These were online but it doesn’t look they are any longer so I’ll paste them from a cache.
What is the Byzantine Metropolitan Church sui iuris of Pittsburgh?
Sui iuris means “of their own law,” or self-governing. Our church has its own canon law, particular law, geographic boundaries, and hierarchy. It uses a rite which has its own liturgical, theological, spiritual, and disciplinary heritage. Our church’s patrimony is in the East. Our Metropolitan, and through him our entire church, is in communion with the Pope of Rome.
Governing documents for our church are the
Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, the Particular Law for the
Byzantine Metropolitan Church sui iuris of Pittsburgh, and our Typicon. Our church is headed by a
metropolitan. A metropolitan ranks just below a patriarch and just above an archbishop. The authority of metropolitans to rule within their jurisdictions dates back at least as far as the Council of Nicaea, which designated churchmen to this rank in 325 AD. Our Metropolitan resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The Byzantine Metropolitan Church sui iuris of Pittsburgh is one of the 23 churches which comprise the Catholic Communion of Churches.
What is the Catholic Communion of Churches?
The Catholic Communion of Churches are those 23 different autonomous groups of Christian people, each with their own hierarchy, who have agreed through unions and treaties that they share the same essential faith and therefore allow intercommunion between their churches. Six of those churches are patriarchal and have full and immediate jurisdiction within their churches, including governance, theology, discipline, and more. The other churches have varying degrees of independence depending on the circumstances at the time of their entrance into the Catholic Communion.
Is this the same thing as a Pre-Vatican II Mass? Do you offer Tridentine Latin Masses?
No. The liturgy we use is that of St. John Chrysostom on ordinary Sundays, that of St. Basil on certain feast days, and that of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts during Lent. They have their origins in the Christian East. While we have some things in common with the Latin Mass, there are many differences as well. On top of the outward differences, our church has a different theological and spiritual outlook than the western church, different customs, and different history. We invite you to come visit us to see!
Are you heretical, schismatic, non-canonical, in an “improper communion,” or in any other relationship with Rome that should be concerning?
A lot of people are so taken aback to learn about the fullness of the Catholic Church that they can’t believe it is true. The mere fact that there are 23 different churches and 6 different Catholic patriarchs can be stunning at first. Then when people hear that we have a different liturgical, theological, and spiritual tradition—an entirely different way of looking at the faith and of living it out—some of them are baffled how they never learned this before or how it is possible. Many people say the Eastern and Oriental Catholic churches are the best kept secret in Catholicism!
What it boils down to is that we are in full communion with the Pope of Rome, but we are not Roman Catholics. There are a number of papal documents and actions which show an appreciation and respect for the Eastern faith that might interest those who find themselves to still be Doubting Thomases. Just a couple of those include Pope Leo XIII’s “Orientalium dignitas ecclesiarum” in the 1800s and Pope John Paul II’s apostolic letter “Orientale Lumen” in the 1900s.
