Eastern Catholic Churches
The Eastern Catholic Churches are 23 self-governing bodies that are in full communion with the Pope. Together with the Roman Catholic Church, they make up the entire Catholic Church. There are five rites that belong to these churches, which include the Byzantine, Armenian, Alexandrian, West Syriac/Antiochian, and East Syriac/Chaldean rites. Since they are in full communion, Roman Catholics may take communion from parishes of these churches. Many of them are Catholic counterparts of the churches from the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, and the Assyrian Church of the East. Exceptions are the Marionite Catholic Church, Italo-Albanian Catholic Church, Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, and the Hungarian Greek Catholic Church. [1]
History
List of Churches
Byzantine Rite
- Ukrainian Catholic Church
- Greek Catholic Church
- Melkite Greek Catholic Church
- Ruthenian Catholic Church
- Russian Catholic Church
- Italo-Albian Catholic Church
- Slovak Catholic Church
- Belorussian Catholic Church
- Bulgarian Catholic Church
- Romanian Catholic Church
- Hungarian Greek Catholic Church
- Macedonian Greek Catholic Church
- Byzantine Church of Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro
- Albanian Catholic Church
Armenian Rite
Alexandrian Rite
West Syriac Rite
East Syriac Rite
Criticism and Counter-Apologetics
Priests, specifically Byzantine rite ones may marry before they are ordained; however, they may not marry if they are already ordained. [2]
Just because many of these churches came from schismatic churches or sects of Christianity does not mean the Catholic Church is the one true church or the original sect of Christianity.
Syro-Malabar Christians are disagreeing about certain aspects of their own liturgy [3]
References