This article introduces a series in which Nicholas LaBanca explores the Catholic Church’s different rites and what makes each of the 24 Catholic Churches unique within those rites.
For the other parts in the series, click on the following links: Part 2 – The Armenian Rite, Part 3 – The Alexandrian Rite, Part 4 – The East Syrian Rite.
Over the past several years, people have become more and more aware of how diverse the Western world has become. Talk of “diversity” often pops up in the workplace and elsewhere, especially here in these United States. Diversity applies not only to culture though, but religion too. Catholics could easily mention recent efforts in ecumenism when the subject of diversity comes up. But let’s focus on something else for a moment, something that’s been right under our noses. If you are reading this, chances are that you are a Roman Catholic. Or, to put it more officially, you are a Catholic of the Roman Rite within the Latin Catholic Church. Sounds a little confusing, doesn’t it?
Why bother providing such a long description for persons we typically call “Roman Catholic”? That’s because not every Catholic is Latin. Throughout history, and even still today, people have displayed confusion regarding those that we refer to as “Eastern Catholics.” When people are unfamiliar with something, they tend to look at that particular thing askance. But once we get the real story and can appreciate the beautiful patrimony and treasure of the Eastern Catholic Churches, you’ll find one doesn’t have to be “Latin” to be Catholic. Let’s now take the opportunity to discover how the Catholic Church is truly one of the most diverse institutions on the face of the Earth!
A Rich Patrimony
My father’s side of the family is Latin Catholic, but my cousins on my maternal grandmother’s side of the family are Ukrainian-Greek Catholic. So what exactly are the differences in these rites? What makes one Catholic “Latin,” and another Catholic “Ukrainian,” “Chaldean,” or something else? Before we answer that, let’s get a bit technical to get our terms right.
First, we have the Catholic Church. No prefixes. No other labels. We just have the Catholic Church. Or, if one really wants to, we can refer to the Universal (Catholic) Church. Second, the Catholic Church is comprised of six different liturgical rites, and within those rites, there are 24 particular Churches. These 24 sui iuris (autonomous or self-governing) Churches are all in communion with one another, are all within the Catholic Church, and all recognize the primacy of the pope.
The Latin (or Roman, but we’ll continue to refer to it as “Latin” from now on) Catholic Church is the largest of these 24 Churches. It is the only Western Church. The other 23 Catholic Churches are all referred to as Eastern Churches and have their own traditions and forms of liturgy, yet retain the same basic liturgical structures and theology as seen in the West. Usually in places like the media, the entire Catholic Church is commonly referred to as the Roman Catholic Church. This term doesn’t show the full universality of the Church. Many popes over the last few hundred years have sought to safeguard the importance of the Eastern Churches. It’s interesting to think about how much time we seem to spend in ecumenism between other non-Catholic Christians, yet we overlook that we have Eastern Catholic brethren with a rich patrimony we should be aware of.
Fully Catholic Rites
In his 1894 apostolic letter, Orientalium Dignitas, Pope Leo XIII had this to say:
“The Churches of the East are worthy of the glory and reverence that they hold throughout the whole of Christendom in virtue of those extremely ancient, singular memorials that they have bequeathed to us. For it was in that part of the world that the first actions for the redemption of the human race began, in accord with the all-kind plan of God. They swiftly gave forth their yield: there flowered in first blush the glories of preaching the True Faith to the nations, of martyrdom, and of holiness. They gave us the first joys of the fruits of salvation…”
OD Introduction
In regards to “the True Faith,” it goes without saying that all 23 Eastern Catholic Churches submit to the doctrines and dogmas defined by the Catholic Church. Dogmas cannot be rejected by Catholics. This includes Eastern or Western. As the Council Fathers during the Second Vatican Council taught in Unitatis Redintegratio:
“All in the Church must preserve unity in essentials. But let all, according to the gifts they have received enjoy a proper freedom, in their various forms of spiritual life and discipline, in their different liturgical rites, and even in their theological elaborations of revealed truth.”
UR 4
Eastern Catholics may go about their theology in a way that is different from what we see in the Latin Church. It is equally valid and never strays from the essentials of doctrine, though. Furthermore, this means that any Catholic of a sui iuris Church may receive the sacraments and attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass (or Divine Liturgy, Holy Qurbono, etc. as it is called in the East) at any sui iuris Church. Each of the 24 Churches is fully Catholic. One can fulfill his obligation for Mass at any one of these Churches whenever they desire.
Pope of the Universal Church
This high praise for the Eastern Catholic Churches was continued in the documents of the Second Vatican Council, specifically in Orientalium Ecclesiarum, promulgated by Pope St. Paul VI in 1964 (emphases added):
“The Catholic Church holds in high esteem the institutions, liturgical rites, ecclesiastical traditions and the established standards of the Christian life of the Eastern Churches, for in them, distinguished as they are for their venerable antiquity, there remains conspicuous the tradition that has been handed down from the Apostles through the Fathers…
“The Holy Catholic Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ, is made up of the faithful who are organically united in the Holy Spirit by the same faith, the same sacraments and the same government and who, combining together into various groups which are held together by a hierarchy, form separate Churches or Rites. Between these there exists an admirable bond of union, such that the variety within the Church in no way harms its unity; rather it manifests it, for it is the mind of the Catholic Church that each individual Church or Rite should retain its traditions whole and entire and likewise that it should adapt its way of life to the different needs of time and place.
“These individual Churches, whether of the East or the West, although they differ somewhat among themselves in… liturgy, ecclesiastical discipline, and spiritual heritage, are, nevertheless, each as much as the others, entrusted to the pastoral government of the Roman Pontiff, the divinely appointed successor of St. Peter in primacy over the universal Church.”
OE 1-3
The Six Rites
We see here that the words “rite” and “Church” pop up quite a few times. What are the differences between these terms? The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USSCB) put it pretty succinctly in 1999:
“We have been accustomed to speaking of the Latin (Roman or Western) Rite or the Eastern Rites to designate these different Churches. However… we ought to speak, not of rites, but of Churches. Canon 112 of the Code of Canon Law uses the phrase ‘autonomous ritual Churches’ to designate the various Churches.”
Eastern Catholics in the United States, 4
The 1990 Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches clearly defines the difference between “rite” and “church”:
“Canon 27 – A group of Christian faithful united by a hierarchy according to the norm of law which the supreme authority of the Church expressly or tacitly recognizes as sui iuris is called in this Code a Church sui iuris.
“Canon 28 – A rite is the liturgical, theological, spiritual and disciplinary patrimony, culture and circumstances of history of a distinct people, by which its own manner of living the faith is manifested in each Church sui iuris.”
Below is a list of the six rites of the Catholic Church, followed by which sui iuris Churches are contained within them.
Latin Rite
- Latin (or Roman) Catholic Church
Alexandrian Rite
- Coptic Catholic Church
- Eritrean Catholic Church
- Ethiopian Catholic Church
West Syrian (or Antiochene) Rite
- Maronite Catholic Church
- Syriac Catholic Church
- Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
Armenian Rite
- Armenian Catholic Church
East Syrian (or Chaldean) Rite
- Chaldean Catholic Church
- Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
Constantinopolitan (or Byzantine) Rite
- Albanian Catholic Church
- Belarusian Catholic Church
- Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church
- Byzantine Church of Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro (or Križevci Catholic Church)
- Greek Byzantine Catholic Church
- Hungarian Greek Catholic Church
- Italo-Albanian Catholic Church
- Macedonian Catholic Church
- Melkite Greek Catholic Church
- Romanian Catholic Church
- Russian Catholic Church
- Ruthenian Catholic Church (also known as the Byzantine Catholic Church in America)
- Slovak Catholic Church
- Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
Repairing the Great Schism
We can see that each of these Churches comes from a distinct cultural background. They come from all corners of the earth, yet each of these 24 Churches all profess the same Catholic Faith. How wonderful that our holy Catholic Church has such a multitude of traditions (small “t”) while keeping the same unbroken Tradition (big “T”) from apostolic times! After this primer, we will be following up with a series of essays detailing each of the five Eastern liturgical rites and their respective Churches.
However, this being an introduction, we would be remiss if we did not briefly mention how the Eastern Catholic Churches relate to the Orthodox Churches. When the Great Schism occurred in 1054, the Church was splintered, but over time parts of these Churches came back into communion with the Catholic Church. Future essays will detail when these reunions happened. While we still await that happy day of full reunion, we can rejoice that relations between East and West today is not as fractured as it was in the eleventh century.
Mutually Complementary Theology in the Rites
As was mentioned above, many of the Eastern Catholic Churches have traditions (small “t”) that differ from the Latin Catholic Church. Of course, all the Eastern Catholic Churches recognize the timeless Tradition (big “T”) of the Catholic Church. This includes the seven sacraments, the primacy of the pope, and the doctrine and dogmas defined by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. Still, the Eastern Catholic Churches are exhorted to retain their own theological understandings of doctrine (e.g., Mary’s Assumption) and to express it in the way they have received from their bishops and teachers of blessed memory. In Unitatis Redintegratio, the Council Fathers noted the following:
“What has just been said about the lawful variety that can exist in the Church must also be taken to apply to the differences in theological expression of doctrine. In the study of revelation East and West have followed different methods, and have developed differently their understanding and confession of God’s truth. It is hardly surprising, then, if from time to time one tradition has come nearer to a full appreciation of some aspects of a mystery of revelation than the other, or has expressed it to better advantage. In such cases, these various theological expressions are to be considered often as mutually complementary rather than conflicting”
UR 17
Valid Gifts and Traditions
Just what are some of these traditions? Briefly, as we’ll go into more detail later, these traditions include a married priesthood, or the use of leavened bread at the celebration of the Eucharist. Some of these Churches that use leavened bread (mostly in the Byzantine Rite) and even some that use unleavened bread as Latin Catholics do (i.e., the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church), distribute Holy Communion through intinction. Through intinction, the consecrated Host is placed in the chalice and is given together with the Precious Blood directly into the communicant’s mouth, often with a small, liturgical spoon.
Other traditions include sacramentals such as prayer ropes or chotki, and different devotional prayers like the Jesus Prayer. These are all things that might seem a bit foreign to many Latin Catholics. However, as seen by the words of various popes, these liturgical traditions are all as equally valid, and to the faithful’s benefit, as are traditional Latin devotions.
Pope St. John Paul II said it best. He said, “the Church must breathe with her two lungs” (Ut Unum Sint 54). The East and West are part of the same Body. Therefore, the entire Church should appreciate and respect the valid gifts and traditions that are breathed from both traditions.
The Church’s Universality
St. John Paul elaborated further in his 1995 apostolic letter Orientale Lumen (emphasis added):
“Since, in fact, we believe that the venerable and ancient tradition of the Eastern Churches is an integral part of the heritage of Christ’s Church, the first need for Catholics is to be familiar with that tradition, so as to be nourished by it and to encourage the process of unity in the best way possible for each.
“Our Eastern Catholic brothers and sisters are very conscious of being the living bearers of this tradition, together with our Orthodox brothers and sisters. The members of the Catholic Church of the Latin tradition must also be fully acquainted with this treasure and thus feel, with the Pope, a passionate longing that the full manifestation of the Church’s catholicity be restored to the Church and to the world, expressed not by a single tradition, and still less by one community in opposition to the other; and that we too may be granted a full taste of the divinely revealed and undivided heritage of the universal Church which is preserved and grows in the life of the Churches of the East as in those of the West…
OL 1-2
“It has been stressed several times that the full union of the Catholic Eastern Churches with the Church of Rome which has already been achieved must not imply a diminished awareness of their own authenticity and originality. Wherever this occurred, the Second Vatican Council has urged them to rediscover their full identity, because they have ‘the right and the duty to govern themselves according to their own special disciplines.
“…[C]onversion is… required of the Latin Church, that she may respect and fully appreciate the dignity of Eastern Christians, and accept gratefully the spiritual treasures of which the Eastern Catholic Churches are the bearers, to the benefit of the entire Catholic communion; that she may show concretely, far more than in the past, how much she esteems and admires the Christian East and how essential she considers its contribution to the full realization of the Church’s universality.”
OL 21
Stay Tuned
Throughout this series, we will explore much more in-depth what “spiritual treasures” these Eastern Catholic Churches gift to the universal Catholic Church. The Church is One. The diversity that we find within it, though, is truly something to be celebrated and cherished by all Catholics.
Correction: The original image for this post contained Anglican and Orthodox Christians, and not Catholics. The Ascension Blog regrets the error.
The original version of this article was first published on Catholic365.com.
You May Also Like:
The Other 23 Catholic Churches: Part 2, the Armenian Rite
The Other 23 Catholic Churches: Part 3, the Alexandrian Rite
The Other 23 Catholic Churches: Part 4, the East Syrian Rite
About Nicholas LaBanca
Nicholas is a cradle Catholic and hopes to give a unique perspective on life in the Church as a millennial. His favorite saints include his patron St. Nicholas, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. John Mary Vianney, and St. Athanasius of Alexandria.
Thank you, good post. The history of the churches is complex and based on both the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome and the above equals by the Orthodox Church. The Catholic Church attributes to the primacy of the pope “full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered,” a power that it attributes also to the entire body of the bishops united with the pope. The question is what is the “whole Church” and does that dominate the church that follow Greek rite and has its own Patriarch. The power struggle for Rome’s domination of the church is an historic one and one that has been argued since the early councils. Constantinople was the capital of the Roman Empire and it remained the capital of the Roman Empire until 1453. While many people refer to it as the Byzantine Empire, in fact it was the continuation of the classic Roman empire that we know of today which started in the city of Rome. It was Constantinople who created the first Christian councils and who formulated early Christian doctrines. It was essential a Greek speaking club of the 4 of the 5 Patriarchs, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch and Constantinople speaking Greek as their main language. The Patriarch of Rome was the only whose native language was Latin. The Great schism of 1054 indirectly has its root in the crowning of Charlemagne in 800 AD, by the Pope who was a family friend. The Pope sort the protection of the Franks as the Imperial Romans were dealing with there own enemies at their gates. With the slow decline of the Imperial Roman Empire at Constantinople, the Latin church sort to increase its power and influence. It authorised the invasion of England in 1066AD and would use the Norms to push the Imperial Romans (Byzantines) out of Italy. The Crusades indirectly weakened Constantinople and aggrandized the Pope of Rome. The Crusaders would sack Constantinople in 1204 and the Latins took control of the capital of the Roman Empire for the next 57 years. The “Greeks” would eventually retake the city but the empire had been broken up and mostly given to the Franks and Venetians. The weakened Roman state limped along but the power of the Roman Patriarch had steadily been growing and the fight for the Slavic nations was an ongoing battle of control by both churches around 1000AD. The Pope of Rome authorised the conversion of the pagans of the west under force and the use of excommunication was used regularly to maintained control over Kings, cities and even States. When the Pope apologized for the crimes committed again his Orthodox brothers in 2001AD, what was he talking about exactly? Its not about stealing members or even its banning Greek rites in Italy, it was much more sinister. The outright persecution of the population within Italy practicing Greek rite and those also in Malta are included in that broad apology. We have the fractioning of the Orthodox world as a real attempt by the Church of Roman to gain control and membership of Christians while the Patriarch of Constantinople was hamstrung by his Muslim overlords. The Patriarch of Constantinople is still there in Istanbul, minding his Ps and Qs. In between time, without political and religious interference, the Papacy has penetrated areas which have traditional been part of the Roman Empire sphere of influence. The reasons why the 24 groups of Catholic islands within the Orthodox realm is that the language of these Churches has been Greek. The Church of Rome cannot change that. Greek is associated to the Roman Empires main language which was Greek after the Roman Empire capital became Constantinople. Constantinople spoke Greek as its main language. It became “officially” Greek around 622AD. Thus the main complexity arising today between the churches is technically and historically a language issue. Latin versus Greek. The weakening of the Roman Empire allowed the relatively safe Latins to penetrate areas of historic turbulence.
Greek and Russian Orthodox question the validity of Catholic Sacraments, and consider the Latin Church more similar to Protestantism. Please read their respective websites
I was raised in both the Ruthenian Byzantine church (primary) and the Ukrainian Greek church.
The traditions, powerful sermons, hymns, greetings and unity that exists in our rites can never be fully appreciated or found in the Latin rite (as it exists today).
I remember as a child going to masses in the Latin rite and feeling the same way as going to the masses in my rite. There was richness, reverence and knowledge of where you were for that hour. Today, that is sadly gone in the Latin rite in many churches.
Many in the Latin rite that attend at least one Mass in the Byzantine rite never forget the experience.
That is very true.
I come from the Latin Rite and for 77 years of my life I have attended the Roman church.
Since, as it was said, the Roman church (I say Roman because the Latin Mass, which Francis abolished, was much different than the Roman) has become more Protestant than the actual Protestant church.
Every time I exited the church, I’d leave with such a sadness and emptiness in my soul.
That has changed since joining the Melkite Byzantine Rite. I leave the church at the end of Mass and I can actually feel my soul smiling.
The Living Liturgy is proclaimed at different Masses in 2 languages, one I understand and one I don’t.
The 1st time I attended, the Liturgy was in a different language than the one I speak.
I remember saying to the Lord
“Father You know I’m not understanding anything that is being said, but i can see all the beautiful expression of prayers, the richness and respect of that expression is palpable and for me to know You are being Praised and Glorified the way You deserve to be, is enough for me” Now I attend the English Living Liturgy…one other point that fits with my idea of respecting the House of the Lord, is that the majority of ladies vail themselves during Mass.
Since that day, months have gone by, I feel very privileged to be among so many faithful and humble people…starting from the 2 priests.
Very interesting and informative. I always thought the Western Catholic church had both the Roman rite snd the Latin rite.
Being a lifelong Byzantine (Ruthenian) Catholic. This is one of the best, clearest and concise articles that I have read on this subject. It should be required reading for ALL Catholics whether they be from the Roman (Latin) or Eastern churches. Unfortunately, most Roman Catholics unless they are from the northeast, Pittsburgh PA. and Cleveland Ohio and Great Lakes areas are still totally unaware of the Eastern Catholic Churches. Hopefully one day in the near future I won’t have to answer the question “are you sure you are Catholic” any longer.
Outstanding article. It’s disappointing how many benighted people declare that Roman Catholics are the only real members of the Church, sowing divisiveness at the exact moment that we need cohesiveness to combat the forces arrayed against us.
Wouldn’t the line in the first paragraph : “Or, to put it more officially, you are a Catholic of the Roman Rite within the Latin Catholic Church.”;
Be more appropriate as: “Or, to put it more officially you are a Catholic of the Latin Rite within the Catholic Church.”?
Thank you for this very informative article. I was about to give up reading because of the length but discovered the audio button and I was able to listen while doing my chores. 🙂
A beautiful witness to the unity of the Church in spite of Her current troubles.
A correction: they are East and West Syriac not “Syrian”; Syriac is an identity , Syria is a country.
Excellently written series. Greatly informative, a concise but meaty lesson on Church history. Catholics in the West, particularly in the Americas, may be surprised to learn of these rich traditions. Nicholas LaBanca writes insightfully, sympathetically, even tenderly about ancient communities that enrich the whole Church. As soon as I become emperor, it’ll be required reading.
What about Ambrosian Rite? It is a Western Rite. The whole of Milan Diocese except for few parishes follow the Ambrosian Rite. Then again there are other Western Rites, Spain – Hispanic, France- Gallican, Ireland – Celtic, Asia Minor and Spain – Mozarabic.
I wondered this too about the Anglican rites as used in the Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter. I learned it is the Anglican use of liturgy WITHIN the Roman Rite. So I wonder if the other rites you’re referring to are also considered “uses.”
A good analysis. One must always remember that ideally politics & religion should not mix, but in fact are intimately related and will always be so.
My paternal side was Italian Roman Catholics & my maternal side Ukrainian Eastern Rite, all from Queens going back over 100 years. I attended both RC grammar & high schools, a Presbyterian collage, a Jesuit college for a semester. My father grew up in lower Manhattan and became a Presbyterian as an adolescent. Some relatives on my father’s side became Lutherans. My youngest son thinks he is Jewish. Yes religion can be fun!
It is very well presented. Can I get videos of the liturgical services (Holy Mass) of the different rites.
It is very well presented.
Can I get videos of the liturgical services (Holy Mass) of the different rites
Very nice
Hey, I am a Syro – Malankara Catholic but I do go to Syro – Malabar Churches and attend their mass, normally most their churches do not currently have the holy veil except some of them in the southern part of Kerala (Kottayam).
So when are they going to unite the dates of Easter? How can other non Christians take Christians serious if we can not agree on a date that IS the most important date that we should celebrate together. This division is a sin that needs to end!
They will not because both hold different calendar due to liturgical traditions. Sometimes we coincide sometimes we do not. Please look up Julian and Gregorian calendar. They are 2 different calendars. We Roman Catholics followed the Julian at one point but then as revealed to the Pope we have the gregorian in our tradition and have Latin saints. The eastern tradition although they share and acknowledge our saints just s we acknowledge theirs. They have in their calendar the eastern saints of the church. It is very different remember the 12 apostles went to different locations to spread the faith and the way they went it had to be of different focus according to the spiritual needs of the people.
(Not in a democratic sense but in a Christian sense of the word.)
Easter is ISHTAR. Total paganism. The “think to change times and laws” of the little horn of Daniyl 7:25 is the calendar and feasts of Yahweh in the Bible being altered by the pagan solar cult church.
1 Corinthians commands one to keep Passover, which is a totally different day, and calculated using a Biblical calendar … which Rome made illegal, punishable by death.
Can a bishop from the other 23 churches be part of the conclave and ultimately be named Pope?
Yes, the pope can come from any of the Catholic churches.
As I understand in the very Early Church, approximately 30 popes came from the East.
Possible but not likely to occur because it would mean a change of Church and to learn the liturgical, theological and spiritual traditions of another church, starting from zero. It would be tremendously messy at best
That bishop would have to be named Cardinal before participating in the conclave. After that point, yes, he could be elected.
There are only two requirements for becoming pope: being male and being baptized into the Catholic Church.
Would you consider Anglican Rite (use) to also be an additional one?
Good question, Paul. The Anglican Use is included under the umbrella of the Latin Catholic Church. What is interesting here is that while there are several particular Churches in, say, the Byzantine Rite, the opposite is true when it comes to Latin Catholics. There are several different “rites” within the Latin Catholic Church, such as the Anglican Use, the Mozarabic Rite, and the Ambrosian Rite. But this series will focus solely on the Eastern Catholic Churches. Needless to say… our Catholic faith is awesome with plenty to explore!
So an Ordinariate parish would not be considered a “church” similiar to the churches under the various other rites?
Correct. Take a look again at Canon 27 of the CCEO:
“A group of Christian faithful united by a hierarchy according to the norm of law which the supreme authority of the Church expressly or tacitly recognizes as sui iuris is called in this Code a Church sui iuris.”
For those that utilize the “Anglican Use”, as Paul had put it, there are three Personal Ordinariates which are juridically equivalent to dioceses. These Ordinariates are not considered Churches “sui iuris”, and therefore do not make up a “25th” particular Church. The Wikipedia article on Personal Ordinariates has a good explanation, and relevant sources to explore:
“While the personal ordinariates preserve a certain corporate identity of Anglicans received into the Catholic Church, they are canonically within the Latin Church and share the same theological emphasis and in this way differ from the Eastern Catholic Churches, which are autonomous particular Churches.”
Merry Christmas
The particular Churches in for example the “Byzantine Rite” are distinct by history and ethnicity. This would be similar to the Roman Rite in different countries.
I always understood that while there is one Catholic Church, you cannot just receive communion from any other rite. For example, Latin rite requires I only receive communion at Eastern church in emergencies where I cannot receive Latin rite communion…
Nick is correct. As all the Eastern Catholic churches are in communion with Rome, you can attend any of them and both receive the Eucharist and fulfill your obligation. I’m Latin rite but attend our local Byzantine (Ruthenian) Catholic church almost every week.
This is incorrect. Do you have a citation spelling out what you say the “Latin rite requires”?
I believe you may be mixing up the Eastern Catholic Churches with the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches. The 23 Eastern Catholic Churches are fully Catholic and recognize the Pope in Rome as the Vicar of Christ, just as you and I do as Latin Catholics.
When it comes to the Orthodox Churches, we as Catholics (of any rite) are not encouraged to receive Holy Communion at the Orthodox Churches because we are not in full union with them. There are specific cases where it would be permissible since the Orthodox Churches have valid sacraments.
In any case, you are certainly free to partake of the sacraments at any time in the Eastern Catholic Churches. I’ve gone to Confession to Byzantine Catholic priests, and I often fulfill my Sunday obligation at a Byzantine or Ukrainian Catholic parish, receiving Communion there. If you click on the link above that talks about the Jesus Prayer, you’ll see Matt Fradd talk about how he attends a Byzantine Catholic parish regularly, while still being a Latin Catholic. I hope this clears up the confusion.
A Catholic may be able to receive permission to receive Orthodox sacraments but it is largely irrelevant since the Orthodox will not give sacraments to Catholics.
It does seem quite odd that Rome has established splinter beachheads in Ethiopia, Armenia and other ancient Apostolic churches as opposed to working toward union – a good step in that direction might be to return those parishes to their historical churches.
I am Syro – Malabar Catholic living in Edmonton area, but I will go for Latin church every day except on Sunday and receive all Holy Sacraments from Latin Church just because I have a Latin Church near by my place and will participate in Syro-Malabar church every Sundays and the very beautiful thing in Syro-Malabar church is that there is Catechism classes for kids to develop their faith too.
Thank God for common sense v. political correctness
You can receive from another rite. What you cannot do is change rite without the dispensation from Rome. But you can receive the sacraments and attend mass.
It is advisable and recommended we remain in the same rite we were born and confirmed.
However….. we cannot receive communion in an eastern orthodox church. (Because although both profess the apostles creed and have valid priesthood both are different churches)
For this I reccomend to talk to your parish priest so he can clarify.
Have a great day.
Why are you a picture where there are no Catholics?
Looking for a audio of the pronunciation of “Holy Qurbono” Unfortunately i could not find it.
It is pronounced – ‘Kir Bana’ — As per You Tube – Pronunciation Guide
Holy Kurbaana
In the Eastern Syriac it would be – Koor-bana (as stated above) in the Western Syriac it is pretty much how it is spelled in the English – Koor-bono
I’m Melkite. Changed over from the Latin Church several years ago. Nicely done!