Lifelong RC here. My dad was an Arab Melkite and my mom is Irish RC. I grew up RC and still am, but this year I've begun to learn more about, and see the incredible beauty in, the Eastern half of our Catholic family! Here is a photo of my first icons in my room in college. St. Patrick on the left for my mom's side of the family, St. George on the right for my dad's. God Bless everyone in this sub--it's been a really great way for me to get introduced to some cool topics and hear from knowledgeable Eastern Catholics.

https://preview.redd.it/dva6abbj0d4e1.jpg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6100fafa77fa060ac5c9ab3999bb9617ba911e24

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I've been a Roman Catholic for most of my life but recently I've been looking into Eastern Orthodoxy as some of their claims have made somewhat sense to me. (I think I've narrowed it down to the two in my mind but maybe Oriental Orthodoxy too)?However the more I search the more I feel like I'm being pulled Into a never ending rabbit hole of obscure church father quotes, different Bible verses, and random facts events and forgeries. I think I've heard almost every argument for and against both, but it feels like the pendulum keeps swinging back and forth from Orthodoxy to Catholicism and then back again. Also it is also caused me some anxiety because, at least some members of both churches believe their is no salvation outside the visible church, so am I just damned for picking the wrong one? So overall my main question is how do I discern the truth and why do you think Catholicism is true not because Orthodoxy or another church is false, but why Catholicism specifically? (idk why I thought this would be the place to find the answer lol but any help or response is appreciated also I thought this community as Eastern Catholics would have a unique perspective God bless!!)

This is assuming I am officially Eastern Catholic.

Hi everyone,

I'm Melkite Catholic, and have been getting into the habit of doing these morning prayers. I'd really like to start chanting them, but I can't make heads nor tails of Byzantine notation, and I'm not really interested in turning this into a big production; I'd just like to incorporate a few tones, like in this video. But since my prayers and what's in this video are different, I'd have to basically make up my own stuff for parts of the Melkite daily prayers.

Is it acceptable to just try chanting as closely as possible to the video I like, or should I try to find and learn an actual in-use ison from my church?

Where can I get a 300 knot chotki for a cheap price and shipping?

Hi all,

I'm trying to learn more about the Eastern churches, as I was never taught much of anything about them in years of Catholic education. So I keep coming up with questions on the most basic things :). Today - how many Eastern Churches are there, really?

Wikipedia and elsewhere on the internet (including the description of this sub) define 23 particular Eastern churches sui iuris. The CCEO defines this in canon 27 as 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. It then goes on to define Patriarchal, Major Archepiscopal, Metropolitan, and "other Churches sui iuris".

The first three categories are (mostly) easy to recognize and list, and the Dicastery for the Eastern Church's publication The Catholic East does so, and agrees with Wikipedia:

1. Coptic Catholic Church
2. Syriac Catholic Church
3. Greek-Melkite Catholic Church
4. Syro-Maronite Church
5. Chaldean Catholic Church
6. Armenian Catholic Church
7. Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
8. Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
9. Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
10. Romanian Greek Catholic Church
11. Ethiopian Greek Catholic Church
12. Eritrean Greek Catholic Church
13. Ruthenian Catholic Church in the US*
14. Greek Catholic Church of Slovakia
15. Greek Catholic Church of Hungary

(*discussion on this below)
After this, we have "other Churches sui iuris", which according to CCEO 174 are defined as "A Church sui iuris, which is neither patriarchal, major archiepiscopal nor metropolitan is entrusted to a hierarch who presides over it according to the norm of common law and particular law established by the Roman Pontiff."

Here, Wikipedia and other places online will list the following eight churches:

1. Albanian Greek Catholic Church 

2. Belarusian Greek Catholic Church 

3. Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church 

4. Byzantine Catholic Church of Croatia and Serbia 

5. Greek Byzantine Catholic Church 

6. Italo-Albanian Catholic Church 

7. Macedonian Greek Catholic Church 

8. Russian Greek Catholic Church 

However, The Catholic East (the official publication of the Dicastery for the eastern Churches) instead lists the various jurisdictions separately - eg. where The Catholic East lists the Eparchy of Križevc and the Eparchy of Ruski Krstur in separate entries, you'll find them listed online grouped together as "The Byzantine Catholic Church of Croatia and Serbia". In what sense do these two eparchies constitute one particular church, and where is such a church defined? Are they not rather two eparchial particular churches, each entrusted to their own hierarchs per canon 174?

Another pertinent example is the Ruthenian Church. The Metropolis of Pittsburgh in the US is a metropolitan church sui iuris. The Eparchy of Mukachevo and the Exarchate in the Czech Republic are completely independent of the Metropolis. The Catholic East lists them as such - but you'll find them linked together as a single "Ruthenian Catholic Church" many places online. There's a similar problem for the "Italo-Albanian Greek Catholic Church" - in two eparchies and a territorial abbacy.

The Catholic East also makes sure to list the Apostolic Administration of Kazakhstan and Central Asia, which doesn't seem to be included in any of the "other" particular churches above.

Wikipedia seems to follow sites like gCatholic and Catholic-hierarchy. Going through the articles, I can't seem to find this listing appropriately sourced. So where does the 23 number and the listing above come from? Are the churches listed this way in the Annuario Pontificio, or another official publication? It seems to me that The Catholic East publication's listing is more in line which the definitions of the CCEO - jurisdictions with their own independent hierarchs subject to the Holy See are their own particular churches. Which gives more like 30 churches.

If 23 is per an official publication, it doesn't seem to jive with the definitions in the CCEO - in what sense is the Ruthenian Church a church, rather than three churches? Where does the Apostolic Administration of Kazakhstan fall?

I know part of this comes down to the general definition of a particular church (including all dioceses and eparchies) and the specific definition of particular churches sui iuris - I'm talking about the latter.

As a side note, The Catholic East really a great publication -1200 pages of historical and current information on the Eastern Churches. It has a high price point, but it's available on Kindle Unlimited which has a cheap 3-month trial. 2019 is the first English edition, after 100 years of only Italian editions.

I found Arts Christiana

, a Polish maker of Christian devotional art, including icons of various 20th century saints that I haven't seen elsewhere. They ship to the US.

Before I order, I'm wondering if anyone has experience with them. If so, how did you find their icon quality and shipping reliability? Any other feedback on them?

Thanks!

Just to note, I'm not against the veneration, just curios how does the veneration justified if he was born and died after the schism

Hi there, I've been attending a Byzantine Catholic church an hour out from my place. When I became a Christian I started out at a Southern Baptist Church. Now I'm looking for a new church home .I really like attending Divine Liturgy ! My question is for those that converted to Eastern Catholicism. What was a hindrance to your conversion(and how'd you overcome it)and what advice would you give to an inquirer?

Greetings,

I am Turkish, interested in eastern apostolic Christianity. (Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Catholic)

I have a few questions regarding Eastern Catholicism:

1. If I became a catholic attending a Latin church, would I be an Eastern Catholic?
2. Do Eastern Catholics believe in purgatory, immaculate conception, Redemptive suffering, indulgences, filioque?
3. Why is patriarch of Rome infallible (even ex cathedra)?
4. Is contraception a sin?
5. Is IVF a sin?
6. Can married people be priests in Eastern Catholicism?

Anyone apart of the italio Albanian catholic church? What is it like? What language they use during divine liturgy? Are they're serten churches that are latinized?

In Croatia where I am from, there is a greek catholic bishop of a diocese. How does that work? Are latin rite catholics under his pastoral care or are they overseen by the latin metropolitan? What about eastern catholics if their parish is on the territory of a latin diocese, are they and the priest under his jurisdiction or do they answer to the first nearest eastern bishop or to a patriarch directly or something like that?

In Croatia where I am from there is a greekcatholic bishop for a diocese. How dies that work? Are latin rite catholics under his pastoral care or are they overseen by the latin metropolitan? What about eastern catholics if their parish is on the territory of a latin diocese are they and the priest under his jurisdiction or do they answer to the first nearest eastern bishop or to a patriarch directly or something like that?

Hi! So I grew up in the Latin rite and my father was also raised and baptized in the Latin rite. But I found out that my grandfather on my father’s side was Ruthenian and I’m not sure if he ever switched. Some priests told me that I might be canonically eastern rite. I’m just wondering how it works and how it affects me as I am discerning the priesthood. Thank you!

I’m a Latin catholic and would like to know exactly how to do the Jesus prayer. Do you just hold a prayer rope and recite the prayer or is there more to it?

Hello friends, I’m new here. I’ve been a Roman Catholic all my life except for the last 15 years where I was heavily involved in the New Age. Coming back to Christ this year what helped me the most were orthodox teachings like prelest, the essence energy distinction, and many books written by modern orthodox like Seraphim Rose as well as early church fathers like Maximus the Confessor. I feel a pull to orthodoxy because it seems to have the greater fullness of truth as opposed to Roman Catholicism but I’ve now discovered that there are Eastern Catholics. I’d love some insight into why hanging rites is better than converting because I’m really reluctant to leave the Catholic Church due to family.

Very basic question, but is there any difference in the usage of the titles “eparch” and “bishop” in English for Byzantine churches? Is it usually correct to refer to a hierarch as “Bishop of ” or “Eparch of_” - are these interchangeable, does it vary by Church?

Latin Catholic here; curious about the process of changing rites and if it is worth doing so?

Anybody here come into contact with or been part of the neocatechumenal way? I know there big in the roman church, but do they do anything with the eastern churches?

I wanna know what are some theologians for EC, I want to buy some books but I don’t know many EC theologians

I've heard the term a few times in the Liturgy and can't really track down the source. Knowing the Greek original would help, too!

Such as following Orthodox social media pages, watching Orthodox things on YouTube. Or do you stick with Catholic? I’m just curious since Eastern Catholic material seems more niche and harder to come by. Thanks.

When I "converted" to Byzantine Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy (Antiochian -> Melkite), the priest told me there was no need for stuff such as baptism and confirmation which is what I was aware of. However, I hear most converts make a profession of faith or whatnot, the priest told me I was fine to take communion and even serve as an altar server the following Sunday, which I did and attended the church several times. I haven't been attending considering the church is quite far and I've been attending a NO Parish 30 seconds away in walking distance.

Any advice? Should I ask the priest if I have to make a profession of faith to confirm my faith?

Thank you for everyone's help on what I need to put in my letter. I finally compiled it and got it on its way! Now the wait begins!

For any armenian catholics, what are the main differences with the other rites, mainly the roman and byzantine rites? Is it latinized, and if so is there a movement to reclaim your traditions?

Is the hungarian catholic church one of the more latinized churches or is it more byzantine in its liturgy and spirituality