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Eastern Catholic Churches

The Eastern Catholic Churches Churches are churches that follow the ancient liturgical traditions of the East, while being in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church and placing themselves under the ultimate authority of the Bishop of Rome. Some of these churches, like the Orthodox Church, follow the Byzantine tradition, while others follow other liturgical traditions. The history of each Eastern Rite Catholic church is unique, some having sided with Rome at the time of the Great Schism and some being joined to Rome after that time. They are sometimes referred to as Uniates, a term which many Eastern Catholics reject as derogatory.

Many of these churches have a direct non-Catholic (usually Orthodox or Oriental) counterpart. Others exist only within the Catholic Communion.

List of Eastern Catholic Churches

Byzantine Rite (also Greek Catholic) Churches

  • Albanian Catholic Church (Latin rite hierarchy)
  • Greek Catholic Church
  • Belarusan Catholic Church (Latin rite hierarchy)
  • Bulgarian Catholic Church
  • Byzantine-Ruthenian Catholic Church
  • Byzantine Catholics of Former Yugoslavia
  • Georgian Catholic Church (Latin rite hierarchy)
  • Hungarian Catholic Church
  • Italo-Albanian Catholic Church
  • Melkite Greek Catholic Church
  • Romanian Catholic Church
  • Russian Catholic Church (Latin rite hierarchy)
  • Slovak Catholic Church
  • Ukrainian Catholic Church

Non-Byzantine Eastern Rite Catholic Churches

  • Armenian Catholic Church
  • Chaldean Catholic Church
  • Coptic Catholic Church (official Web site)
  • Ethiopian Catholic Church
  • Maronite Catholic Church
  • Syrian Catholic Church
  • Syro-Malabar Church
  • Syro-Malankara Catholic Church

History

Second Council of Lyons (1274)

Council of Ferrara-Florence (1439)

Union of Brest (1596)

Orientalium Ecclesiarum (Vatican II)

Eastern Catholic Theology

Relationships with the Orthodox Churches

Eastern Catholic Churches with Counterparts in Non-Catholic Churches

The following Eastern Rite Catholic Churches have "counterparts" in the Orthodox Communion. The counterpart is listed in parenthesis.

The following Eastern Rite Catholic Churches have "counterparts" in the Oriental Orthodox Churches. The counterpart is listed in parenthesis.

  • Armenian Catholic Church (Church of Armenia)
  • Chaldean Catholic Church (Assyrian Church of the East)
  • Coptic Catholic Church (Coptic Church)
  • Ethiopian Catholic Church
  • Maronite Catholic Church
  • Syrian Catholic Church (Church of Syria)
  • Syro-Malankara Catholic Church (Malankara Orthodox Church)

The following Eastern Catholic Churches have no counterpart either among the Chalcedonian Orthodox or the Oriental Orthodox.

  • Maronite Catholic Church
  • Syro Malabar Church
  • Italo-Albanian Catholic Church

For More Information

  • Against False Union by Alexandre A. Kalomiros (ISBN 0913026700)
  • American Eastern Catholics by Fred J. Saato (ISBN 0-8091-4378-X)
  • The Byzantine Rite: A Short History by Robert Taft (ISBN 0814621635)
  • Eastern Catholics in the United States of America by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (ISBN 1574552872)
  • The Eastern Catholic Churches: An Introduction to Their Worship and Spirituality by Joan L. Roccasalvo (ISBN 0814620477)
  • The Other Catholics: Obedient and Faithful by Joseph Bonchonsky (ASIN B0006OZUJQ)

External links