www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Melkite DL

Hi everybody,
First I want to warn you that English isn't my native language, so if I say something that offends anyone here it isn't my intention.
I live in Caracas, Venezuela and recently discovered there is a Melkite parish in my city, the church is called Catedral de San Jorge. Here is a link to their website: http://www.catedralsanjorge.org.ve/
I've been meaning to go there but truth be told I'm afraid I won't know what to do. I also believe that it's heavily latinized. I remember several month ago reading a post by a melkite catholic at CAF that the melkite church has preserve its DL very well without the latinizations of other eastern catholic churches, but it doesn't seem to be the case with these particular parish. If any of you who is familiar with the melkite church be so kind and look at the photogallery in their website, please tell me if there isn't anything atipical going on there. Thanks.

Jvrins:

Glory be to Jesus Christ!!

Welcome to the forum. Your English is good--might be better than some of the native speakers I've taught in the schools.

Bob
Moderator

Is this a Melkite Cathedral, or a Maronite Cathedral that the Melkites sometimes use?

From what I've seen on their web site, they seem to be in a time warp, nestled in the cocoon of familiar latinisms. I've also been told that, unlike the parishes in Argentina and Brazil, this one is very much an ethnic social club cum smells and bells -- little outreach to unchurched neighbors nor even to their own non-Arabic speaking descendants.

I'd have to agree with Father Roman. His impressions and what he's been told pretty much mirror my own. It is, regretably, also true of a couple of other Eastern and Oriental Catholic jurisdictions in South America.

Many years,

Neil

I didn't look at all of the photos, but I did notice albums called "First Communion" and "Confirmation" -- solid indicators that the parish is highly Latinized.

Hi Bob, thanks!

Hi Michael,

The Maronites have their own parish, it's called San Charbel, this is their website: www.sancharbel.com.ve/

That's too sad. I was hoping I could attend a traditionally performed DL, but that seems impossible in Venezuela and there isn't a single church in this country doing the EF latin mass publicly either. I'd have to go to Colombia for that.

Yup! And in one of the pictures they were carrying a statue of Saint George, I believe, up the central aisle in procession.

Any idea how many Melkites there are in Venezuela. I recently saw a pie chart for global distribution of Melkites and was surprised to see that there are really many more Melkites in Latin America than in North America. It would be interesting to know how they are distributed among the countries of Latin America.

25,000 in 2009 according to this article in wikipedia: [url=http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exarcado_Apost%C3%B3lico_de_Venezuela_%28Iglesia_Melquita%29]Exarcado Apostólico de Venezuela (Iglesia Melquita)[/url]

The figures for Melkites in South America are, like most statistics drawn from Annuario Pontificio, suspect as to accuracy.

Venezuela (Exarchate erected in 1990) reported 48,000 from 1999 through 2001, dropped to 30,000 in 2002, and from 2003 onward - through the 2012 edition - has reported 25,000.

Argentina (Exarchate erected in 2002, but didn't first report until 2006, I believe ) has reported 300,000 annually since 2009.

Brazil (Eparchy erected in 1971, 5 years before the US Exarchate was elevated to eparchial status) reported 48,000 back in 1976, was reporting 80,000 in 1980, jumped to reporting 368,000 by 1987, and by 1999 was at 413,000. The 2012 figures were 429,000.

Mexico (Eparchy erected in 1988) reported about 2,000 in its early years, crept up to 2,500 in the late '90s, and lists 4,700 these past few years, the largest number that it's ever reported.

By comparison, the Eparchies of Newton (US), Saint Sauveur in Montreal (Canada), and St Michael in Sydney (Australia), the only other canonical Melkite jurisdictions in the diaspora, reported an aggregate total of 100,000 in the 2012 AP data.

Many years,

Neil

Jvrins,

Welcome to the forum. As Bob already observed, your command of English is excellent.

Although, other than prayerful exclamations, virtually all of the posts here are in English, our active members are far from all native English speakers. Many European nations are represented, as are quite a few from the Asian-Pacific region, some from the Middle East, and others from Central and South America. I hope you'll enjoy yourself here.

Many years,

Neil

Thanks for the numbers, Jvrlns and Neill.
The communities in Argentina and Brazil are huge. I am surprised that Argentina hasn't gotten an eparchy yet. And that Brazil only has one.

Caleb