www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Drawn towards the Greek Catholic Church

I am hoping someone can help. Hello! I am looking to become a Byzantine Catholic. I am currently a practicing Roman Catholic , but am drawn to the Eastern Rite (Ukranian and Greek). I would love to join a parish in Utah, but we do not have one. We have a Maronite parish but I am not drawn there. Is there anyway one can become an Eastern (Ukranian) Catholic but live remotely and fullfill my obligation on Sunday at a Roman Catholic Parish? For a time in my past I left the Roman Catholic Church and Converted to Greek Orthodoxy, but after reflection I felt unity to the Pope was essential to the faith. Any help or spiritual advice would be greatly appreciated. God Bless!

I am Byzantine Catholic, (Ruthenian specifically) I live 200 miles from the nearest Byzantine Catholic parish. My advice to you would be to not seek a transfer to another sui juris Catholic Church until you have the capability to attend one on even a remotely basis.

My wife and I are both Ruthenians, but we moved to this area and put ourselves in our present situation. We are trying to at least get a regular celebration of the Divine Liturgy in our area. Maybe you could spark enough interest to have a Byzantine Divine Liturgy in Utah? You would not have to switch churches initially, but it could deveop into that.

In the meantime you could attend an Orthodox Church for Vespers Saturday night to maintain an Eastern prayer life and a Roman Catholic Church on Sunday to keep your obligation. This is what we do the weeks we do not have a BC Divine Liturgy to attend.

Peace

Josephat,

Welcome, I have been where you are. My wife and I were RC and we transferred our rite to the Ukrainian Rite in 1977 when we were living in the Toledo, Ohio area. We are originally from Northeastern PA, a real hot bed of both Byzantine rite and Orthodox parishes. We were going to make the move when we lived in PA, I took a job in Toledo in 1973. When our first child was about to be born, we joined St. Michael's Ukrainian Church in Rossford, OH. Fr. Paul Guthrie, OFM was the pastor and he baptised and chrismated each of our three children; he has remained a close friend throughout the many years. As life happens, we moved to Idaho in 1992. There are no Ukrainian or Ruthenian churches in Idaho. The closest is in Spokane, WA about eleven hours by car.

We cherish our Eastern Catholic religion, and are very disappointed that we cannot attend liturgy regularly. There are substitutions, but they just don't cut it. We can listen to Divine Liturgy on Ancient faith radio, and I am searching for a good Slavic Byzantine DVD with the Divine Liturgy so we can atleast watch it on Sunday mornings. There is another alternative, that is to travel to Butte, MT and attend Liturgy at the Serbian Orthodox Church in Butte. There are no real good alternatives other than to move. I don't want to do that till my wife retires from her job, then we will consider it. Two of our children live in Phoenix, there are several Byzantuine rite and Orthodox churches in the area. When we visit, we get to attend liturgy. We literally live in the desert both physically and spiritually.

Don't give up on your quest, it is worth it. Don't be afraid to attend liturgy at an Orthodox parish if that is all that is available to you. I consider myself Orthodox in communion with the Pope. Peruse the Byzantine Rite and Orthodox Websites, learn what you can. There are clips and even complete liturgies on some parish websites and You Tube. Keep searching and learning. We will keep you in our prayers. Take care and keep searching and praying, you'll find it.

Josaphat,

Good luck and God bless.

This isn't a direct answer to the question, but I'd say to pray for the unity of the apostolic churches, which aside from the intrinsic goodness of it, would also give us all a lot more places to attend liturgy.

Booth,
Infrequent poster

but surely the large majority of Orthodox Churches follow the Byzantine liturgical tradition?

Fr. Serge

Father Serge:

Father bless!!

He hasn't gotten that memo yet. He also missed the one that says we refere to our Eastern Catholic Churches by that name and not refer to them as "rites."

Asking for your blessing and continued holy prayers,

BOB

Beggin your pardon guys, I took a little poetic license.

I realize that Northeastern PA is a hotbed of BYZANTINE 'Rite' and that the Orthodox follow the Byzantine Rites, Rituals and traditions as do the Byzantine Catholics.

I stand corrected.

Bob,

He only has 3 posts. Maybe he's not a Byzantine scholar, but rather came here to learn. We all started somewhere - cut him a break.

Alexis

Please don't mind me. I'm still recovering from the time about 12 years ago when I was at some conference in Greater Boston (at Holy Cross in Brookline, actually) which included Saturday evening Vespers and a nice reception at Annunciation Greek-Catholic Cathedral. A pleasant young man - who turned out to be Greek Orthodox - expressed his enjoyment of the service, saying that he had never been to an "Eastern Rite" service previously. When I asked him if they didn't have "Eastern Rite" services in his church he was nonplussed, paused, and then said that he had never thought of it that way.

Fr. Serge

Maybe, you'll never recover from my faux pas. I was attempting to recount my journey in very general terms for Josephat. I sincerely hope that his journey takes him where he both needs and wants to be. I did not expect that my post would be parsed is such a way that the definition of is, is.

Thanks to Alexis for coming to my assistance. I can stand up for myself. The last thing I need is to have my unintentional inaccuracies rammed down my throat. I do not shy away from controversy, nor will I grovel. That being said, maybe, this is a place that I do not need to be. Thanks for the light.

Please give my regards to Fr. Dave Logan when you next contact him.

I'm not sure exactly what sort of posture is involved in grovelling, but I suspect that my arthritis precludes it - I can't even make prostrations. So if you feel an impulse to grovel, please do not do so in my direction!

Unfortunately, Father Dave Logan and I have not been in touch for nearly twenty years - I've tried unsuccessfully to locate him.

Fr. Serge

Thank you so much for your response and I am still seeking out the possibilities of joining an Eastern Church. Please continue to pray for me and I will pray for you as well. May God Bless you!

Cbpotel,

I'm certain that neither Bob nor Father Serge meant to come across uncharitably. In fact, being acquainted with both for a long time here, I know it. We do get a bit sensitive at times about Rite versus Church, because it is a distinction for which we fought long and hard - and is still one that is misunderstood, ignored, or denigrated by many.

That said, your post might have evoked a bit more commentary because it came from one who described himself as a Ukrainian Catholic of some 30 years. Most - if not all - of us, from time to time, type something which could have been worded better or more precisely and as many of us offer comments that can be read as light or to which offense can be taken. Those things happen because we are human and because this medium lacks the nuance of face-to-face conversation accompanied by facial expressions, body language, and other clues to what we mean and how we mean it.

That, after 2 years of membership without a post, you took the time to post on this thread and another in which a poster was struggling with family-church issues, and offer valuable insights to another member speaks well of you. Don't let a few words keep you from continuing here and contributing.

Many years,

Neil

Neil,

Thank you for your kind words. Unfortunately, because of where we live, we are able to attend Divine Liturgy at best once a year. We live smack in the middle of Mormon country in Idaho. There are two RC churches in town, one has no masses. The last time we attended the Novus Ordo, the Apostles Creed was used instead of the Constantinoplian (SP)Nicene Creed. I have not been back since. I spent the better part of the past year working in Galveston Texas area and had the good fortune to attend Divine Liturgy at a Serbian Orthodox Church. It was very refreshing to attend and participate.

For many of the thirty plus years we have been members of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, we have been wandering in the desert. We originally joined St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Rossford, Ohio. Fr. Paul Guthrie ofm received us into the Byzantine Rite in 1977. We were loyal church members for many years. In the middle 1980s there were several incidents that caused a deep splintering of the parish community. There were allegations of financial irregularities with the operation of the parish hall. It was alleged that the parishoners who operated the hall never returned funds to the parish coffers. Subsequently, the pastor was driven out by the parish committee with the acquiescence of the bishop. We were close friends of the pastor, when he left, we left as well. At that time we should have joined the local Ruthenian parish, but we did not, we were pretty turned off at that time because of the atmosphere of hate that prevailed.

Well, many years later we are living the unfortunate consequences of that decision.

There is nothing so beautiful as the Divine Liturgy, when I am so fortunate to be able to attend I am awe struck as if it was my first Divine Liturgy. Maybe you can understand, why I may have misused some of my terms. When we finally pull the plug and retire, we will relocate to an area where we can attend and participate in the community of a Byzantine Rite or an Orthodox parish.

Again, thank you for your kind words, please keep my family and I in your prayers.

May you have many more years,

Clem