Questions about passing on 'Eastern' status to children - 11/19/15 10:11 AM
Glory to Jesus Christ!
So after having long been considered the 'friendly Romans' in our local Byzantine Catholic communities, we were delighted to discover that my husband's mother's paternal grandfather was actually a Ruthenian Catholic.
Great grandpa, upon coming to the US, essentially practiced as Roman (there were no nearby Ruthenian churches). He married Roman, baptized the children in Roman churches, etc. Though his son (grandpa) did periodically attend DL, and there's a vague memory in some of his children of the Byzantine heritage, though those who kept the faith attend Roman parishes.
My questions:
-This heritage is only passed through the men, right? Is there any situation that my husband would have inherited Eastern Catholic status by default with an Eastern mom and a Roman dad?
-Great Grandpa (the Ruthenian) had children in the 30s, and was an illiterate laborer. Are there any chances he would have officially renounced that his children were by default Byzantine? How would we find this out? I'm assuming the baptismal records would presume Roman, as we're assuming the family simply forgot without ever officially renouncing Eastern status, but either way I'm thinking the records would look the same. In the case of ambiguity, which would we assume?
-Does my mother in law, raised Roman her whole life, have any obligation to start observing Eastern fasts and holy days?
Many thanks for bearing with me here. We've been mulling these questions over ever since our discovery and wish to defer to those more knowledgable than we are. A huge thank you for taking the time to help.
So after having long been considered the 'friendly Romans' in our local Byzantine Catholic communities, we were delighted to discover that my husband's mother's paternal grandfather was actually a Ruthenian Catholic.
Great grandpa, upon coming to the US, essentially practiced as Roman (there were no nearby Ruthenian churches). He married Roman, baptized the children in Roman churches, etc. Though his son (grandpa) did periodically attend DL, and there's a vague memory in some of his children of the Byzantine heritage, though those who kept the faith attend Roman parishes.
My questions:
-This heritage is only passed through the men, right? Is there any situation that my husband would have inherited Eastern Catholic status by default with an Eastern mom and a Roman dad?
-Great Grandpa (the Ruthenian) had children in the 30s, and was an illiterate laborer. Are there any chances he would have officially renounced that his children were by default Byzantine? How would we find this out? I'm assuming the baptismal records would presume Roman, as we're assuming the family simply forgot without ever officially renouncing Eastern status, but either way I'm thinking the records would look the same. In the case of ambiguity, which would we assume?
-Does my mother in law, raised Roman her whole life, have any obligation to start observing Eastern fasts and holy days?
Many thanks for bearing with me here. We've been mulling these questions over ever since our discovery and wish to defer to those more knowledgable than we are. A huge thank you for taking the time to help.