Q. Do you know about Eastern Catholic churches?
A. When most people think of the Catholic Church, they think of the Church that once worshiped in Latin. This Roman Rite Church is certainly the largest of the many branches of the Catholic Church. But the Catholic Church also includes other branches. All of these branches are headed by the pope, and share the same faith. Their sacraments are our sacraments, their bishops and priests are validly ordained, and their Sunday Eucharist fulfills a Roman Rite Catholic's Sunday obligation. They differ from the Roman Rite in several key aspects.
The Roman Rite developed in western and central Europe, and from there has spread throughout the world. Its liturgical language was originally Latin. Now, of course, the local language of the people (vernacular) may be used, although Latin is always permitted. In comparison to the eastern rites, the Roman Rite is simple, and direct.
The eastern rites developed in Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe. The homelands of the eastern rites stretch from Hungary to southern India, from Ukraine to Ethiopia. Most of the eastern rites are now represented in the United States, with eparchies (i.e. dioceses) and parishes. Their rites differ from one another, but one can say that in general their styles of celebrating the Liturgy are more complicated, generally longer, and have a different rhythm and pace than the Roman Rite. The liturgies of the eastern rite churches fall into five 'families' or groups based on where the liturgy's roots originated. Those groups are Byzantine (from Constantinople/Istanbul), Alexandrian (from Alexandria in Egypt); Antiochene (from Antioch in Syria), Armenian (from Armenia) and Chaldean (from Iraq). Their liturgical languages include Syriac (a variant of Aramean, the language of Jesus), Coptic (from Egypt and Ethiopia), Greek, Old Church Slavanic (used in eastern Europe), Ukranian, Romanian and others.
These are the eastern rite churches: Armenian Catholic Church, Coptic Catholic Church, Ethiopian/Eritrean Catholic Church, Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, Syrian Catholic Church, Maronite Catholic Church, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, Melkite Catholic Church, Ukranian Catholic Church, Ruthenian Catholic Church, Romanian Greek Catholic Church, Greek Catholic Church of Former Yugoslavia, Greek Byzantine Catholic Church, Bulgarian Byzantine Catholic Church, Slovak Greek Catholic Church, Italo-Albanian Greek Catholic Church, Hungarian Byzantine Catholic Church, and the Albanian Byzantine Catholic Church. Their numbers range from only a few thousand to several million.
More information about the eastern Catholic Churches can be found on the website of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, www.cnewa.org.
