Questions about Switching from Roman Rite to Eastern Rite

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Mannyfit75

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I have several questions about switching rites from Latin to Eastern.
  1. How does a man, also discerning the priesthood, should go about switching Rite to Eastern Rite? Should he spend a year or more in the Eastern Rite Church before his discernment?
  2. Which Eastern Rite should I go? I live around Philadephia area and possibly NYC. I have my eyes on the Melkite or maybe Maronite Rite.
  3. What paper work do I need to do to prepare discernment for both priesthood and switching rites?
 
TBH - you need to go and find where you are comfortable before you consider a Change of Canonical Enrolment.

Most priests will want you to spend a considerable time in a parish as a member of the Community there before you apply for a Change - some ask you to wait and discern this change for up to 3 years

There is really no rush yet - once back in the US - find a Church where you feel comfortable and at home - the rest will come in time
 
wannabee said:
TBH - you need to go and find where you are comfortable before you consider a Change of Canonical Enrolment.

Most priests will want you to spend a considerable time in a parish as a member of the Community there before you apply for a Change - some ask you to wait and discern this change for up to 3 years

There is really no rush yet - once back in the US - find a Church where you feel comfortable and at home - the rest will come in time
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I don’t plan to switch rites right away. I think it will require a long period of time. Perhaps 3 years or more.
 
OK then - as I said , settle in.

Once your Priest is happy he will help you through the process.

It should be fairly painless
 
I’ve seen more than a few Latin seminarians change to an Eastern Church, usually Melkite. The momentum frequently propels them on into Orthodoxy.
 
bpbasilphx said:
I’ve seen more than a few Latin seminarians change to an Eastern Church, usually Melkite. The momentum frequently propels them on into Orthodoxy.
Click to expand...
I find the Melkite appealing. I’m originally from the Philippines though…
 
I would certainly think three years as a minimum, most
especially if one is considering the priesthood. Moreover,
such a person should immerse themsevles as completely as
possible in the life of a parish of the Church they are considering
joining, abandoning the practices of their previous Church.
Find out what you would be committing yourself to! Consult
not only with your priests but, as appropriate, with the eparch
or Metropolitan.

To be blunt, the Eastern Catholic Churches do not need
members, much less priests, who are essentially Latin
Catholics distressed at the liturgical, doctrinal, catechetical
aesthetic and moral disasters which have plagued and
still plague the Latin Church. (The tide there is changing,
but very slowly. ) Such people often long to import their favorite
Latin devotions and practices to their Eastern Catholic Chuch.
This must be everywhere and always absolutely avoided.
With lay people, this is not a great problem unless they
constitute a large proportion of the membership of a parish.
With priests, it is grave danger, assiduously to be avoided.

Edmac
 
Edmac said:
I would certainly think three years as a minimum, most
especially if one is considering the priesthood. Moreover,
such a person should immerse themsevles as completely as
possible in the life of a parish of the Church they are considering
joining, abandoning the practices of their previous Church.
Find out what you would be committing yourself to! Consult
not only with your priests but, as appropriate, with the eparch
or Metropolitan.

To be blunt, the Eastern Catholic Churches do not need
members, much less priests, who are essentially Latin
Catholics distressed at the liturgical, doctrinal, catechetical
aesthetic and moral disasters which have plagued and
still plague the Latin Church. (The tide there is changing,
but very slowly. ) Such people often long to import their favorite
Latin devotions and practices to their Eastern Catholic Chuch.
This must be everywhere and always absolutely avoided.
With lay people, this is not a great problem unless they
constitute a large proportion of the membership of a parish.
With priests, it is grave danger, assiduously to be avoided.

Edmac
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If I do switch rites, either before being ordain as priest or after. I would be obedient to the bishop of the eparchy and would not assimilate Latin devotions into the Liturgy such as the use of station of the cross, rosary, or even the Divine Mercy. Pope John Paul II said that any form of latinization should not be used and that Eastern Catholics should maintain their customs and traditions.
 
You say well. This does not mean that as a private person
you might not practice these devotions nor that these devotions
are not good. God has given us many gifts. But if you are to
be a Catholic of an Eastern Church, it would be best if your
prayer life was primarily that of the Church to which you belonged.

Edmac
 
Edmac said:
You say well. This does not mean that as a private person
you might not practice these devotions nor that these devotions
are not good. God has given us many gifts. But if you are to
be a Catholic of an Eastern Church, it would be best if your
prayer life was primarily that of the Church to which you belonged.

Edmac
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You could say I would be allowed to practiced it in the privacy of my own home? Since I do happen to pray the Divine Mercy prayer?
 
've seen more than a few Latin seminarians change to an Eastern Church, usually Melkite. The momentum frequently propels them on into Orthodoxy.
Click to expand...
I’ll say.

I have encountered a couple personally. One (an OCA pastor in the Midwest) just last year passed away (memory eternal!).

Some others have studied at Ss Cyril and Methodius seminary in Pittsburgh, some (like father George Mahoney of blessed memory) studied at the Russicum.

Once one crosses into the East, the boundaries are much more permeable, and the hard edge seems to melt. Even among the clergy.
 
Who could or would forbid you! No one has the authority to do that. You may pray privately any prayer you wish, anywhere and at any time. The point is that such devotions should not be introduced publicly into an Eastern Catholic church
in any formal fashion. The Eastern Churches have a vast and
rich treasury of prayers of their own, mostly unknown to the
West, as far as I can see. If you are to be an Eastern Catholic,
your prayer life should be focused on those prayers, but you
remain free, with the glorious freedom of the sons of God,
to pray any orthodox prayers you wish.

Edmac
 
Hesychios said:
I’ll say.

I have encountered a couple personally. One (an OCA pastor in the Midwest) just last year passed away (memory eternal!).

Some others have studied at Ss Cyril and Methodius seminary in Pittsburgh, some (like father George Mahoney of blessed memory) studied at the Russicum.

Once one crosses into the East, the boundaries are much more permeable, and the hard edge seems to melt. Even among the clergy.
Click to expand...
Are you saying that those who crosses the East will eventually become Eastern Orthodox?
 
Manny,

Glory to Jesus Christ!

If you live near NYC, you might also want to consider St. Michael’s Russian Byzantine Catholic community.

stmichaelruscath.org/

Technically, Russian Catholics fall under the jurisdiction of the Latin Ordinary. There are a few Russian Byzantine Catholic churches in North America. Many of them are supported by local Eastern Catholic hierarchs, as most Latin Hierarchs have their hands full and are not as familiar with the Eastern traditions.

As far as your attraction to either the Maronites or the Melkites, obviously both of these traditions, while rooted in Lebanese culture for the most part, draw from a few common but otherwise mostly distinct theological and liturgical streams.

Can you explain a little more about what attracts you to these two Churches?

In ICXC,

Gordo
 
The current requirements for the Permanent Deaconate in the Ruthenian Church are 5 years in the parish, and change of rite if needed, before application.

The requirements for the priesthood are not so specific, but married men seeking the priesthood are expected to have a far more established praxis in the Ruthenian Church. (They are few, but there are some.)
 
Aramis said:
The current requirements for the Permanent Deaconate in the Ruthenian Church are 5 years in the parish, and change of rite if needed, before application.

The requirements for the priesthood are not so specific, but married men seeking the priesthood are expected to have a far more established praxis in the Ruthenian Church. (They are few, but there are some.)
Click to expand...
I would also add that our theology of priesthood and vocation is a little more “contextual”. The West has emphasized the notion of a personal, individual calling to priesthood, which is legitimate, but perhaps a bit overdone. In the East, the emphasis traditionally is on the ecclesial nature of the vocation, and therefore the role of the congregation is essential in the discernment. This is why we are called upon to chant “Axios!” (“He is worthy!”) at any man’s ordination to any rank. This assumes that the candidate is part of the very life of the congregation, and that we all know him - warts and all! The development of a professional clergy system and the seminary system is all very foreign to the ethos of the East by nature, but unfortunately that is not always the case in practice. A priest stands as a spiritual father in the midst of his congregation. He knows them by name, and calls them by name in his prayer at communion. If he is married, his own family - wife and children - are woven into the very fabric of the life of the church.

So the purpose in attending a parish for a number of years is more than just to get to know the liturgical rubrics. It is to become part of a family. Only after a time should you really discern your service within and to that family.

God bless!

In ICXC,

Gordo
 
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