Originally posted by Intrigued Latin:
Had it not been for marrying my Greek Orthodox wife (who's really of Macedonian roots) I probably would have only seen the West.
For those "cradle RC's" how can one become EC if you can't speak or understand any other language than English. Or do you all attend English Divine Liturgy ? (I know I'm generalizing here, forgive me)
Intrigued,
As a Latin Catholic presently, if you were to become an Eastern Catholic, you would be transferring your enrollment from the Roman Catholic Church to one of the 22 Eastern Catholic Churches, all of which are in communion with Rome. The process is technically described as a Request for Change of Canonical Enrollment. It's a decision that should not be lightly made, as it's intended to be a 'once in a lifetime' event; except in extraordinary circumstances, there is neither any going back nor any second change to yet another Church. It should not be undertaken without a full understanding on your part as to why you want to do so.
Language is the least of the concerns, believe it or not. As Daniel said, in the US and Canada, only the Ukrainians, at least among the Byzantines, routinely use their own tongue or an ancient liturgical language in the Divine Liturgy. You might find an isolated parish among the others, if it's one with a principally immigrant community, but they will be the exceptions.
Prior to seeking a formal change of canonical enrollment, you should plan to be involved with the Church in which you are interested for a period of time, minimally a year (some jurisdictions reportedly are requiring a 2 to 3 year period before they will consider granting a formal change). This is to assure yourself that you indeed want to make such a change and that you want to do so for the right reasons - good reasons. As I mentioned above, one should have a positive reason for wanting to do so. It shouldn't be done because one is running away from or rejecting Catholicism as it is expressed in the liturgy or spirituality of the Latin Church.
The Liturgy is often the first exposure of many Latin Catholics to the Eastern Catholic Churches and can be a major draw. Frequently, there is an intense personal and spiritual reaction to the beauty, majesty, and mystery of the Liturgy as it's served in the Eastern Churches. That is not to suggest that those same elements aren't present in the Roman Mass, but the externals (what are sometimes referred to, facetiously, as 'bells and smells') associated with the Eastern Liturgy can have a powerful effect on today's Latin Catholics, many of whom grew up in the post-Vatican II era, without any personal remembrance of such ceremony and mystery as part of their own worship service.
Once the inquiring Latin Catholic recognizes and begins to understand the purposeful spirituality behind each aspect of our liturgical celebrations, he or she will begin to better discern whether the 'draw' is simply external (an appreciation of the beauty of our worship), or also internal (that it brings a greater closeness to God). These are some of the earliest things that you will come to experience. As time passes, you will learn more about our religious traditions, our ways of prayer, our relationship with God, the Theotokos, and the Saints. You'll begin to feel whether or not they fulfill your spiritual needs and, if so, whether it is in a way or to a degree that you haven't known previously.
The period of involvement with a parish is not a hard and fast rule, but you'll find few - if any - among the clergy who will encourage you to formally seek a change of canonical enrollment without an adequate period of discernment and self-examination. And, during that time, you want to get to know the priest; he may be pivotal or, at the very least, important to the decision-making by his bishop on your petition for a change. If you still feel drawn to the East, you'd then write a letter to the bishop of your own (Latin) diocese and to the bishop of the eparchy (Eastern Catholic diocese) into which you are seeking to be accepted. You'd explain to each that you are requesting a transfer of canonical enrollment from the Latin to (whichever) Church and your reasons for doing so. Usually, such requests are favorably acted on, provided that the petitioner has presented his or her case in a way that suggests sound spiritual reasons for seeking the change.
Alternatively, there are Latin Catholics who attend and participate in Eastern Catholic parishes for years without ever formally seeking a change of canonical enrollment. For many years, that was more common than not; in recent years, I think, fewer are content to be Eastern in all but formality and many more thus seek to make their status 'official'. Although, as you�ve seen here, there are those who feel differently.
For learning more about the Eastern Catholic Churches, you've come to one of the right places -this forum. To learn about the various Particular Churches, you might want to read two threads that appeared here:
FAQ for Byzantine (& Other Eastern) Catholics and,
Rites in the Catholic Church the site of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association:
CNEWA [
cnewa.org]
an FAQ assembled by one of the regulars here:
Eastern Catholic FAQ [
east2west.org]
a Q&A column by the retiring Eparch of Newton for the Melkite Catholics in the US:
Ask Bishop John [
melkite.org]
Finally, your question about language suggests a concern that you will be or will be perceived as an "outsider" in an Eastern Catholic parish. It's a fair question and one that's been discussed here, in various contexts, any number of times. Presumably, the ethnicity associated with our Churches is one of the things that causes you to ask it.
We Eastern Catholics are a diverse group (as are the Latin Catholics who have elected to remain within their own Church but consort with us and hang out here and, likewise, our sisters and brothers of the Eastern Orthodox Churches). The ethnic and religious diversity of this forum's membership would give you an answer of sorts and, to some extent, it is a reflection of the ethno-cultural diversity that is present in many of our Churches and their parishes.
A change of canonical enrollment is not merely a change of parish, but also a whole process of inculturation, particularly given the ethnicity of our parishes. Beyond the spirituality, it's about the language, the history, the foods, and maybe even wondering whether you can be comfortable being hugged and kissed on the cheeks by another man in greeting (and whether you can be comfortable returning that greeting
- can be especially tough for we Celts, who historically have enough trouble kissing our Moms and Grandmothers).
We (our parishes) tend to be 'family', much more so (IMNSHO) than our Latin brothers and sisters. But 'family' is more than liking the pirohi, the fataya, or the lahmajun at the annual food fair weekend (and once you've learned what at least one of those are - you're ready
- don't let anybody tell you differently :p ). Anyone intending to make a change should feel certain that they feel comfortable not only with the spirituality, but with those with whom they will share and explore and develop that spirituality.
You are often entering into a community whose ties to one another stretch back generations - oftentimes to a single village in the Levant, Trans-Carpathia, Ukraine, or elsewhere. Very honestly, Eastern Catholic parishes are either very welcoming to newcomers among us or incredibly closed - there seems to be no in-between. (And we need, so very badly, to be welcoming - 30+ years ago my then-Exarch, Archbishop Joseph, of blessed memory, warned that the seemingly conflicting dangers to our continued existence were assimilation and a ghetto mentality. The truth of that statement has not changed.)
You will hear folks say that certain Eastern Churches are less inviting than others to those who come to them from "outside"; I won't ascribe that to any particular Church(es); even though I think there is some truth to the generalization, all still turns on the individual parish. (Case in point, my own Church's parishes have historically been noted as particularly open to newcomers, regardless of ethnicity, etc. Yet, not long ago, someone posted here about feeling very much the outsider at one of our parishes - so much so that they left eventually.) During your year of attending prior to your request for a change, test your status; become involved in parish activities, see if you are accepted in doing so. (My gut feeling, your desire to be involved will enhance the likelihood that you won't be treated as an outsider; every parish has more than enough folks who appear for Liturgy and never otherwise. They are outsiders, by design or not, because they make themselves such.)
As I have said here before, I had the good fortune, almost 40 years ago, to wander into a Melkite community who were wonderfully welcoming to a redheaded Irish kid. I have less hair now and it's not as red;
as to language, my appreciation of Arabic foods far outstrips my command of the language, which is pretty much limited to that useful at the food fair weekend; I enjoy huflis, but will never learn to dubke; but, I feel no less accepted or welcomed than I did way back when.
Changes occur over time, priests come and go - it's no different than any other religious experience in any denomination - some inspire us, others aggravate us. We have to be in it, like the stock market, for the long run.
This post is overly long; hopefully, some of it will be useful to you. I'd suggest that, if there is more than one Eastern Catholic parish near you, visit each several times, before you settle on one in which to pursue your future spiritual life.
I wish you well in your quest to make whatever changes you need for your spiritual well-being.
Many years,
Neil
), including a few who are old enough :rolleyes: to remember when the Tridentine Mass was the only Mass served in the Latin Church. (I have in mind 3 gentlemen here, besides myself, who will celebrate birthdays a couple years short of 60 this year - you know who you are 
