(Death, Heaven, Purgatory, Hell)
Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults
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AN INTRODUCTION TO THE EASTERN RITES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
[The following file is actually a collection of messages by Father Hal Stockert, a Byzantine Catholic priest of the Eparchy of Passaic, New Jersey. He provides an excellent introduction to the various Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church.]
"Ummmm....What's a BYZANTINE CATHOLIC?" "I don't want to seem ignorant, but what's the difference between Byzantine Catholics and Catholics?" A frequent question in my line of work. Here's where you can find out - if you hang in here long enough to get the periodic postings that will attempt to explain the REAL nature of the Catholic Church, instead of what you've grown up believing.
Dear Friends:
Welcome to "Rites." And by that title I mean to include ALL rites within the Catholic Church. There have been, in my experience, many misapprehensions as to the nature of the Church, misapprehensions which have led, oftentimes, to people leaving the Church because their image of it was not only blurred, it was false.
I cannot count the number of people who have told me (since my ordination more than twenty years ago) that they left because of the 'monolithic' structure of the Church. Let me set the record clear, for those of you who may be a bit confused. I am NOT an Orthodox priest. I am a CATHOLIC priest...in the very same exact sense as His Holiness, the Pope is, or as Father Pat and Father Brian are. (Grin...I *must* be Catholic...I'm too 'unOrthodox').
There are essentially two basic divisions in Christianity. Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity. Western Christianity consists of Latin Catholics (some of whom are Roman Catholics) and Protestants. Eastern Christianity consists of Catholics of various Eastern Rites, and Orthodox. Moslems are the largest and oldest surviving 'heretics' of the early Church, with the exception of the Monophysite Christians of Coptic Egypt. Before too long, I will post another answer with a chart showing some of the various subdivisions of Christianity...Catholic AND Orthodox. Once you understand how highly variegated the Church is, not only in its liturgical customs, but in its canonical legal structure, its spirituality, its emotional and cultural life, perhaps that image will be destroyed. I hope so.
The term 'Catholic' means, in essence, that the Church was established by Christ for the welfare of all men,of all nations, of all times, of all eras, of all cultures, of all the world past, present and yet to come. It ought not to surprise anyone that I am by far more familiar with what is normally called the 'Byzantine' rite (there *are* subdivisions called 'recensions'. The recension to which I belong is sometimes called 'Ruthenian'.) But, depending on the premise by which you introduce a grouping, there are anywhere between 7 and 21 distinct rites in the Catholic Church, all of which are as fully Catholic as any other, none of which (ostensibly, at least) receives any preferential treatment. THERE ARE *NO* SUPERIOR RITES WITHIN THE CHURCH! We are all children of the same loving Father, saved by the very same Blood of the Very Same Christ, by virtue of the very same Faith in His Name, and by the action of the very same Holy Spirit.
In future postings, I will try to post a short chart showing the major divisions and subdivisions of rites within the Catholic Church, and in subsequent postings, I will try to trace some of the history of the development of rites. Don't hesitate to ask questions...or, if you catch me in an egregious historical error, to correct me. I make no pretense to being an authority on the subject, apart from the fact that, like most people who grew up with something, I can reasonably be expected to be somewhat more expert than those who've never heard of it. Once I have the history partially set forth, I can begin to deal with the business of Liturgy, Prayer, Spirituality, Ascetical Practices, Meditation, Contemplation, etc. Culture will have a part to play here, but a surprisingly small one.
These are the rites currently in practice in the Catholic Church today. You will notice that no reference is made to 'Orthodox' groups. The reason for that is simple. Despite the fairly widespread idea that when the Orthodox left the Church in the eleventh century, ALL eastern Christians left at the same time, it simply isn't so. At no time in history have ALL of ANY group left the Church. There have always been SOME (GREEK) Greek Catholics, always some Russians, always some Syrians, always some Copts, etc. As late as the Councils of Florence and Ferrara, the Slavs were well-represented in the person of the leading theologian of the Councils, St. Isidore, the Archbishop of Kiev.
My own family is a remnant of such. In Russia, they are called 'Old Catholics' because they remained constantly faithful to the Catholic Church and constantly in union with Rome. A very SMALL remnant, it is true. But, a remnant, nonetheless. Those who were related to the royal family were even banished from court and exiled domestically to Siberia for that loyalty. But some ALWAYS remained.
Most of the groups named have counterparts among the Orthodox. Most, indeed, have counterparts among the Orthodox which are larger than the Catholic segment. All except the Maronites, with whom you're familiar from the evening news in Lebanon.
In future postings, I shall strive to give a rather more complete picture of developments, but suffice it to say for the moment that, at the very beginning of the Christian era there was no question of 'rites'. You were a Christian, or you were not. Then, following the early heresies (Gnostic, Nestorian, Arian, Monophysite, etc.), you were an "Orthodox" Christian or a "heretic" (yes, 'Orthodox' was what we now call 'Catholic' today) Christian, and only following the schism of 1056 did the categories fall into the present-day mold. And only the Greek Church (most of it) left union with Rome at that time. The other churches were neither so developed nor so subordinate at that time.
The infamous Fourth Crusade (ca. 1214) and the crusade declared (and sanctioned by Rome) by the Teutonic Knights were the final wedge between East and West, particularly offending the Slavs, who understood the concept of 'crusade', but considered that it ought not be directed against members of one's own Church. (At that time, the Slavs were still attending the Ecumenical Councils...as I indicated...Florence, Ferrara, et alia.) Highly offended (and, I think, rather justly so) they, too, withdrew saying, in effect, "if you don't want us, we don't want to be there." And so the split was finalized in mid-15th century. We live with its consequences today.
It is my contention that, had the schism between East and West occurred, there would not only have been no Protestant Reformation, there would have been no need for one, nor an opportunity for it. The period immediately previous to Luther's own time, (the civil religious wars in central Europe against the Hussites and other similar groups) set the stage for Luther's own time and for Luther's own protest. In fact, much of the debate Luther wished to initiate in his 95 theses were already matters of common observance in the Eastern Church and remain so today (e.g. communion under both species, lay participation in the liturgy, etc.)
The scandal of a divided Body of Christ remains. And, I suspect, will never disappear until the Catholic Church puts its own house in order. There is simply no reason to expect either Orthodox or Protestant to return to union with the Church when they can point to the treatment meted out to minority rites in the Catholic Church and ask: "You mean you want me to return to be treated like *that*?"
Those biases and bigotries are essentially the result of ignorance. Ignorance can always be overcome, if by nothing else, by study and prayerful reflection. Part of the purpose of this conference is to remove some of that legacy of bigotry and ignorance with which we have all been burdened by our own particular histories, hoping that in the removal of it, we can once again hold out our arms in a wide embrace to those who long since should have been lovingly welcomed in our Father's house as brothers, as children of the same loving Father.
You may find it amusing, not to mention ironic, that Roman Canon Law requires each and every bishop to have a See (Sedes, seat). And, in Rome (and set aside in Roman Law) there is a Cathedral Church set aside for each Patriarch. It is commonly assumed (again, falsely) that St. Peter's is the Cathedral See of the Holy Father. It is not. The Holy Father's Cathedral See is St. John Lateran. St. Peter's is reserved for the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, should (as it will, the Scriptures have so promised) Byzantium return to union with Rome. The Ecumenical Patriarchs of Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria each have their own....St. Paul's Without the Walls, St. Mary Major, and one other I've forgotten
Courtesy of Catholic Information Network (CIN)