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Dear all. Could anyone tell me if there is an Eastern Catholic (Greek Catholic) group, family or individual in the Philippines please? I would like to contact them and attend their Liturgy. I've been studying the Byzantine or Eastern Rite Catholics for some time now. Thank you very much in advance.

Cristiano,

There is, afaik, no organized presence there, unless it is of very recent origin. Currently, our brother, asianpilgrim, is likely the most definitive source on the question.

Another of our Filipino brethren, eumir, who had not been heard from in about 3 years (but whom I am delighted to have just discovered had posted earlier this month) is presently studying at the Sheptytsky Institute.

Many years,

Neil

My parish priest went to the Phillipines for 2 weeks last January on a social work meet and they did ask him to set up a Melkite mission there. Updates are unknown of at the moment but let us pray.

Kabayan:

There is a new group which calls itself the "Eastern Catholic Church Metropolitan See of the Philippines and all Asia" and celebrates the "Syrian Chaldean Rite." The group has a "Bishop" and a number of priests.

I am unsure whether this group is really Eastern Catholic. So, can you check them out for us?

They operate "St. Vincent Seminary" in Tandang Sora, Quezon City. The address of the "Chancellor" (no telephone number provided) is at:

# 2 Upper Banlat Road
NGO Compund
Tandang Sora, Q.C.

I had a friend (and a client) way back in the 70s who was a Maronite Catholic from Lebanon and married a Filipino Latin Rite Catholic. I have lost contact in the late 80s when my family immigrated to Chicago.

Caloy/asianpilgrim might be of help as Neil/Irish Melkite has suggested.

Amado

Amado, my brother,

I can guarantee you that group is not EC. It seems to me that we just recently spoke about it, although I can't put my finger on the thread. Just the fact that it's styling itself a Metropolitan See is enough of a clue to set off my alarm bells.

Many years,

Neil

Thank you very much Irish Melkite, Collin Nunis and Kabayang Amadeus for your immediate responses.

Irish Melkite, is Eumir studying for the priesthood? Is the Sheptytsky Institute a Byzantine or Greek Catholic Seminary? I already tried to send Asianpilgrim a PM days ago but his PM inbox is currently disabled.


Amadeus, I believe Irish Melkite is right when he said that the group in Tandang Sora is most likely not genuine Eastern Catholics. I saw a website sometime ago about Filipino Syro-Chaldean monks at Multiply.com and I guess the one in Tandang Sora is from the same group.

Collin Nunis, what are the requirements for starting a Melkite or any Eastern Catholic Mission? I mean, how many persons should be? Do we need to write the Cardinal of the Archdiocese of Manila to allow an Eastern Catholic Mission in the Philippines? What must we do to help establish an Eastern Catholic Mission? I'm very much willing to help.

Kabayan:

I don't know if you want to attend the Divine Liturgy offered by our Orthodox brethren at their Anunciation Orthodox Cathedral in Paranaque.

I think this is the only Eastern Church that offers the Byzantine liturgy in Metro Manila. They are canonical as they are under the omophorion of the EP, via the Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. The late Cardinal Sin of Manila attended the dedication of the Church in 2000.

You would be able, I hope, to observe how they were able to set up the parish and to recruit Filipinos into their fold.

The address and contact numbers:

The Annunciation Orthodox Cathedral
#36 Filipinas Avenue, United Paranaque Subdivision 5,
Sucat, Paranaque City, Metro Manila
Telefax: +632.829.3025
E-mail: orthodox_manila@yahoo.com
Priest: Very Rev Nikitas Mellios, Fr. Panharios Borreros
Deacon: Fr.James Doronella

The only difference (or one of the differences) from an Eastern/Greek Catholic Divine Liturgy would be their commemoration of the EP instead of the Pope.

Amado

Thanks Kabayan. I am a Roman Catholic and I would like to attend a Liturgy where me and my family (who are all Catholics) can fully participate, this we can do only in the Eastern Catholic Church.

I just "googled" Sheptysky Institute and this is what I got:

"Sheptytsky Institute, a Ukrainian Catholic student residence, is located across the street from the U of S Campus and near St. Thomas More College. The Institute is a co-ed student residence for students pursuing post-secondary training and education."

Url link:
SHEPTYTSKY INSTITUTE [sheps.ca]

I wish Fr Serge would answer this. He might have some good ideas.

First of all I guess you might try to find out if there are some Eastern Catholics living in your area and whether they are interested in starting a mission. If there are no Eastern Catholics locally and you want to start from scratch, I think it will be more difficult, because your local bishop may not think there is a need for a mission if there are no Eastern Catholics. But if you still want to go ahead, it seems to me that at a minimum you need:

• a committed group of local Catholic faithful who are interested in an Eastern Catholic mission,
• the help of your local Filipino Catholic bishop, because the bishop is responsible for the liturgy in his diocese, and he is also responsible for providing for the pastoral needs of his flock,
• the help of an Eastern Catholic bishop who could lend you a priest, and not least
• lots of patience and perseverance, and the ability to show that your group is really serious about this.

In Australia there are a number of Eastern Catholic bishops and eparchies:

• The Maronite Eparchy
• The Melkite Greek-Catholic Eparchy
• The Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Eparchy
• The Chaldean Eparchy [acbc.catholic.org.au]

In India there are two large and important Eastern Catholic Churches:

• The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church [smcim.org]
• The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church [catholicate.net]

These two Indian Churches are blessed with a lot of vocations.

But again I think it would be interesting to hear from Fr Serge about this!

St. Vincent's Seminary along Tandang Sora is run by the Vincentian Fathers, a Roman Catholic religious congregation.

In my comments on the thread about the Antiochenes in the Philippines, I referred to a strange and slipshod group that has an inculturated Qurbono, married bishops, etc. and the "Eastern Catholic Church Metropolitan See of the Philippines and all Asia" (also known as "Eastern Catholic Church, Inc.") is precisely THAT church. I visited their headquarters some time ago... in fact, I think I'll pay them another visit just to see what they are up to now. (I live in Tandang Sora).

The Catholic Directory of the Philippines for 2008-2009 is on my lap right now and I can assure you that it makes no references to ANY Eastern Catholic communities in the Philippines. However, I have a friend (now based in Bataan province) who was born Greek Orthodox and who became Catholicism in his early teens. By necessity he attends the local Roman Catholic parishes but he tries to observe all the fasts of the Orthodox Church. And my spiritual director is a French Jesuit who worked with the Greek Catholics in Romania in the 1990's, and who still has Byzantine faculties.

I hear of occasional Divine Liturgies being celebrated in the Jesuit Residence in Loyola Heights by visiting Jesuits from Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

The late Monsignor Moises Andrade occasionally celebrated the Byzantine Divine Liturgy in the Benedictine Abbey of San Beda in Manila, where the Philippines' Liturgical Institute is located. However, the liturgies were not open to the general public. Eternal memory!

I hope that a Melkite or Ukrainian mission could be set up in the Philippines. It is time for Filipino Catholics to realize that Catholicism is not just made up of charismatic prayer meetings and chatty Novus Ordo Masses.

"who became Catholicism..."

who became Catholic.

It is? I'll check. Try sending me the PM again.

Not all who became Orthodox are aligned with aformentioned "Eastern" group. Some, like former Evangelical Bishop Jeptah Aniceto, are precisely evangelicals from a Methodist-based group.

Cristiano,

Back in 2006, Eumir enrolled to pursue a Bachelor's in Theology degree in the Eastern Christian Studies program at Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute. Although he hadn't posted in a few years, I believe he still reads the boards and, as I mentioned, I was delighted to see that he had posted earlier this month.

Feel free to PM him (eumir is his user name) with whatever questions you might have. Like yourself, I believe his interest in Eastern Catholicism was sparked in part by participating here (and, as a matter of fact, I think he may have asked some of the same kinds of questions).

Btw, try this link for the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute [ustpaul.ca]. The one you retrieved was a residence facility.

Many years,

Neil