SOPHIA: Change of Canonical Enrollment - A Reference Thread

[Therese_Martin]

Note:

This information was culled from a previous thread on the subject and is subject to editing as further information becomes available.

 

[Therese_Martin]

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[Therese_Martin]

The possibility of wanting to pursue Orders in an Eastern Church in which one is not enrolled or the difficulties faced by children caught betwixt and between the different Sacramental praxis of the Latin and Eastern Churches are certainly considerations - but not the end-all and be-all, being more matters of potential than certitude for most folks. The point that Latins regularly worshipping in an Eastern Church, but still of the Latin Church, face conflicts as to holydays and such matters as requisite periods of fasting and abstinence, while valid, are hardly the “most important” considerations that they’ve been labeled.

Let me offer you some practical info on the process, as well as reiterating the essence of what my brothers have said. The formal phrase for the process by which one changes from one Church sui iuris to another (because it is the “Church” that you change; the change in Rite is an incidental by-product of doing so) is a Change (or Transfer) of Canonical Enrollment (although the forms still use the now obsolete terminology Change of Rite, reflecting an incorrect and offensive usage common prior to Vatican II, when each of the Eastern Catholic Churches was referred to as a “Rite”, suggesting a second-class status in relation to the Latin Church).

The lengthiness of the process can vary significantly. At one time, Rome (in the person of the Apostolic Nuncio) had a direct role in effectuating such change - it no longer does, except in unusual circumstances. The authority to approve such a Change is now formally delegated to the discretion of the ordinaries involved (the bishop or eparch of the Church from which the petitioner is originating and his counterpart in the Church to which the petitioner seeks to join).

 

[Therese_Martin]

In brief, the process begins when a person believes that his or her spiritual well-being would best be served by fully participating in the life of a sui iuris Church other than the one of which he or she is then a member. How soon after becoming acquainted with another Church sui iuris can one legitimately claim such discernment? It varies from individual to individual, but at least one Eastern Catholic jurisdiction has quantified it from their perspective, formally requiring participation by the petitioner in the parish’s life for 3 years before approval will be granted. (To the best of my knowledge, no other US Eparchy imposes a defined period of involvement prior to granting approval of a petition.) I think it’s safe to say that a minimum of one year should/would be expected, with two years being desirable in my opinion.

The petitioner addresses the request to both his/her existing ordinary and the ordinary into whose jurisdiction he/she seeks to transfer, explaining the motivation for seeking transfer.

Petitions espousing traditionalist viewpoints that result in an antagonistic view toward the NO Mass and post-VII reforms are not ordinarily deemed an appropriate basis for granting a Change. Why? Among other reasons are the fact that the Eastern Church one sees today may not be the one of tomorrow, as the Eastern Churches undergo their own reforms, intended to remove latinizations and restore our own traditions. Will the transplanted Latin still like us when we look less like the Church they’ve romanticized us to be? Or will they be disenchanted and want to move on? And to where? (In most instances, only a single Change of Canonical Enrollment is permitted, although the oft-repeated canard that only a single such Change is permitted in a lifetime is no longer true.)

The extent to which one might encounter disenchantment with one’s new liturgical environment will vary. Some Eastern Churches are much further along in achieving a return to their historical liturgical origins than others - so, in those, to use a computer analogy, WYSIWYG, (What You See Is What You Get). In others, what you see may not be what you’ll ultimately have.

It is important to us that our Latin sisters and brothers understand that we appreciate interest in us and in our liturgical traditions, but we want to and must be understood and appreciated for ourselves, not as an antidote to what disaffected Latins perceive as wrong in their own Church. The Novus Ordo Mass is neither less authentic nor holy than the Tridentine Mass; each, as a service of worship directed to God, has its own intrinsic holiness when served faithfully and reverently. To the extent that abuses exist within either, they must needs be addressed; but the form is only that - an external; ultimately, worship comes from within oneself, one’s heart and soul.

In assessing a petitioner’s motivation for a Change, one consideration on the part of the receiving ordinary is commonly the extent to which he perceives that the requestor truly understands and is drawn to the Church, for reasons related to his/her theological development and spiritual well-being.

A Change of Canonical Enrollment is a decision that should not be lightly made. For many, it is not only a change of Church, Parish and Rite, but also a whole process of inculturation, particularly given the ethnicity of our parishes. We tend to be a ‘family’ and ‘family’ is more than liking the pirohi, the fataya, or the lahmajun at the annual food fair weekend. Anyone intending to make a change should feel certain that they feel comfortable not only with the spirituality, but with the community with whom they will share and explore and develop that spirituality. You are often entering into a community whose ties to one another stretch back generations - sometimes back to a single village in the Levant, Ukraine, or elsewhere. Our parishes are either very welcoming to outsiders who come among us or incredibly closed - there is no in-between. (And we need, so very badly, to be welcoming. 30+ years ago I heard my then newly appointed Exarch, Archbishop Joseph Tawil, of thrice-blessed memory, warn that the seemingly conflicting dangers to our continued existence were assimilation and a ghetto mentality. The truth of that statement has not changed.)

 

[Therese_Martin]

Historically, the formal process for change was enacted as a protection for the Eastern and Oriental Churches, as an effort to reduce the instances of Eastern and Oriental Catholics who were lured from their own liturgical heritage to that of the Latin Church.

As to why a Latin who has gained an appreciation for the East and feels more spiritually comfortable there could - or should - wish to formally Change - the fullest sense of belonging to the Ritual Church in which one worships is, for many, reason enough to do so.

One can (and many do) worship for years, even decades, without formally petitioning Change and neither feel nor are made to feel any less a part of their “adopted” parish family.

It is still, however, not the same as knowing, when you see, meet, very possibly speak with the Patriarch or Major-Archbishop or Metropolitan or Eparch of the Church sui iuris which you attend that he is your Patriarch or Major-Archbishop or Metropolitan or Eparch.

When, perhaps looking more than a wee bit different from others in the parish (not a lot of red-haired Syrians or Lebanese ), you are asked by someone from outside “do you come here often?”, there is a special feeling in being able to look to them and say, with love, justifiable pride, and without reservation or explanation - “I belong here; I’m a (Melkite, Ruthenian, Syriac, Ukrainian etc.) Catholic”.