www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Proposal for Move Towards Byzantine Catholic Unity in North America

Darn right, djs.

"You've got 'em, we'll assimilate 'em!"

Dear Lemko,

Yes, assimilation is just what they are afraid of, I am afraid . . .

I remember what happened the first time someone tried to "rename" one of our Churches as "Byzantine" only.

Letters to the local Ukie paper poured in and one person said, "It's a sin! I want to curse, but then that would be a sin too, wouldn't it?"

Better still, how's about we take youz guyz down there into our fold.

Your Slavic language skills would improve and you might derive other benefits, who knows?

Alex

Slava Jesu Kristu,

I wouldn't mind joining the UGCC. I guess.... :p

I will be heading for a trip on Sep. 17th and will in week after that be in Quebec visiting some people. Are there any Byzantine Catholic churches there, Quebec City and Montreal? Are there other Eastern Catholic churches in these cities or other parts of Quebec?

Hi Big John! Roman from Montreal here.
There are one or two Slovak Catholic parishes in Montreal as well as 6 Ukrainian Catholic ones. A seventh was ceded to the Romanian Catholics a few years ago (Ville Emard).
You can find a Melkite Church here, too, and probably an Armenian Catholic Church as well.

I do not know of any Eastern Catholic Churches in Quebec City, but I believe that the parish in Val d'Or is the only Ukr. Catholic parish outside of the island of Montreal in Quebec.

While I'm at it: could someone please either provide a brief history of the Slovak Catholic Church, or point me towards one? Thanks in advance!

Hello Roman,
Are you referring to the Slovak Byzantine/Greek Catholic Church? If so, then its history is that of the Ruthenian Catholic Church. In fact, there was no such thing as the "Slovak [Byzantine] Catholic Church" (except for the Eparchy in Toronto) until the late 1980s when the Annuario Pontificio first designated the Eparchy of Presov as "ecclesia slovacca". Until that time, the Eparchy of Presov was always called a Ruthenian (i.e., Rusyn) jurisdiction.

Big John of Anchorage:

In Montreal the Romanian Exarchate of Byzantine Catholics has a parish, the Church of the Transfiguration (Schimbarea la Fatza)

http://www3.sympatico.ca/radu.roscanu/parostr.htm

Exarch Radu Roscanu, protopop mitrofor, stavrofor.

radu.roscanu@sympatico.ca

About the byzantine unity, I hope it's not like the process of orthodox unity in this Continent, specially when some people want a Patriarchate in the USA for all (including Mexicans, Quebecois, Canadians and all the ethnic communities). I would be shaking.

Hello, and thanks for your reply.
I know two people who claim to be Slovak and who both worship in Eastern Catholic Churches.
Here in Montreal, Otets Ivan Havryluk was the priest at a local Church for a long time to which he referred to as 'Slovak', so I adopted the apparently erroneous belief that there was a segment of 'true blue' Slovaks who were Eastern rite historically. It is the history of such Slovaks that I was asking about. Having read Fr. R.Robertson's brief history of 'The Slovak Catholic Church', I am now under the impression that the great majority of its members are 'Rusyns', which is what your reply said.

BTW: Further to Big John's query, I omitted to mention the apparently large presence of the Maronites in Montreal.

Thank you Roman of Montreal for your response regarding the Byzantine churches in Montreal. This is really interestng to be learning from other people as I learn how to use the computer. All the responses are really special. I'm also learning things I've known before about Byzantine Catholic and others. I'll be gone from this computer from Sep 17-Oct.13. God Bless you,ALL.

I think we should look at reuniting the US Slavic Greek Catholics first (we were in the beginning under Bishop Ortynsky) and let the Canadians take care of their own reunification.

I don't think the Canadian Slovak eparchy will be interested in hooking up with the Yanks. The jurisdictional difference is not as pronounced in Canada between the Ukrainians and Slovaks as it is in the US.

Bishop Isidore Borecky has provided the Slovaks with priests and has even ordained some men specifically for them. Some of the Redemptorists serving the Slovak parishes were formed in Yorkton and other Ukrainian Catholic Redemptorist houses. They may actually be able to show us a thing or two in the US on how we can foster a closer relationship between Ukrainian and Byzantine Catholic hierarchies.

All this unity stuff! Geez. I just don't get it. The eastern churches have always said the liturgy in the vernacular. So if you move from when slavonic is no longer the native tongue, then the native language should be integrated. It's assanine to get so anal about the language and worring about absorbtion and assimilation. We are all a part of the family of Christ right? It's the liturgical and spiritual traditions, not the ethnicity of the churches that appeal to our particular spiritualities. If we could just get over this pettiness, then we could really unite. I, for one, would love to be (our Ruthenian Eparchies) anexed into the Ukraninan Catholic Church. But, with issues like what LANGUAGE the liturgy should be said in, and all that other petty regional affiliation with the homeland stuff, it's hard to imagine such a thing will ever happen. get a grip people!

Love,
Athanasius

Oh, really! Tell that to the Russian Orthodox faithful in Russia... or the Church of Greece. (See the thread in "Byzantine News" on this forum.)

Greetings,

Would someone please explain this statement to me? It was part of the first post on this thread.

"America's only self-governing Catholic Church in communion with Rome"

Thanks,

Peter

Only the Ruthenian Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh is an ecclesia sui juris; all the other Eastern Catholic jurisdictions in the US are under the omophorion of some other sui juris Church outside the United States.

Lemko,
This is exactly what I'm talking about. The church of Greece denouncing the use of modern Greek. It's ridiculous! Yes, in as much as it a dead language, the probibilities for confusion are diminished, but for edification of the faithful, it stinks! Also, leave it to you to find the "exception that proves the rule"! Come on you guys. It seems sometimes you all came be blinded by your own brilliance! Everyone here is so intelligent and intellectually superior to me, but for heavens' sake, lets look at the forest for the trees!

Peace,
Athanasius