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All glory to God.
I have been a Byzantine since 1979( San Diego) and an altar boy, growing into the Lord over the years has been life-changing. My wife and I got married in a Byzantine church in New mexico and we moved to South Carolina due to better work and cannot find a Byzantine church here so we attend a Roman Catholic church. Today I decided to venture and try an Orthodox church and found it to be somewhat similiar to our rite, well we said our prayers and asked God to bless us for Communion and the Leader said he was sorry but he could not give us communion. I was floored, and I looked at my wife and grabbed here to return to our seats and I am thinking the whole time did I make a mistake, are we not in a church of God? Not even so much as a blessing! Then the leader after service apologizes and offers us some lunch and says it is the way of thier church.So they wont break bread with me in church but outside of church? Am I in the wrong?

To share in the Eucharist is an awesome mystery that we are unable to understand; in our fallen world we must find ways of understanding and appreciating this gift. To receive the Eucharist calls for a unity in faith, which is missing between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. We have issues of faith that divide us and need reconciled before we are able to share in the Holy and Unbloody Sacrifice.

The Catholic Church teaches that those churches that carry true Apostolic Succession and carry the same belief in the Eucharist are able to receive the Eucharist if they are properly disposed to and it does not contradict the teaching of their church, so clearly in the base of an Orthodox Christian receiving the Eucharist in a Catholic Church would be the same, it would not be acceptable.

I am rather tired and do not have my glasses on, so I hope all of this makes sense.

Peace in Christ,
Ed

Thank you ed.

So would it be unacceptable to even contemplate going to an orthodox church?

Slava Isusu Christu! (Glory to Jesus Christ!)
Slava na Viki! (Glory Forever!)

I'm sorry, but that is their rule. A Byzantine Catholic cannot have the Eucharist in the Orthodox Church. That is what it means, basically, when a church is not in Communion with another church. The term "excommunicate" means, basically, that the person cannot partake of the sacraments of the Church. That includes Eucharist (or Communion). I wish it weren't so, but it is. It is not just Catholics and Orthodox that have this rule. There is a Lutheran church in my town that is not in communion with other Lutheran churches. My wife plays the organ in a Lutheran church here and the pastor of that church cannot take Communion in the other Lutheran church. They belong to different Synods. I don't understand exactly what the differences are. But I know that is what happens.

Sorry. Byzantine Catholics, especially Byzantine-Ruthenians, are called "Uniates" to the Orthodox and we are not held in very high esteem by most of the Orthodox. They cite us (Byzantine-Ruthenians) as the prime reason the Orthodox and Catholic Churches are not in Communion with each other. It's a very long and complicated story and that is but one excuse that keeps the two Churches apart.

Tim

I think it is important to be willing to understand both the differences and the similarities between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

The Catholic and Orthodox Churches are similar because both teach that (normally) only their own members are admitted to Holy Communion. Only Catholics should receive Communion in a Catholic church. Only Orthodox should receive Holy Communion in an Orthodox church. The reason for this is that when you receive Holy Communion you demonstrate that you belong both to Christ and to His Church. The Orthodox believe that the Orthodox Church is Christ's Church, while Catholics believe that Christ's Church is to be found in the Catholic Church. As long as we have this division, we must bear the pain of separation and not being able to receive Holy Communion in each other's churches. This pain is felt particularly strongly by Eastern Catholics who are separated from their Eastern Orthodox brethren.

However, the Catholic and Orthodox Churches practice this rule differently. In most Catholic churches, everyone goes to Holy Communion at every Mass. There may be lots of faces which are unfamiliar to the priest. Usually, no one is publicly turned away, though the priest may have a quiet word with someone privately. Because of this it is easy to forget that the rule is actually very strict: only Catholics should receive Holy Communion in a Catholic church. In most Orthodox churches, you are usually expected to go to confession before you receive Communion. That way, the priest knows exactly who is Orthodox and who isn't, and the rule can be enforced in a way that may be difficult or impossible in a Catholic church.

Rubrical note: immediately before receiving Holy Communion (among Eastern Orthodox or Greek-Catholics), one should inform the Priest of one's Christian name, and he will then use the Christian name in the formula of administration. This is a liturgical vestige of the requirement that the Priest should know whom he is communicating.

A sore point: ever since Vatican II (and even before, for that matter) it has been the Catholic practice to communicate any Eastern Orthodox Christian who presents himself for Holy Communion in good faith. Some Orthodox resent this, and try to insist that the Catholics have some sort of obligation to refuse to give him Holy Communion. To that we usually respond that we have neither the right nor the obligation to enforce someone else's discipline; we certainly do not attempt either to deceive anyone or to coerce Eastern Orthodox Christians into receiving Holy Communion at our altars (if it's any consolation, Catholics are sometimes annoyed at Anglican clergy who - in accordance with Anglican discipline - communicate Catholics who present themselves for that purpose).

And there are some Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions, both in the diaspora and in the homelands, who will communicate Catholics without blinking an eyelash.

So the situation can be confusing. Best solution for individuals: approach the Priest, and either ask him to hear your Confession or at least ask him for a blessing to receive Holy Communion.

Fr. Serge

JOSH:

Heavens, no!! The idea is that you cannot receive the Lord in Holy Communion, but you should never pass up the opportunity to worship with our brethren in Christ. The fact that we cannot share the Mysteries is a reminder of the terrible weight of sin that separates us, but is not a reason to avoid each other.

BOB

I have to say, being a Catholic, I think the Orthodox approach makes the most sense, except in cases of dire necessity, like death (which I think many Orthodox allow for, in practice). It speaks to the unity of the Faith of which the Eucharist is symbolic. So, in short: I don't think Orthodox should be allowed to commune in Catholic churches, and vice versa. But it also wouldn't be at the top of my list of "things to fix" in the Church if I were Pope, either!

Alexis

Welcome to Byzcath .

I'd like , if I may, to make a few comments on the content of your post .

I'm glad you have stayed with your Catholic Faith even though you have not been able to find a Byzantine Church

You said

I presume you meant the Priest here



During the Liturgy you received many Blessings from the Priest and yes you were blessed with the Holy GIfts.

Afterwards the Priest did explain to you why he could not give you Communion and he was perfectly correct - you are not Orthodox. Orthodoxy is not Eastern Catholicism - yes we use the same Liturgy but we are not members of the same Church.

OH and by the way - the Holy Father has asked that the practice of giving a blessing to those unable to Receive Communion ,if they present themselves to the Priest , should cease . A blessing to all present in the RC Church is given at the end of Mass - which is an excellent reason for folk not to leave early.

I am amazed at the extent to which everybody ignores the elephant in the living room; i.e., that intercommunion between Orthodox and Greek Catholics in both directions is fairly common, both in this country, and even more so in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. As Metropolitan Nicholas of Emissa said in a very public forum, "I know that there are thousands of Greek Catholics in my parishes every Sunday, and I for one am not going to put a guard over the Chalice to keep them away".

Over the centuries, bishops, metropolitans, patriarchs and popes on all sides have issued decrees, written encyclical, promulgated canons all intended to prevent sacramental sharing between Catholic and Orthodox Christians. That these have been repeated with amazing regularity is an indication that the practice is common, widespread, and persistent. It also shows that in this matter, the people regularly ignore their hierarchs, perhaps because they perceive better the inherent unity that exists between us, and no longer wish to be divided by ancient disputes whose relevance has been lost in the mists of time.

Stuart,

The problem with your argument is that you can it to justify just about anything. Just because something is the case, that doesn't mean that it ought to be the case. And large numbers of Catholics and Orthodox ignore their hierarchs much of the time. That doesn't mean that they should.

Joe

Also, you say:

It also shows that in this matter, the people regularly ignore their hierarchs, perhaps because they perceive better the inherent unity that exists between us, and no longer wish to be divided by ancient disputes whose relevance has been lost in the mists of time.

Which ancient disputes? And couldn't it be the case that most people ignore the restrictions on inter-communion not because they perceive the unity between, but rather because they do not value doctrinal orthodoxy the way people used to? I'm not saying that this is the case. I'm just saying that this hypothetical answer is not implausible.

Joe

Can you name one doctrinal issue of substance that is of sufficient weight to justify continuation of the schism between the Eastern Orthodox and Greek Catholic Churches? When the two most important Greek Catholic Churches both agree that there are no theological differences between themselves and their Orthodox counterparts; when the Patriarchs of these Churches state in public, repeatedly, that this is the case; when neither they nor their Orthodox counterparts do anything to interfere with the practice of sacramental sharing; when one Greek Catholic Patriarch intervenes at a conference in the presence of the Pope of Rome to ask why this sharing is not formally permitted (as it is, e.g., between the Chaldean Catholics and the Assyrian Church of the East), then one might consider that the people are simply following the broad hints given them by their leaders.

As a Romanian Orthodox priest said to me, when I asked if I, as a Greek Catholic, could receive the Eucharist from him, "Why not? Is the same thing!"

It was one of the high points of my life. At last, someone who sees clearly and speaks sense.

When the two most important Greek Catholic Churches...

Stuart, what do you mean by this? How do you define most important?

This is not the place to re-hash the very real doctrinal and practical differences between the Catholic and Orthodox communions; since to do so would lead down numerous tangential streams. We could raise the individual issues in new threads, but frankly, these issues have been discussed ad nauseum and I don't think it would be wise to bring them up right now during the Catholic Church's Holy Week and the end of our Orthodox period of great Lent. But I will say that it is a matter of Christian obedience that Christians follow the canons and discipline of their own Church.