www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Hello!

Hello everyone,

I didn't see an introduction forum, so I thought I'd say hello here.

To briefly tell you about myself: I'm a 35 year old American male currently living in Hanoi, Vietnam. I've been married for 10 months and we have a month old daughter (yes, fast movers!). We will probably live in Hanoi for a couple more years and then move to my wife's home country of the Philippines.

I entered the Roman Catholic Church in 2009 and was so in love with my Church for the first couple of years. But when I noticed "novelties" with the Mass (people other than priests giving the homily, themed Masses etc.), I started doing some research into why these things were happening. That's when I went "to the dark side" by going completely traditional. I even attended Mass at independent parishes.

I've kind of grown weary of things that the RC Church is doing, but I recognize the importance of maintaining unity with the Pope. So that's how my travels have now brought me "East." For a while I even thought about going Orthodox, but I thought it would be best to research the Eastern Catholic Churches first.

So that's why I'm here. I know I sound a bit spoiled and reactive, but I just want to do the right thing.

The only obstacles that I have (that I can think of at the moment) is that my wife is a progressive Catholic. For example, she would rather attend the Protestant services here than the one English speaking Mass we have. Part of it has to do with "the rules" of the Church, but she also has a difficult time understanding the English-speaking Vietnamese priest. We've talked about conversion to the Orthodox Church before; she's loosened up a lot lately. So I'm hoping that checking into an Eastern Catholic Church is a happy medium.

Anyways, I'm rambling. I look forward to learning from all of you.

Moo,

Welcome to the forum!

Feel free to ask any questions that come to your mind.

Many years,

Neil

Glory to Jesus Christ!

It's great to be a part of this community. I appreciated Moo's introduction and find myself in agreement with what he posted. I am a married female raised Lutheran in a family of Lutherans and Roman Catholics. In 1997 I entered the Roman Catholic Church, my dad's tradition. My husband was raised Roman Catholic but is not active in the RC.

Over the years I began to become uncomfortable with the "niche" liturgies and other innovations I experienced in the RC which, it seemed to me, did not foster a sense of catholicity or unity. Because of the Catholic links in my wider family and my appreciation of the unifying factor of the papacy I ultimately began to consider Eastern Catholicism. I was never really comfortable with Roman Catholic scholasticism and the concept of theosis, as well as the healing approach to the sacraments in the East, was very attractive.

Happily, the beauty of the Divine Liturgy and Eastern tradition led to my membership in a Byzantine Ruthenian parish this September.

I have found my true spiritual home!

Glory be to Him forever and ever!!

Krystyna:

Welcome to the forum. Please take the time to read "Who We Are" in this section. We have members from across the spectrum of Christianity from Orthodox and Eastern Catholics to Latins, Anglicans, Lutherans, and other Protestants. We hope you will feel welcome to contribute.

Bob
Moderator

Krystyna,

Let me echo Bob's welcome to you (and remind myself that it's probably about time that I draft a bit of an update to the 'Who We Are' thread, since the spectrum to which Bob refers has becme even broader in the years since it was written).

We're delighted to have you here!

Many years,

Neil