"The Catholic Rite" or "The Catholic Church"

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Peter_J

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Hi everyone. Have any of you heard Catholicism referred to as “The Catholic Rite” rather than “The Catholic Church”?

(Not that I’m assuming anyone has, just asking as a point of reference.)

Thanks and blessings!
 
Thanks all of you. 🙂

Incidentally, 5 "No"s and 0 "Yes"es would usually be a big surprise, but with this particular question I was expecting mostly "No"s to begin with.
 
The Catholic Church doesn’t refer to itself as a rite. The Catholic Church, as it says of itself, has a number of rites within itself, including the Latin rite, the Byzantine rite, and others, which differ most noticeably in the mass (or in what other Catholic rites may call the liturgy).
 
Peter J is being mysterious. Also, that is hard to Google search that term without finding a bunch of extraneous things.
 
Peter_J said:
Hi everyone. Have any of you heard Catholicism referred to as “The Catholic Rite” rather than “The Catholic Church”?

(Not that I’m assuming anyone has, just asking as a point of reference.)

Thanks and blessings!
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No.
 
Elizium23 said:
Also, that is hard to Google search that term without finding a bunch of extraneous things.
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Yes, I found that out as well. (The vast majority of the webpages use the phrase “The Catholic rite of …”.)
Elizium23 said:
Peter J is being mysterious.
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Well, maybe a little. 🙂 Peter wanted to hear other posters’ answers before giving his own: I, like others here, don’t recall ever hearing anyone refer to Catholicism as “The Catholic Rite” rather than “The Catholic Church” … but I have many times heard Catholics claim that it’s alright to refer to a Church as a “Rite”, because they supposedly mean the same thing. But the experience of all the responders here would seem to suggest that the two words do *not *mean the same.
 
Peter_J said:
Yes, I found that out as well. (The vast majority of the webpages use the phrase “The Catholic rite of …”.)

Well, maybe a little. 🙂 Peter wanted to hear other posters’ answers before giving his own: I, like others here, don’t recall ever hearing anyone refer to Catholicism as “The Catholic Rite” rather than “The Catholic Church” … but I have many times heard Catholics claim that it’s alright to refer to a Church as a “Rite”, because they supposedly mean the same thing. But the experience of all the responders here would seem to suggest that the two words do *not *mean the same.
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Catholic is the noun where the “rite” name, e.i. roman, Latin, Maronite, would be adjectives.

Not a single time in the documents in Vatican ii does the Church refer to herself as the Roman Catholic Church, but as the Catholic Church, as to emphasis that each rite or liturgical tradition is equal.

Sometimes (a lot more light) because the Roman Rite is the majority of Catholics, but it by no means makes the Roman Rite the one single standard of Church.

I hope I correctly read between the lines.
 
I think most of the Latin posters failed to grasp Peter’s point. You constantly hear references to the “Ukrainian Rite” or the “Melkite Rite”. These are Churches, not rites. In the case of the Ukrainian Church and the Melkite Church the Byzantine Rite is followed.

On the flip side, one of my personal pet peeves is the use of the phrase “the Roman Church” in reference to the entire Latin Church. The Roman Church is the particular Church in Rome: that is, the Diocese of Rome. The Latin Church is the global particular Church, comprised of over 2000 local particular churches (dioceses) that primarily (though not exclusively) use the Roman Rite. Are Latin Catholics in Milan who worship according to the Ambrosian Rite members of the Roman Church? I would say no. They are, however, members of the Latin Church. (Yes, I am sure some poster will jump in with some obscure reference to Pope X or Council Y using the term “Roman Church” in this very broad sense, but I don’t believe it is the norm…likewise you can find various sources that refer to the Ukranian Rite or the Melkite Rite, but Church is more accurate).

My local Latin Archdiocese does use the term “Roman Catholic” in its official designation, but I would take that to refer to rite and praxis. Members of the Archdiocese are members of the Latin Church who worship according to the Roman Rite.
 
How I understand the difference between a Rite and a Sui Juris Churches is through a simple comparison. The Sui Juris Church is the community of believers while the rite is the traditions and customs that make up this community. In a non-ecclesial example, the three countries of South Asia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India all have a very similar culture. The South Asian culture would be their “rite” because all three of these countries follow similar traditions and customs, however they all have their own individual flavor and or distinct “usage” of this culture.

In an ecclesial example, the East Syriac Rite is based upon the particular traditions and liturgical customs of Mar Thoma and his disciples Mar Addai and Mar Mari. Two Churches were built upon this rite the Syro Malabar Catholic and Chaldean Catholic, however both churches have their own distinct usage of this rite, i.e Syro Malabar usage or Chaldean usage.

The Latin Church cannot be categorized under one rite like the majority of the Eastern Churches. Since the Latin Church is so large and spread to many corners of the world in its history, one would only assume that many different traditions were formed. Today the Latin Church houses a plethora of different rites i.e, the Roman or Latin Rite, the Ambrosian Rite, the Mozarabic Rite, and many others. To answer the OP’s question, to my understanding it is wrong to call the Catholic Church the “Catholic Rite”. Once again the rite is the tradition and the church is the community of believers.

The GCatholic website actually has a very nice chart that splits the Catholic Church into its Sui Juris Churches and Rites.
gcatholic.org/dioceses/rites.htm
 
twf said:
I think most of the Latin posters failed to grasp Peter’s point. You constantly hear references to the “Ukrainian Rite” or the “Melkite Rite”. These are Churches, not rites. In the case of the Ukrainian Church and the Melkite Church the Byzantine Rite is followed.

On the flip side, one of my personal pet peeves is the use of the phrase “the Roman Church” in reference to the entire Latin Church. The Roman Church is the particular Church in Rome: that is, the Diocese of Rome. The Latin Church is the global particular Church, comprised of over 2000 local particular churches (dioceses) that primarily (though not exclusively) use the Roman Rite. Are Latin Catholics in Milan who worship according to the Ambrosian Rite members of the Roman Church? I would say no. They are, however, members of the Latin Church.
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I sympathize. I suspect that many Catholics are allergic to saying “the Latin Church”. :rolleyes:
 
Peter_J said:
I sympathize. I suspect that many Catholics are allergic to saying “the Latin Church”. :rolleyes:
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I am an enthusiastic editor of Wikipedia, especially Catholic topics, and last year I began a jihad to differentiate “Latin Church”, “Roman Rite”, and marginalize the much-abused “Latin Rite”. I met with a little resistance, but my perseverance mostly overcame the obstacles. I am likewise dedicated to improving coverage of Eastern Catholic topics and parity with Orthodoxy. For most matters liturgical I have reworked references to “in the Eastern Orthodox Church…” to “in the Byzantine Rite” which is more accurate and saves EC Churches from ghettoization or a collective nod.

Unfortunately there is only so much I can do. Church/Rite confusion is systemic among reliable sources, and even official Church documents seem to revel in murky unclarity.
 
Peter_J said:
Hi everyone. Have any of you heard Catholicism referred to as “The Catholic Rite” rather than “The Catholic Church”?

(Not that I’m assuming anyone has, just asking as a point of reference.)

Thanks and blessings!
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Never heard anything of the sort. Where are you going in this thread?
 
Elizium23 said:
For most matters liturgical I have reworked references to “in the Eastern Orthodox Church…” to “in the Byzantine Rite” which is more accurate and saves EC Churches from ghettoization or a collective nod.
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It really depends what you’re writing about. There are a few usages in the Byzantine rite which differ slightly, and many Eastern Catholic churches have revised service books which omit parts of the services that Orthodox still include.
 
wynd said:
It really depends what you’re writing about. There are a few usages in the Byzantine rite which differ slightly, and many Eastern Catholic churches have revised service books which omit parts of the services that Orthodox still include.
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It doesn’t get that detailed. This is pretty general stuff, like what vestments and vessels are called.
 
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