What is the difference between Roman Catholic and Byzantine Catholic?

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Yes. It is a valid Liturgy. Any Sunday is valid.

The calendar for Holy Days is slightly different, and the Eastern Rites don’t change feasts to Sunday if they say, fall on a Monday. So, and Eastern Rite Catholic still has to go on a Monday even if they went to a Latin Rite parish on a Sunday.

Conversely: On the occasion that the Annunciation and Easter land on the same day, the Byzantine Rite also does not kick Mary to another day, like in the Latin Rite. The liturgy that day combines and does the hymns for both feasts.
 
Of course! Think of it as visiting your sister’s house - you’re still family!
 
catholic03 said:
10 hours drive away from where I live.
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Are there any Eastern Orthodox Churches in the area? You could attend a Vespers service on a Wednesday or Saturday evening. Going with the above family analogy, the Catholic Church sees us Orthodox as sisters, but because of a divorce we are not living in the same home.

ZP
 
We have a Greek Orthodox cathedral. The only one in New Zealand.

I was thinking of attending Divine Liturgy there, refraining from communion and fulfilling my Mass obligation at my Latin rite Church.

I will always be a Latin Catholic, but as a naturally curious person I will always be fascinated and appreciative of our Eastern Catholic brethren
 
catholic03 said:
I was thinking of attending Divine Liturgy there, refraining from communion and fulfilling my Mass obligation at my Latin rite Church.
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You can’t miss Mass on Sunday, nor should one go to a non-Catholic service unless there’s a serious reason (e.g. family funeral).
catholic03 said:
I will always be a Latin Catholic, but as a naturally curious person I will always be fascinated and appreciative of our Eastern Catholic brethren
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You don’t have to attend an Orthodox service. Find an Eastern Catholic church near you. We have the same Liturgy and traditions as the Orthodox but are in full communion with the Holy See.
 
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Margaret_Ann said:
You can’t miss Mass on Sunday, nor should one go to a non-Catholic service unless there’s a serious reason (e.g. family funeral).
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Sorry. I wasn’t suggesting missing my Mass obligation. I was suggesting attending a Greek Orthodox Church one time (and refraining from communion) in addition to attending Mass on Sunday.

I stupidly did not take into the account the fact that we shouldn’t attend non Catholic churches/services.

I certainly won’t be attending a Greek Orthodox service.
 
One of my uncles was Russian Orthodox. We had to go to his funeral but my parents told us not even to say “Amen.”

Another true story (sorry if I’m repeating myself here, but just in case you missed it, here goes):

When my Ukrainian Greek Catholic grandmother passed away, my Russian Orthodox aunt & uncle attended her funeral. They stood like sentinels during the Divine Liturgy and didn’t say a word. The only time they sat down was for the homily.
 
There really isn’t anything wrong with attending Orthodox services. I’ve been to Greek Orthodox Divine Liturgy, and Vespers at the Armenian Church near my own parish. I’ve actually been invited by the pastor there to offer some of the prayers and blessings at Vespers. I even got to go to Vespers at the Armenian cathedral in Jerusalem last time I was there. If we can’t go to Orthodox services, why do Catholic hierarchs attend at special events in Orthodox Churches, like episcopal consecrations?

You don’t have to jump to such extremes just because sometime clarifies something for you. You don’t have to beat yourself up and characterize your judgment as stupid. Go to Mass, fulfill your obligation, then go to an Orthodox service. It’s really not that big of a deal.

-Fr ACEGC
 
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Example #1: In 2001, the Greek Orthodox bishop attended the installation of Archbishop Soroka (now retired) at our Ukrainian Greek Catholic cathedral in Philadelphia. However, he did not participate in the Divine Liturgy.

Example #2: My late Russian Orthodox aunt was very devout. She had a nephew on her side of the family who served at the cathedral in Moscow. She would never participate in a Catholic service. She would probably pronounce an anathema sit against any Orthodox prelate who did so.

Example #3: When my father died, my Russian Orthodox cousins came to Dad’s funeral Liturgy but they did not participate. They didn’t even sing “eternal memory” for him.

Example #4: The late Fr. Thomas Hopko once gave a lecture on salvation. I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard this because everything he said was what the Catholic Church taught on salvation before VII but he applied it to Orthodoxy. IOW, extra ecclesiam orthodoxa nullum salus.

It may not seem a big deal to most RCs because Eastern Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy are very similar. However, the Eastern Catholic Churches have struggled to maintain their Tradition while remaining in full communion with the Holy See.

My Ukrainian Greek Catholic parish is very small, has mostly elderly parishioners and is served by a priest from another parish. The Greek Orthodox church near us is much bigger, has a resident priest, deacon, lots of families and even a parish library. (I was invited to attend a Baptism/Chrismation/First Eucharist once by a family I knew.)

I’ve often been tempted to go there just to see it again. So whenever I’m tempted to go to the Greek Orthodox church near me, I think of what St. Augustine wrote:

“No man can find salvation except in the Catholic Church. Outside the Catholic Church one can have everything except salvation. One can have honor, one can have sacraments, one can sing alleluia, one can answer amen, one can have faith in the Name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and preach it too, but never can one find salvation except in the Catholic Church.”

St. Augustine (354-430), Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Then I go to my own small church.
 
Margaret_Ann said:
So whenever I’m tempted to go to the Greek Orthodox church near me, I think of what St. Augustine wrote:

“No man can find salvation except in the Catholic Church. Outside the Catholic Church one can have everything except salvation. One can have honor, one can have sacraments, one can sing alleluia, one can answer amen, one can have faith in the Name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and preach it too, but never can one find salvation except in the Catholic Church.”

St. Augustine (354-430), Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Then I go to my own small church.
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Are you saying the Orthodox won’t be saved??
 
My parents taught me that we shouldn’t go to non-Catholic services unless it was a wedding/funeral and even then we should not participate in the services.

To the best of my knowledge, one must avoid communio in sacris when attending non-Catholic services for a serious reason.
 
edward_george1 said:
Are you saying the Orthodox won’t be saved??
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To the best of my knowledge, Catholic teaching is that if a person dies in the state of sanctifying grace, they will be saved. If a person dies in the state of mortal sin then they will go to hell.

Non-Catholics who are saved are saved through the grace of Christ Who dispenses His grace through the Catholic Church. One must belong to the Catholic Church either in voto or in re. If a person knows that that the Catholic Church is necessary for salvation but refused to enter it, then they cannot be saved (Vatican II).

Is that right?
 
Thank you, Father.

Thank you for clarifying this. It is most appreciated. I worry about being doctrinally heterodox/unorthodox, so I am concerned if I think I am unintentionally espousing such views.
 
I think there’s clearly a difference between non-Catholic worship and worship in the Orthodox Churches, which have apostolic succession and valid sacraments

It’s obviously not absolutely wrong or we’d not allow for Catholics to receive sacraments from Orthodox priests in cases where they don’t have access to a Catholic priest. And I give communion to people I know are Orthodox with some regularity; the law is pretty well wide open on that.

But if you think I should confess to going to Orthodox services that aren’t weddings or funerals, and still more giving blessings and leading prayers at Vespers, please tell me so.
 
This is true, but I’m not sure that I, or the Church for that matter, would consider the Orthodox to be outside the Church in the same way that Protestants are. They have valid sacraments and valid apostolic succession. At this point in history, the separation is largely political, and honestly always has been.
 
edward_george1 said:
the separation is largely political, and honestly always has been.
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This is shown by the fact that the Russian Orthodox Church has split from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, simply because the ROC no longer has full control over Orthodox faithful in Ukraine.

Let’s hope that we reunify. The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew seems to want to - but many of the bishops and faithful are quite skeptical.
 
edward_george1 said:
we’d not allow for Catholics to receive sacraments from Orthodox priests in cases where they don’t have access to a Catholic priest.
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At the Greek Orthodox church near me, they state on their website that one is expected to observe the Wednesday and Friday fasts plus confession and the traditional Eucharistic fast from midnight before communion (as some of the Orthodox posters here have noted). The priest will not give communion to a non-Orthodox person.

This is from an Orthodox website re receiving communion:

https://www.oca.org/questions/divineliturgy/receiving-communion

This is going to sound crazy but this is the only way I can explain it: When I attended that Orthodox Baptism/Chrismation/First Eucharist 15+ years ago, I felt a spiritual coldness there. It was not a physical coldness (I was warm) but a spiritual coldness which I could not describe.

After the services, I talked to the deacon and asked him: Since they have the same Liturgy as we do, why do they (the Orthodox) not believe in the Immaculate Conception? He couldn’t answer me.

And when I left the Orthodox church, the spiritual coldness left me.

I know it sounds nuts, but it’s the only way I can describe it.
 
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