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Are you changing from Latin to Melkite or Melkite to Latin?

Has anyone personally made the change from Latin to Eastern or Eastern to Latin?

+1

This post made me chuckle, thanks!

AC,

That's actually an interesting question, if only because there are *many* canonical ECs who have been functioning as RCs for 2 or more generations, with most of them completely unaware of the situation.

For that reason, when you hear of someone making a canonical "change of ritual church," it is nearly always from Latin to Eastern (as I did in 1999 ).


Peace,
Deacon Richard

ABI?

I mean that what Stuart described isn't too relevant to us today. He described the way things were before Archbishop Ireland -- or more precisely, before 1893:
- http://www.cin.org/clash7.html
Things changed pretty significantly after that.

Dear Stuart,

So I guess it's the Ukrainian Catholic Church for me still then . . .

Why am I not ecstatic about that . . .

One day all us EC's will be legitimate "Orthodox in communion with Rome" (when both East and West reunite).

Have a great day, most learned sir!

Alex

If you belong to the Ukrainian Catholic Church, the argument might be made that this would never be a problem.

You'd have the best of both worlds simultaneously!

The thing is, even our Orthodox counterparts have Latinizations (e.g. Passia readings, the May devotion etc.).

I guess Ukrainians have a Latin predisposition within them . . .

Salve!

Alex

And you sir, are welcome too!

We need people who like to chuckle now and then!

Well, I'm looking into a process like this one from the Latin tradition to the Ruthenian Byzantine tradition myself (all in all, the Ruthenian Church is probably the easiest of the Eastern Catholic Churches for a Roman/Latin Rite to join, imo). But the process is perhaps very similar in any Eastern Catholic Church, Ruthenian, Ukrainian, Melkite, Romanian, Greek, Russian, etc... It takes face-to-face meetings with bishops on both ends, potentially, writing a letter to the Vatican stating that you wish to leave the Roman tradition, and be recognized in the Eastern tradition of your choice, and to make that canonical change. It's a process, but I'm sure you will feel welcome with that change. I'm trying to think of the process. I've yet to go through it myself, but...it should be pretty easy.

When I changed canonically from Roman to (Ruthenian) Byzantine, I was not required to meet with any bishop nor to write any letters to Rome. I was in the Phoenix eparchy at the time, and as I posted earlier in this thread, it was simply a matter of writing a letter stating why I wanted to change, sending that letter to the Byzantine Tribunal along with a letter from my Byzantine pastor supporting the change, and a $50 check. The acting Byzantine hierarch at the time (as I recall, we were between bishops) approved it. It was then sent to the Roman bishop, who approved it, and he then sent it back to the Byzantine Tribunal. It then came to my parish and was signed and witnessed. A copy of that was sent back to the tribunal, and another copy to the church where I was baptized, and they recorded it on my baptismal certificate and sent me a copy.

It required no face-to-face meetings, no questioning, no contact with Rome. (One of the documents I received states that the consent of Rome is presumed when the 2 bishops both consent). Neither of the hierarchs had ever met or spoken to me, and I had never been a practicing Roman in the diocese where I was living when I requested the change. It was actually all rather impersonal, and I got the sense it was pretty much a rubber-stamp situation, at least in my case.

I think the whole situation the way it's set up is rather silly, but since that's the way it's set up, I did what I had to so that I could be officially Byzantine, which is what I wanted. I am very glad that I did, and it has meant a lot to me, as I never felt at home in the Roman Church, not even as a child.

My pastor had some kind of parish handbook that explained the process and detailed all the steps and exactly what you had to do. I would suggest checking with your parish priest, to see if he has the same.

My process did get delayed, but that was only because the Roman bishop's office temporarily lost my paperwork. A telephone call to them from both myself and the Tribunal got them looking for it. They found it, apologized profusely for the delay, and got the bishop to sign it the same day.

First, I want to thank everyone for your responses. They have helped me in one way or another.

Now for my post:

At the risk of being boo'd off stage by purists, of which I can be one at times, I have habitually attended the Melkite church on Sundays and evening services initially out of curiosity. A friend invited me to the Liturgy. I have continued to go because it taps into the missing part of my Catholicism. Learning more about the East has helped me appreciate the Catholic Church so much more.

I have continued to attend Roman Catholic Masses during the week and on some Sundays. The Melkite Church I attend does not have a regularly scheduled Daily Mass. Also, it is a distance from my house and not always conducive to my schedule.

Anyhow, the two Rites have exposed me to a much richer Catholicism and I appreciate each of them very much. I am aware of the concept of not spreading your faith too thin and instead, going deep with one. But, for me, I am not the PhD type of candidate. I tend to be more of a Bachelors Degree, maybe Master's, type student and learner, so for the time being, balancing both has worked well.

There are times when I feel drawn to making a full commitment to the Melkite church, but even then, I know I will be attending Roman Catholic Masses out of convenience and availability. So will I gain anything?

I also am pulled in both directions when it comes to tithing. At regular Masses/Liturgies, I donate wherever I happen to be celebrating that week. But then there are the Bishop Appeals from both churches. I have donated to the Melkite effort in the past couple years, but I do wonder about my obligation to the Roman Catholic Rite.

And then there is a person in the Melkite church I attend who is Roman Catholic, has been for 20+ years, and is even an acolyte in the Melkite church.... And I think maybe I shouldn't worry about it too much.

Ok, that's my spiel. Comments welcome.

I have made the change from Latin to Melkite. I am now a subdeacon in the Melkite tradition. I am still quite involved with the Latin Church to some extent, and if anything, I bring an Eastern perspective to the theological classes that I undertake at the local Catholic theological college.

Hi,

I would like to share my story. I am a Roman Catholic living in Indonesia where Eastern Catholicism is something "new" to Indonesians. For ages most of people here will relate Christianity with Western (through the colonization of some western countries). And the last decade, the Eastern Orthodoxy was introduced to Indonesians, and since then they grow fast. Indonesians now realize that Christianity has also Eastern tradition. In last few years, Indonesians (with focus on Christians) have been introduced of Eastern Catholicism. More and more Indonesians know about Eastern Catholicism and hope that someday there will be Eastern Catholic parishes here in Indonesia.

Back to my story. I am interested to go through Canon switch from Roman Catholic to Eastern Catholic. For these 3 years, I attend the Holy Mass in a Roman Catholic parish to receive the holy communion every Saturday afternoon, and attend the Divine Liturgy in an EO parish every Sunday morning as possible as I can (unless I have not attended Catholic liturgy and have not received holy communion; in that case I will skip the Divine Liturgy, to fulfill the so called “obligation”). And then come a time that I submitted my petition letter(s) starting 2 years ago. Since I have no idea how to do it, then I sent it to EC bishops. And finally, at the end of 2012, I submitted the petition to the papal congregation for the Oriental Churches (because no EC parish yet here).

The process took time quite fast. Feb2013, the papal congregation for the Oriental Churches required the Apostolic Nuncio to contact me in purpose of having an interview with him regarding the petition. I went through the interview, and I submitted my file (autobiography of myself, completed with supporting documents). He sent those files and his recommendation as the result of the interview to the Congregation.

May 2013, I received their info requiring me to have another meeting to inform me the decision of the Congregation regarding my case. They informed me that the Congregation saw the current circumstances in Indonesia for the time being is still “conducive” for me to be an EC although there has been (or have been) Melkite(s) in Indonesia. Therefore, the Congregation decided to delay the approval until the circumstance change. They require me to contact the bishop of the ECC to convince that the ECC have commitment to establish/to include Indonesia in their canonical territory. Meanwhile, they are ok with the idea that ECC priest may come for private visitation to Indonesia (it is to avoid complicated “correspondence” with the Latin Church in Indonesia) to make gathering or any else activity for the private group/person.

For the time being, I found the Canonical Switch not to be something challenging, rather than convincing an ECC to start missionary ministry in Indonesia. Actually, what it could be done as the preliminary is not hard. We just hope that a priest (from Australia) would like to come to Indonesia, as the beginning phase, like once a year. And by time, during the visits, we may see whether a community may set up and develop.

Rgds,