www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Three Bar Cross (Diagonal) vs. Three Bar Cross (Parallel)

Could someone explain the difference between the two variants of the three bar cross? I've "heard" things such as one is more correct or one is more "Ukrainian" than the other. I've never been able to get an official answer or one that is more than just conjecture. Everyone seems to have a different opinion. (I happen to like them both equally.)

My son's baptism (UGCC) is at the end of the month and his Godfather and I wanted to get him the most appropriate cross. I do understand that all crosses are God's crosses but I want to be most precise in custom with Ukrainian traditions (both Greek Catholic & Orthodox).
Thank you for any insight.

Pavlo

The diagonal lower bar is to remind us of the pardon of the repentant thief as recorded in St. Luke's Passion.

G.K. Chesterton wrote "Christ forgave a thief from the Cross that no man might ever despair--He forgave only one thief that no man might ever presume."

Yes, I've heard that as well.

So what is the impetus in the UGCC (and as far as I know the UOC-KP) to utilize the parallel three-barred cross? I am seeing used more and more in both Churches.

The three bar parallel cross is a masonic symbol, used by free masons for a few centuries. That is probably the way it has come into use in the Greek Catholic Church.

The Masons are NOT the origins of the 3rd parallel bar. I have been told that in Ukraine, for UGCC churches to differentiate their church buildings from Orthodox churches they use either a Latin cross or the three bar parallel cross.

This is so that Catholics know which church to enter or not, as other than the cross the church interior and exteriors are identical.

The parallel bars (or telegraph pole) Cross was fashionable among the Ruthenians for a while in the nineteen-fifties; the normal (diagonal) Cross then returned, particularly after Vatican II.

There is something disquieting about transforming the traditional (eight-pointed, lower bar diagonal) Cross into a "sign of contradiction". Surely the Precious Cross of Christ is not a real sign of Christian divisions.

Fr. Serge

The Three bar parallel cross has long been in use in the Middle East among Maronites, and among some other non-Byzantine Churches...

If you look at some of the Greek Catholic churches built in the early 1900's you will see some 3 parallel bar crosses.

I wouldn't read too much into it, either way.

But I do believe that there are Ukrainian Orthodox Churches that utilize the parallel cross...St Andrews in Chicago is one that comes to mind.
St. Andrews (Chicago) [en.standrewuoc.com]

So, is it the case that the leadership of the UGCC is actively advocating the parallel three-bar cross over the diagonal? If that's the case there most be a more concrete reason as to why.

At least in my mind it seems odd that they (we) would want to differentiate themselves from their Orthodox brothers. Isn't the current atmosphere to move back to their Eastern Roots.

At any rate...finding a parallel 3 bar cross (gold) for my son's baptism has been difficult. I've found a multitude of slant bars. Any website recommendations? Thanks!

Father, bless.

I am glad to know that. But can you say where they took the symbol from? The freemasons have been using the symbol for several hundred years. The Greek Catholics have been using the symbol for less than 50 years. It is well known that there are many prominent Greek Catholics who are freemasons, and who were in a position to impose their symbol on the Church.

Symbols are important, both for Greek Catholics and for freemasons. I have no doubt that masons must be pleased to see their symbol on top of Churches, no matter how it got there.

Do you have another theory for where the symbol came from?

Nick

sotnyk,

So far, I have only been able to find this site: http://www.viridiangold.com/5437.html

Statements like yours, Nicholas, are ignorant at best, inflammatory at worst. Greek Catholics and Masons? Give me a break. I know of no connection whatsoever. Please do provide us with specific references if you possess such damning information.

It is fair to say, actually, that no other churches have as an extensive and thorough record of repeatedly condemning freemasonry and pointing out its evils as do the Catholic churches. Why don't you research that . . . fact?

Three bar parallel crosses on Greek Catholic churches can date back centuries, not 50 years. It was, as Father has said in a previous post, one of the ways to distinguish Greek Catholic churches from Ukrainian Orthodox churches (on the outside) and they were otherwise indistinguishable.

The use of the parallel three bar cross is fading away rapidly in U.G.C.C. churches in favor of the more traditional three bar cross - which is from antiquity. I welcome that change.

You could try looking here:

http://www.gallerybyzantium.com/

I got a small three-bar silver cross from them that I am very happy with.

Rybak,

I just want to clarify. The parallel three bar cross is fading and the diagonal is making its way back?

I guess I've noticed the opposite. The most recent example that I've observed (and who's been in the news of late) is Fr. Borys Gudziak of the UCU. I believe he has been wearing a parallel(pectoral) three bar cross.

Am I just missing something?

As a side note...does anyone know what will be placed on top of the UGCC Cathedral in Kyiv when its completed?

The iconostasia in several Rusyn wooden churches include a cross with three straight bars. Examples would be Kožany, Dobroslava, Krajné Čierno, Šemetkovce, Príkra, Topoľa as seen in photos here:
http://www.drevenechramy.sk/fotogaleria/

They date from the 1700-1800s.

While such a cross is the mark of a Greek Catholic church in Slovakia and western Ukraine, in Romania, a cross with three straight bars typically denotes an Orthodox church. An example of this would be the new church at the Nicula Monastery in Transylvania:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manastirea_Nicula.dialog.jpg

Dn. David