinije, a chant style particular to the Ruthenian (or Rusyn) people. OCA has been more directly influenced by Russian Orthodoxy and so uses a collection of chants known as obikhod. OCA churches also tend to follow the Russian custom of closing and opening the Royal Doors several times during the services, while Ruthenian churches in my experience do not do this as frequently. There are several other minor differences. For example, the pre-communion prayer of the Ruthenians, while basically the same as the OCA and other Byzantine churches, has a unique ordering of lines.

My experience of Divine Liturgy at the OCA parish is that it is seems somewhat longer and has more litanies, and longer kontakia and troparia, than the Ruthenian Catholic Liturgy now has after the revision of the Divine Liturgy. At the time I stopped attending the Ruthenian Catholic parish, the changes were not yet implemented in the parish, so I have not experienced the changes first-hand, but I have read and heard that many prayers were shortened.

 

[Kielbasi]

There are eastern Catholics everywhere, TG, even if there isn’t a church nearby.

Many migrated from the Rust Belt to sun belt locales in the past 30-40 years and they are well scattered where before, not so much, they were more concentrated in certain metro areas like Pittsburgh.

Maybe you can use the internet, facebook or other social media tools to try and network with others interested in eastern Catholicism. Once you’ve done that, perhaps a mission could be established close to your own domicile.

 

[Diakonia]

Arkansas is not exactly a hotbed of Eastern Catholicism or Orthodoxy. (There are not not, nor have there ever been any EC parishes or missions there according the E&OC Directory at the ByzCath site - and I think EO parishes and missions are very sparse, as your post suggests). It does seem to me, however, that I saw someone over at their forum, either late last year or early this year, looking to find persons in that area interested in trying to get an EC mission established in the area - but I might be wrong on that count - may have been Mississippii.

 

[Tallguy88]

Arkansas is not exactly a hotbed of Eastern Catholicism or Orthodoxy. (There are not not, nor have there ever been any EC parishes or missions there according the E&OC Directory at the ByzCath site - and I think EO parishes and missions are very sparse, as your post suggests). It does seem to me, however, that I saw someone over at their forum, either late last year or early this year, looking to find persons in that area interested in trying to get an EC mission established in the area - but I might be wrong on that count - may have been Mississippii.

That is an understatement. We’re something like 80% Southern Baptist, 10% Pentecostal, and 4% Catholic. There are only 5 or so EO churches that I know of, most in and around Little Rock.

 

[Kielbasi]

That is an understatement. We’re something like 80% Southern Baptist, 10% Pentecostal, and 4% Catholic. There are only 5 or so EO churches that I know of, most in and around Little Rock.

Arkansas just wasn’t much of a growing state economically when the waves of Christian immigrants were coming over from eastern Europe and the Middle East. A few families here or there immigrating to the area from across the pond or from the Rust Belt on an individual basis doesn’t give much of an opportunity to start a parish or bring in an eastern priest.

 

[Brad_W]

You are not the only one in this boat. My wife and I were already on the road to becoming Catholic when a job opportunity moved me from Georgia to Indiana (working in Chicago). While we were there, we were brought into the Catholic church through the Ruthenian-Byzantine Rite. We lived up there 14 months, where there were as many Catholic churches of various flavors as there are Baptist chuches down here. We moved back home, and to be honest we are lucky to even have a Catholic church in each county. There are, I think, about 6-7 Eastern Catholic churches in the entire state, and only one Byzantine one - naturally very far from me.

So we have been attending our local Roman Catholic church here, and since I might go on to the permanent diaconate at some point, we are in the process of changing rites. I really miss the ancient feel and liturgy style of the Eastern rite we were a part of - but for us we want to be a part of the Catholics in the community where I live. I feel that I’m a bit of a mix of both worlds, so to speak. There’s a spirituality and mystery, least to me that’s found in the East that isn’t so much found in the West. But there’s aspects of the West that I love as well. And while I love my home state and “the south” in general, as you said its not a hotbed of Catholicism here.

 

[Kielbasi]

You are not the only one in this boat.

There might be tens of thousands in a similar situation- you certainly aren’t by no means alone. The Pittsburgh area has a relative large number of Eastern Rite Catholics, and a lot of Pittsburghers in general skipped town in the 1980’s for the south when the mills closed.

Back in the early 19th Century, the Catholic Church in America had priests who were circuit riders who visited Catholics who lived out on the frontier or in towns with very few Catholics. St. John Neumann was one such circuit rider, ministering in a parish whose boundaries went to Lake Erie to Pittsburgh. It wasn’t just the methodists that had circuit riders.

Eastern Catholics today in certain areas are in a similar situation as those in frontier days were.

Do they have anything like that nowadays?

 

[Vico]

There might be tens of thousands in a similar situation- you certainly aren’t by no means alone. The Pittsburgh area has a relative large number of Eastern Rite Catholics, and a lot of Pittsburghers in general skipped town in the 1980’s for the south when the mills closed.

Back in the early 19th Century, the Catholic Church in America had priests who were circuit riders who visited Catholics who lived out on the frontier or in towns with very few Catholics. St. John Neumann was one such circuit rider, ministering in a parish whose boundaries went to Lake Erie to Pittsburgh. It wasn’t just the methodists that had circuit riders.

Eastern Catholics today in certain areas are in a similar situation as those in frontier days were.

Do they have anything like that nowadays?

There was Bishop Benedict Joseph Flaget (from France) that rode the circuit.

Priest 1792-1808
Bishop of Bardstown Diocese (covered area equivalent to 10 states): 1808 -1839
Bishop of Louisville Diocese: 1841-1850

In modern times, Father Levkulic used to travel to San Diego from Fontana (east of Los Angeles) every week to celebrate the Byzantine Divine Liturgy for the faithful there.

 

[Formosus]

@Brad_W, there should be at least one Ukrainian Church somewhere on the other side of Atlanta from Dallas, GA. I’ve never been there myself but I have heard good things about that particular parish.