www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology A Byzantine Catholic Pope?

Dear In Christ,

Recently I heard of some contenders for the Papal office that were from the Eastern Rites. My question is, what would happen if an easterner were elected Pope, considering the fact that the Pope is Patriarch of the West and the "CEO" of the Latin Church?

Anastasius

A bishop takes his 'Rite' from his city, much as a woman takes the Rite of the man, if two Christians of two Rites marry.

The bishop marries his city. Traditionally, he even took the city as his new last name, as a bride would! So the bishop of London would sign his name, +John London

So, if a Greek Catholic or other Eastern Christian were elected to be Pope of Rome, he would take the western Rite of that city as his own, and cease to be an Eastern Christian. The same is true in reverse, for example, if a Latin Christian were elected to an Eastern city.

Many greeks have been Pope of Rome, but none recently.

Elias, monk

isn't it "Shoes of the Fisherman" where the pope is greek catholic? he becomes roman when he is ordained bishop of rome, but continues to wear his byzantine cross. Of course, we are all Catholics, the various churches of the Church don't separate us; they unite us as one body with our own faces and songs.

I think that the Pope is Bishop of Rome, Patriarch of Rome, but he is the "CEO" of the Catholic Church, not simply of Latins. Rome follows the Roman rite but the rite or churh of the bishop doesn't limit his jurisdiction. Latin bishops have had jurisdiction over Greek Catholics in the US who had no bishop of their own, and it is also the other way. But get the video or read the book,,,, fun way to learn..

Thanks for your replies.

I do not want to get all into technicality and arguments over this, but i would like to mention the following point:

A CEO is the day-to-day manager of a company. So is the Patriarch in his jurisdiction. Thus, the Patriarch of the West is the manager of the west. The Eastern Patriarchs are likewise equally so in their rights.

Now some CEO's are also Chairman of the Board of a larger conglomerate. The Pope shares this dual responsibility. He is Chairman of the Board of the Universal Church-- #1, the boss, etc. Yet as a CEO, he only has Patriarchial Jurisdiction over the West.

Why do I want to get into this? Because I want to make sure that no one is underscoring the fact that Eastern Churches are autonomous Churches in UNION with the Pope and the Roman Church, not UNDER it. I am not saying that you are saying this, I am just clarifying my position.

Should you like to continue this aspect of the discussion, perhaps we should start a new thread so that this one can remain about Byzantine Catholic Popes, should anyone else wish to continue.

In Christ,

Anatasius

The pope may be the CEO and responsible for the day-to-day earthly activities of the Latin Church and for pastoral care of the other Catholic Churches. But the Chairman of the Board, to use this terminology, is certainly none other than Jesus Christ.

CHRIST IS RISEN!

First thing Monday morning I must call my broker about this stock. The Chairman might be able to revive the flagging fortunes of this company.

BUY LOW, SELL HIGH!!!

;-)

CAPTL
sinner

Christ is risen !!!!

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Just a little tid-bit. There is no such thing as rites, only churches.

the SINNER
Agi

Dear Agi, "Rites" exist, but they are not the same as the Churches! with Easter greetings, Peter

Christ is risen

Oh I see?? I geuss in real life I do not know what a "rite" is..... I know that I am my own Atonomous church. I am not a Rite of the Latin Church. ???????? So what exactlly is a rite??????

Truely lost....

The illitarate
Agi

Dear Agi:

Please don't berate yourself as illiterate - the terminology can be confusing at times, and I suspect most people don't differentiate between "rite" and "church".

As far as I understand (and I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong) the distinction is this: the Byzantine Catholic Church uses the Byzantine Slavic rite, as does the Russian Orthodox Church, or the Romanian Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church uses the Latin rite, as do various Old Catholic Churches which are not in communion with Rome.

So in this sense, "rite" refers to the liturgy used by the particular church concerned. There are even Catholic and Orthodox churches which use the Anglican rite.

Other Christian rites include: Ge'ez, Armenian, Malankarese, et al., and the churches which use them may be Catholic, Orthodox or neither.

Have I muddied the waters enough? ;-)

Not to be flippant, but what self-respecting Eastern Catholic patriarch would want to be pope? And since the rules require that candidates be drawn from the College of Cardinals, we would have to ask what self-respecting Eastern Catholic patriarch would want to be a cardinal? Maximos IV Yousef had a red hat offered several times; finally it was forced on him. Since his time, I don't think any of ours have been asked.