What are the Eastern Catholic Churches?
Fr. Phil Seeton
After the coming down of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles at Pentecost the early Christians followed the command and commission of the Lord to "Go, therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them...and teaching them all I commanded you to do." (Mt. 28:19) From the first Church in Jerusalem the Apostles set out to teach the Gospel and spread the Good News. The Apostles, and later, their disciples discovered and encountered many cultures; they experienced many languages, customs, art forms and ways of life. As the Church grew she adopted many things from many cultures giving them new meaning in the light of the Gospel.
Christians from the East: Jerusalem, Antioch (Syria), Alexandria (Egypt), and Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey) as well as those who received the Gospel from these cities had similar ways of expressing the faith of Jesus in worship, law, theology and daily living. The Christians who were converted to Christianity in the West: from Rome and cities of Europe held the same faith as those of the East but expressed it in very different ways. What was essential for the early Church, both East and West, was the sharing of the same faith and unity in all the local Churches. All Christians were to be one in Christ.
As time went on, communication between East and West became difficult. Islam rose in the East and great political confusion rose in the West. Arguments broke out between Eastern and Western Christians regarding how the faith was expressed and the role of the Bishop of Rome in the life of the Church. A split began between the West and the East in 1054 AD. By 1204 the Christian Churches of the East and the West were completely divided from one another. Some Christians of the West committed serious sins against Christians of the East (The Sack of Constantinople). Both "sides" were at fault regarding the division of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church of Jesus. Though they shared the same essentials of the Gospel and love of Jesus Christ, they no longer were in communion with each other. The Christians of the East came to be called "Orthodox" ("true believing/true worshipping") and those of the West came to be called "Catholic" ("all embracing" or "universal").
Today Christ's Church is divided into two parts; the Orthodox Churches and the Catholic Churches.
The Catholic Church is made up of 22 distinct "families," each with her own bishops and particular law. In the past the different families within the Catholic Church were incorrectly called "Rites" (the "Byzantine Rite," the "Ukrainian Rite," etc.). This is incorrect because the word "rite" has only to do with a way of worshipping and the Churches are much more than that. The Church is like a vine with many branches. Jesus Christ Himself is the vine, the various Catholic and Orthodox Churches are the branches. The 22 Catholic Churches share a unity of belief and charity, the outward sign of which is communion with the pope, the Bishop of Rome. Most Catholics in the world belong to the Roman Catholic Church, but the other 21 Churches are also called "Catholic." The other Catholic Churches originated in the Africa, the Middle East, India, Eastern Europe, and Sicily. These Churches usually are called by the ethnic name of their member's heritage. Many times these 21 Catholic Churches are all referred to as the "Eastern" Catholic Churches. (The Roman Catholic Church is called the "Western" Catholic Church.) Though these Churches are in communion with the Bishop of Rome they are more like the various Orthodox Churches in how the Gospel is expressed and how they are governed, in theology, and in the celebration of the Liturgy and Sacraments.
The Second Vatican Council teaches that all the Churches that make up the global Catholic Church are "equal in dignity" and each Church has the obligation to evangelize. Catholics of the Eastern Churches are guaranteed the right to worship and live according to the traditions and spiritual life of their proper Church.
The Eastern Orthodox Churches are families of Churches who are not in communion with the Pope of Rome. But the Orthodox Churches share the essential beliefs that the Catholic Churches hold. They have true Sacraments, true faithfulness to the Gospel and are part of the Church founded by Christ on the Apostles. The Orthodox Churches are in union with each other and usually act together in making decisions that affect all the Orthodox Churches. Pope John Paul II calls the Orthodox Churches and the Catholic Churches, the "two lungs" of the one Body of Christ. Catholic Christians have more in common with Eastern Orthodox Christians than any other Christian community (Protestant Christians).
In the United States there are bishops and Eparchies (dioceses) for Ukrainian, Ruthenian, Melkite, Maronite, Syrian (descended from Churches in Syria/Lebanon), and Chaldean, (descended from Churches in Iraq and Iran) Romanian and Syro Malabar (from India) Catholics. Parishes and Missions belonging to these Eparchies are independent of the Roman Catholic bishops since they have their own bishops who are in communion with the Bishop of Rome.
As pertaining to our parish, Saint Basil the Great:
St. Basil the Great Parish is part of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh. His Eminence, Metropolitan BASIL of Pittsburgh is the head of this Church and our bishop. There are also three other dioceses of this Church in the United States whose members number 300,000 souls. The roots of this Church go back to the eighth century when Sts. Cyril and Methodios carried the Gospel message to the Slavic nations. In the 1880's members of this Church began emigrating to the U.S. from their homelands in the Carpathian Mountains (in modern Ukraine and the Slovak Republic). Members of our Parish are descendents of these immigrants as well as people of Lebanese, Ukrainian, Polish, Czech, Italian and other Western European ethnic heritages. A number of Roman Catholics who prefer the spiritual life of the East also belong to St. Basil's. You don't have to be "born Byzantine" to be a part of us.
Sunday Liturgy is at 10am. Weekday Liturgies and Services are listed in the current Bulletin.
----- Please come pray with us. Everyone is welcome.
The Catholic Church encourages and teaches that the riches of the Eastern Christian Churches should be available and familiar to all its members.
Some of the specific teachings of the Eastern Catholic Churches are:
We are called to be partakers (to share) in the Divine nature of the Holy Trinity. (Divinization or theosis).
" God became man so that humanity could become divine."
-St. Athanasios
The more we love God the more we encounter God.
Weekly fasting together with prayer are essential to a healthy and faithful spiritual life.
Each Christian must have a "rule of prayer" that they follow everyday and all are encouraged to have a Spiritual Father or Mother (Spiritual Direction).
Active involvement in the Church through the Holy Mysteries (Sacraments), unity with others and sacrifice for others helps make the Holy Trinity present in our lives and in the world.
© 2007 Fr. Philip Seeton. Used with permission.
