Orthodox to Catholic

[Monica4316]

Hello everyone

I’m converting to the Catholic church…

I was baptized and chrismated Eastern Orthodox as a child, and then became non denom. Protestant in college. In December, I started believing in the Eucharist, and decided to go back to Orthodoxy because they believe in the Real Presence, and that’s the church my family belongs to.

I went to confession and receive Communion (once)… and then after this, I began to feel God leading me to the Catholic church. It has been several months, and recently I decided to make the change… my beliefs are already Catholic, and I’ve been studying Catholicism for a while now in detail.

I’ve been going to Mass at a local Catholic parish (Latin rite). Two days ago, I emailed the church to make an appointment with the priest to talk about my conversion, but they haven’t emailed me back yet… I hope they do soon though…

I just remembered that when I become Catholic, I’d be an Eastern Rite Catholic, because I was Orthodox before. I like the Eastern church, but there are two problems… one, there are absolutely no Eastern Catholic churches in my area. And two, I really feel more at home in the Western (Latin) rite… I think that Mass suits me better than Divine Liturgy, even though I think DL is very beautiful, and I’m more “Western” in my approach to Christianity in general.

So I was wondering… as an Eastern Catholic… would I still be able to attend the Latin rite parish and take Communion there? Would I be able to convert to Catholicism there?

I’m actually thinking of switching rites eventually…

does anyone know what this includes? and how long the process is? I’ve heard it’s kind of difficult…

and my last question is, I never got a baptism certificate in my EO church, but I remember my baptism (I was around 12), I was baptized with my mom, and I’m sure it was done correctly (in the name of the Trinity). Do you think this would be accepted?

thanks

God bless!

monica

 

[Hesychios]

Hello everyone

I’m converting to the Catholic church…

I was baptized and chrismated Eastern Orthodox as a child, and then became non denom. Protestant in college. In December, I started believing in the Eucharist, and decided to go back to Orthodoxy because they believe in the Real Presence, and that’s the church my family belongs to.

If you were born into a Protestant family (not really sure by your account) which converted to Orthodoxy, I think that you could make a good case for just going right into the Latin rite (or church). If that is what you wish. Protestants ( and JW’s, SDA’s and Mormons, I believe) are automatically ascribed into the Latin church, and you spent only a brief youthful stint with the Orthodox before you went non-denom.

If not, well it hardly matters anyway. You will not be prevented from worshiping with the Latin community. I don’t have figures for this sort of thing, but I am almost certain that most Byzantine Catholics (or Greek Catholics, if you prefer) in North America are actually worshiping as Latins, and many do not even realize that they are not Latin Catholics according to the Code, all they know is “Grandpa was a Russian” or something like that. I run into these people all the time around Chicago.

The hitch is, ‘technically’ you would be required to follow the calendar of the church you really are canonically enrolled in. That means Holy Days of Obligation and Fasting periods would be governed by whatever church you actually are from. Most Eastern Catholics who have been attending Latin parishes for more than three generations have not got a clue about how to go about this, and do not seem to really care. Their Latin priest won’t tell them because he usually doesn’t know either.

I’d say, just don’t worry about it, no one else will. Or tell the priest you want to be enrolled as a Latin and he’ll probably be happy to oblige. He knows what phones to ring up if he has to.

 

[Addai]

Hello everyone

I’m converting to the Catholic church…

I was baptized and chrismated Eastern Orthodox as a child, and then became non denom. Protestant in college. In December, I started believing in the Eucharist, and decided to go back to Orthodoxy because they believe in the Real Presence, and that’s the church my family belongs to.

I went to confession and receive Communion (once)… and then after this, I began to feel God leading me to the Catholic church. It has been several months, and recently I decided to make the change… my beliefs are already Catholic, and I’ve been studying Catholicism for a while now in detail.

I’ve been going to Mass at a local Catholic parish (Latin rite). Two days ago, I emailed the church to make an appointment with the priest to talk about my conversion, but they haven’t emailed me back yet… I hope they do soon though…

I just remembered that when I become Catholic, I’d be an Eastern Rite Catholic, because I was Orthodox before. I like the Eastern church, but there are two problems… one, there are absolutely no Eastern Catholic churches in my area. And two, I really feel more at home in the Western (Latin) rite… I think that Mass suits me better than Divine Liturgy, even though I think DL is very beautiful, and I’m more “Western” in my approach to Christianity in general.

So I was wondering… as an Eastern Catholic… would I still be able to attend the Latin rite parish and take Communion there? Would I be able to convert to Catholicism there?

I’m actually thinking of switching rites eventually…

does anyone know what this includes? and how long the process is? I’ve heard it’s kind of difficult…

and my last question is, I never got a baptism certificate in my EO church, but I remember my baptism (I was around 12), I was baptized with my mom, and I’m sure it was done correctly (in the name of the Trinity). Do you think this would be accepted?

thanks

God bless!

monica

Congradulations Monica, we both have similar situations.

 

[Monica4316]

thank you for your replies

btw, I was raised in a non religious family that later became Orthodox.

I keep on wondering if my baptism and chrismation will be accepted even though I don’t have a certificate for it…I don’t want to get baptized again, or go through RCIA, because I don’t have to…and maybe I’ll switch rites but I’ll talk to the priest about this.

Does anyone know of any cases when EO baptism was accepted without any “evidence” (certificate)? I mean, I remember my baptism and I know it was done correctly… hmm

God bless

 

[wynd]

thank you for your replies

btw, I was raised in a non religious family that later became Orthodox.

I keep on wondering if my baptism and chrismation will be accepted even though I don’t have a certificate for it…I don’t want to get baptized again, or go through RCIA, because I don’t have to…and maybe I’ll switch rites but I’ll talk to the priest about this.

Does anyone know of any cases when EO baptism was accepted without any “evidence” (certificate)? I mean, I remember my baptism and I know it was done correctly… hmm

God bless

Why not call your church and ask for a certificate?

 

[Monica4316]

Why not call your church and ask for a certificate?

I’m thinking of doing that… I don’t know if they give out certificates though; no one I know who was baptized at that church ever received one… it’s a Russian Orthodox Church btw

 

[JuanCarlos]

Normally Orthodox Christians don’t need to do anything special- if you were baptized and Chrismated I think becoming Catholic only requires a confession of Faith. I would inquire as to whether you could become Latin-Rite though. Otherwise when you join the Church you would automatically be a Byzantine Catholic, and as others have said would be bound by the laws (including Fasting, which is much more rigorous) of the Eastern Churches under pain of sin- it is of the utmost necessity you ask about that.

Congratulations btw

 

[bilop]

Welcome Home!

God Bless

 

[Monica4316]

Normally Orthodox Christians don’t need to do anything special- if you were baptized and Chrismated I think becoming Catholic only requires a confession of Faith. I would inquire as to whether you could become Latin-Rite though. Otherwise when you join the Church you would automatically be a Byzantine Catholic, and as others have said would be bound by the laws (including Fasting, which is much more rigorous) of the Eastern Churches under pain of sin- it is of the utmost necessity you ask about that.

Congratulations btw

thanks

I’ll ask about the rites…

I heard that it’s possible to switch rites later on though, is that true?

It’s not that I don’t want to be Eastern Catholic, it’s just that I feel more ‘at home’ in the Latin rite. I don’t know if this would be a good enough reason…

God bless

 

[Monica4316]

Welcome Home!

God Bless

thanks God bless you too!

 

[ASimpleSinner]

Welcome Home!

 

[Monica4316]

Welcome Home!

thanks!

 

[xixxvmcm85]

If you were born into a Protestant family (not really sure by your account) which converted to Orthodoxy, I think that you could make a good case for just going right into the Latin rite (or church). If that is what you wish. Protestants ( and JW’s, SDA’s and Mormons, I believe) are automatically ascribed into the Latin church, and you spent only a brief youthful stint with the Orthodox before you went non-denom.

If not, well it hardly matters anyway. You will not be prevented from worshiping with the Latin community. I don’t have figures for this sort of thing, but I am almost certain that most Byzantine Catholics (or Greek Catholics, if you prefer) in North America are actually worshiping as Latins, and many do not even realize that they are not Latin Catholics according to the Code, all they know is “Grandpa was a Russian” or something like that. I run into these people all the time around Chicago.

The hitch is, ‘technically’ you would be required to follow the calendar of the church you really are canonically enrolled in. That means Holy Days of Obligation and Fasting periods would be governed by whatever church you actually are from. Most Eastern Catholics who have been attending Latin parishes for more than three generations have not got a clue about how to go about this, and do not seem to really care. Their Latin priest won’t tell them because he usually doesn’t know either.

I’d say, just don’t worry about it, no one else will. Or tell the priest you want to be enrolled as a Latin and he’ll probably be happy to oblige. He knows what phones to ring up if he has to.

So is the converse true also? Can a former Protestant convert to Catholicism join an Eastern-rite church or is s/he forced to join the Latin one?

 

[ruslan]

I was Russian Orthodox and converted to Catholicism with a Profession of Faith. I see you are going to talk to a priest. And, welcome home!

:harp: :heaven:

 

[wynd]

I’m thinking of doing that… I don’t know if they give out certificates though; no one I know who was baptized at that church ever received one… it’s a Russian Orthodox Church btw

When I became Orthodox, I had to call and ask the church I was baptized in for a baptismal certificate to be sent to me. I would assume the same would apply for Orthodox Christians wishing to become Catholic.

 

[JW10631]

Monica, you can become a Latin Catholic if you so desire. While it is true that an Eastern Orthodox Christian who seeks to convert to the Catholic Church would be instructed to “enroll” (for lack of a better term) in an Eastern (Byzantine) Catholic Church, it isn’t required. You state that you feel most at home in the Latin Church. Well, welcome home!

 

[JuanCarlos]

For Protestants I think they have freedom of choice as to which Rite to join- after all they would need to be chrismated still, and this could be done by a Greek priest.

Same goes for non-Christian converts I believe

 

[MrJim]

http://bestsmileys.com/waving/2.gif

 

[Ixliam]

So is the converse true also? Can a former Protestant convert to Catholicism join an Eastern-rite church or is s/he forced to join the Latin one?

You can join any rite you choose to. My wife and I entered through the Byzantine-Ruthenian rite, with me coming from the Methodist church, and my wife from Baptist. You could always change rites later if you choose to as well, but changing rites is something not to be taken lightly. We are switching to the Latin rite ourselves, as we just felt more at home there (and since moving back to the South, there is not a Catholic church on every corner, much less a Byzantine one).

 

[invocation]

So is the converse true also? Can a former Protestant convert to Catholicism join an Eastern-rite church or is s/he forced to join the Latin one?

i am not a canon lawyer, but my impression is that if you are a protestant and become catholic…

while you can be received by the priest of whatever church (roman rite, UGCC, melkite, etc.), that no matter what rite you are received by, you are canonically a roman rite catholic unless you specifically go through the process of having that status legally changed. [likewise, i think the flip side of this has already been discussed…if you are orthodox and become catholic, even if a roman rite parish is the only parish around and you are received by a roman rite priest, you are canonically enrolled in the byzantine rite that corresponds to your previous orthodox community and remain within that canonical jurisdiction even if you never darken the doors of a byzantine rite parish for the remainder of your days.]

this is important, and often your local priest will not be aware of this situation. if you wish to be ordained, or your children wish to be ordained, or sometimes there are issues of marriage, etc…this can come up, usually at the last minute and very inconveniently.