Question for Latin Catholics.... (yes this belongs in this section)

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Tradycja said:
I have a question for Latin Catholics…

Has your priest ever explained the Eastern Traditions of the Catholic Church from the pulpit? Ever encouraged people to explore the East? Have you ever had a mention in your Church bulletin about the existence of the East?

For me I have not heard a latin rite parish priest mention ANYTHING even so much as acknowledging the existence of the Eastern Catholic Churches in a sermon.

Regarding diocesan priests I must say that when I lived in Phoenix there was a bi-ritual priest at the Melkite Church there and it seemed like he really promoted knowledge of the East to his Latin flock.

My great Aunt (polish descent) lives near a UGCC Church. I STILL cannot convince her that it is a Catholic Church.
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Growing up Latin Catholic, I had no clue about the Eastern Catholic Churches. The priests never mentioned them.

When I went to Franciscan University, the Ruthenians offered Divine Liturgy in the campus chapel, and a great number of Latin Rite Catholics showed up. I think that at the college level (at a Catholic school), students are taught about the Eastern Catholics, but before then, at parochial schools and at Sunday Mass, Latin Catholics are not made aware of these other Catholic groups and traditions. Honestly, given the situation of things today, I think Latin Catholics are lucky if they are taught their own Latin traditions.
 
Madaglan said:
Growing up Latin Catholic, I had no clue about the Eastern Catholic Churches. The priests never mentioned them.

When I went to Franciscan University, the Ruthenians offered Divine Liturgy in the campus chapel, and a great number of Latin Rite Catholics showed up. I think that at the college level (at a Catholic school), students are taught about the Eastern Catholics, but before then, at parochial schools and at Sunday Mass, Latin Catholics are not made aware of these other Catholic groups and traditions. Honestly, given the situation of things today, I think Latin Catholics are lucky if they are taught their own Latin traditions.
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Mentioning Catholics with different traditions and theology can be extremely inconvenient for the Latin Church.
 
The pastor at the Latin Rite church I attend (there aren’t any Byzantine churches in my vicinity, unfortunately 😦 ) occasionally mentions the Eastern Rites. He has a great respect and admiration for them–he truly appreciates the beauty of the Divine Liturgy. No luck so far in talking him into becoming biritual, though…😃
 
One of the Catholic Schools in Anchorage is 3 blocks from the Ruthenian parish; they attend daily liturgy one day a week for several months during the school year. Some even then drag their parents in for Sunday liturgies…
 
Aramis said:
One of the Catholic Schools in Anchorage is 3 blocks from the Ruthenian parish; they attend daily liturgy one day a week for several months during the school year. Some even then drag their parents in for Sunday liturgies…
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👍
 
***My Ancestors were of the ‘OO’ tradition, so I had a fair indication of the Eastern Traditions, but NO, I have not heard a Latin Catholic Priest talk about or even refer to the Eastern Catholic or Orthodox Traditions. However, when I was a young fella in the 50’ , There was a De La Salle Brother (a Slav) who covered fully the Roman, Eastern and Orthodox Traditions, Customs and Useages. Something which was very rare, especially in those days, God Bless him…

Blessings

Doug

PS: I now am God Parent to two Russian Orthodox Children!!
 
I’m always somewhat confused when I see threads like this because I never quite understand the point of it all. I’ve noticed similar threads on other forums where Eastern Catholics typically say things like “My RC neighbors didn’t even know there was such a thing as the Eastern Rite” or another RC said to me “Are you really sure your church is Catholic” At the end of the day, it’s not really going to have much effect on whether or not your parish survives or flourishes. I can understand your wanting to explain these things, but getting upset over it just makes no sense.
 
Seamus_L said:
I’m always somewhat confused when I see threads like this because I never quite understand the point of it all. I’ve noticed similar threads on other forums where Eastern Catholics typically say things like “My RC neighbors didn’t even know there was such a thing as the Eastern Rite” or another RC said to me “Are you really sure your church is Catholic” At the end of the day, it’s not really going to have much effect on whether or not your parish survives or flourishes. I can understand your wanting to explain these things, but getting upset over it just makes no sense.
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The various rites are interesting, but you raise a valid point. Not mentioning other rites (and as noted, in my case I have heard priests mention them) should not be a surprise. For the most part, most Catholics attend Mass on Sunday and the Holy Days, if they’re faithful Catholics, and their priests would really have no occasion to mention another rite. The homily would have very rare occasion to bring it up. Likewise, I’d be surprised if the other rites routinely mention the Roman rite, but mention is probably more common in that instance, as the Roman rite is so much larger.
 
Madaglan said:
How so?
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Because some American Bishops of the Latin Catholic Church have been very antagonistic toward the Eastern Catholic Churches when they tried to send priests or establish parishes in the USA during the 1800’s and early 1900’s, until VII. :o
 
Quite a few years ago we had a priest who brought in an Eastern Rite Priest to conduct a Mass for us. They set up icons and explained the difference in worship. Subsequent priests have only mentioned the Eastern Rite churches briefly and on rare occasions.
 
Tradycja said:
I have a question for Latin Catholics…

Has your priest ever explained the Eastern Traditions of the Catholic Church from the pulpit? Ever encouraged people to explore the East? Have you ever had a mention in your Church bulletin about the existence of the East?

For me I have not heard a latin rite parish priest mention ANYTHING even so much as acknowledging the existence of the Eastern Catholic Churches in a sermon.

Regarding diocesan priests I must say that when I lived in Phoenix there was a bi-ritual priest at the Melkite Church there and it seemed like he really promoted knowledge of the East to his Latin flock.

My great Aunt (polish descent) lives near a UGCC Church. I STILL cannot convince her that it is a Catholic Church.
Click to expand...
I was brought up Latin rite and never even heard of Eastern Christians until I left the Church and went to a Protestant Seminary. As you might imagine, the Orthodox were not much taught about in that setting, either, but my curiousity was spurred by the Protestant timeline of denominations which showed the 1054 schism. what I learned, I did on my own, and some of it not till I came here to CAF a few years ago.

I am learning much more rapidly now, participating in a Ruthenian Church, reading and listening to Immaculate Heart radio which broadcasts EWTN and the Light of the East. I am delighted with the Divine Liturgy, but no, although I still attend many Latin Masses and functions, I have never heard anything from the pulpit, or out of it, about the Eastern Rites. It is a best kept secret.
 
The first people to mention the Eastern Catholics was a sister/teacher at my parish school and the director of Christian formation (a laywoman), respectively. Never heard a Latin priest speak about them until recently. I had to learn the vast majority of what I know about the Easterns on my own.
 
guanophore said:
the Eastern Rites. It is a best kept secret.
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Very true! 🙂

I’ve heard the ECC’s mentioned by at least one priest during a homily, but it’s rare. (His specialty is liturgy which he teaches at the seminary here). Other than RCIA, these churches are, sadly, not mentioned. When I was investigating the Catholic Church, after looking at the Orthodox, I found out about the Eastern CC’s. Even went to a Byzantine Catholic Church, which was lovely. I find that the more Catholics know about the other Rites, the more it reveals the unique beauty of Catholicism.
 
Last year we had a guest priest come to our parish to talk about supporting the Ukrainian Catholic seminary. It was really wonderful to hear about the rest of the Catholic Church. 🙂
 
Father Cyprian, one of my old parish priests, made an effort to teach us about the Eastern rites of the Church in our Confirmation classes. He even took us on field trips to our local Maronite and Melkite parishes and lead us through compare/contrast exercises between the rubrics of the Latin Mass and various Eastern traditions and tried to show us how the differing theologies attached emerged through the traditions.

I had to sign in to mention it, because Father Cyprian is truly doing the Lord’s work, and he is the best priest I have ever met. If not for his insistent on an orthodox (Latin) formation, I and a lot of my classmates surely would have been apt to follow so many of our peers into a bleak irreligious state. Though I struggle, Father Cyprian’s guidance has made me God-focused and concerned about my standing in the eyes of God. 👍 I pray for him to continued to be so blessed with his gifts to continue his work, it is men like him who will preserve the Latin Church from it’s current malaise. Please, if you’ve read this far, say a prayer for Father Cyprian. Thank you.
 
Shiranui117 said:
“The Catholic Church is the ONLY church that teaches that we have the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist. …Well, aside from the, Eastern Catholic Churches…” It was like a slap in the face, even to a Roman Catholic like me. It almost sounded like he didn’t think the Eastern Catholics were just as much the Catholic Church as the Roman Church was, and he clearly either didn’t know about the EO or OO, or didn’t know what they taught.
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My mother has run into this attitude many times in her life…she’s had many people (including Roman Rite priests) belittle her Byzantine Catholicism tell her she’s not really Catholic. I take my RC friends to Divine Liturgy whenever I am able in an attempt to broaden their horizons.
 
Not explicitly, but we are blessed to have a skete in our parish area and the Sister who runs it is a Latin-Catholic Hermit immersed in the Eastern traditions of the Church, writing Icons as her main form of support. She is a regular participator in parish life so we have a knowledge of the east. Indeed one of her aims is east-west dialogue
 
I live within the boundaries of the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh and am subject to the Diocese of Pittsburgh, and i have yet to hear something in the homily about them

Even as a teachers aide (6th grade), we do not cover them in our classes(we also leave a decent amount out of our own traditions too)
 
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