Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!wuarchive!psuvax1!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: kmarko@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com (Kurt Marko) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: difference in Catholicism Message-ID: Date: 21 Apr 91 04:32:01 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 36 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu [Francis Ho asked: >what is the difference between the Greek Catholic Church and the >Roman Catholic Church?? I responded that it was one of the eastern churches that are in communion with Rome (and thus distinct from the more widely known eastern Orthodox churches), but which generally follow many of the same eastern traditions as the Orthodox churches. --clh] To clarify the above. The Orthodox Church (one Church, with several Patriarchates) is certainly not `in full communion with Rome.' The Roman church was at one time part of the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, but slipped into schism, beginning about the 9th Century, and culminated in 1054. Unfortunately, the term `Catholic' has now been appropriated by the Roman church, causing some confusion. In America, Greek, or Byzantine Catholic churches are, as you mention above, Eastern Rite churches under the Roman church. They have their own Bishops, but are in `full communion' with the Pope. These uniate churches were started in Eastern Europe after the schism (13-15th Centuries) as a way for the Papacy to gain control over the Slavic regions by mimicking the `ritual' of Orthodoxy. Note that only the ritual is copied; the Eastern Rite churches share the same dogmatic and theological `innovations' as their Latin brethren. So, to address the original question...there are large `ritualistic' differences between the Roman Catholic church and its Uniate counterparts (the Byzantine, or Greek Catholic church [in America]; the Ukrainian Catholic church [in the USSR]), but they both hold to the same dogma (e.g. the filioque, Immaculate Conception, Papal Infalibility, etc.). In contrast, to the casual observer, the ritual of the uniate churches and the Orthodox church (particularly those of Slavic backgrounds; using the church Slavonic language) is quite similar; however there are large dogmatic and theological differences. Kurt Marko kmarko@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com