Eastern Catholic Churches

As Catholic Eastern Churches (also Uniate churches or united with Rome Churches ) are those Eastern Churches, calling it the particular Churches in its own right in the Roman Catholic Church under the Pope ( Bishop of Rome) in union ( united ), and between themselves and with the Latin Church in faith, prayer and sacramental communion are. Celebrate the Mass according to the various Eastern rites and the other Eastern Churches are close in their tradition and hierarchical constitution, but recognize the Pope as head of the universal Church.

From almost all Eastern Churches, there are Uniate branches. In general, they are strong against their Orthodox and ancient Near Eastern counterparts, more or less in the minority. A special case is the Syriac Maronite Church, which has been in union with Rome since 1182 in its entirety. The Chaldean Catholic Church now has significantly more members than their autokephales (stand-alone ) Opposite, the Assyrian Church of the East. Among Thomas Christians of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church is only a small group of non -Catholics alike East Syriac tradition against. The Italo- Albanian Church did not require a union, but was always connected with Rome since its inception.

The Eastern Catholic Churches are not subject to the law of the Church Code of Canon Law, but the Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium in contrast to the Western Latin Church.

• 3.1 Byzantine rite
• 3.2 Alexandrian Rite
• 3.3 Westsyrischer (or Antioch ) rite
• 3.4 East Syriac (or Chaldean ) rite
• 3.5 Armenian rite

History

"Union" means originally the restoration of Church unity after a split in the church, either as a total Union, that is, with full abolition of the separation, or as part of the Union, thus alone with a unification willing party.

The Eastern Catholic Churches came to a small extent during the Crusades, on the other hand in the wake of responding to the Reformation Catholic Reformation after the Council of Trent. On the Great East-West Schism ( 1054 ) was followed by various efforts to heal the breach between the Western ( Roman Catholic ) and Eastern ( Greek Orthodox ) Church in the context of an overall Union, but all, most recently in the Council of Florence remained without lasting success. During the time of the Crusades it came to total permanent unions with the Maronites and at times with the Armenians in Cilicia (Kingdom of Lesser Armenia ). In the following years, Rome tried to continue overall unions, for example, by extraction of the relevant head of the church, for example, a patriarch, or of a majority of the episcopate of a regional church for Catholicism. However, they now also took part in the purchase or unions led those caused deliberately, each at the cost of a split in the Mother Church. This method was used until the 20th century. Only after the Second Vatican Council the Vatican officially renounced the so-called uniatism so with the Declaration of Balamand.

A similar procedure is carried out, however, since 2009, by the Roman Catholic Church tried according to the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, to unite believers and clergy of the Anglican Church and the Western Church and the Pope.

Mark

Most of the eastern churches have become so split off during the centuries part of churches and connected with Rome, while retaining their own liturgy and recognition of papal primacy. You have recorded the full faith and sacramental communion with the Roman Catholic Church, at the same time or later, however, canceled the sacramental communion with their former church. The celibacy requirement applies (with few exceptions) in these churches - as in the other Eastern Churches - only for bishops, monks and in the diaconate still unmarried priesthood candidates. A marriage after ordination is always excluded, because the " indelible feature " of the sacramental priesthood prevents marriage. Already married priesthood candidates can obtain the consecration, much like today deacons in the Latin Church.

The name component catholic indicated in most of the churches listed below points to such a union, and is bordered on the territory of the Eastern Churches, the local Catholic churches of the usually much stronger members of Orthodox churches from that exist in parallel. Of these, they are considered as a major obstacle to ecumenism (see uniatism ). The sometimes occurring part of the name in Greek indicates in contrast to Roman ( Catholic) on the rite family who belongs to the church in question.

Eastern Europe

The largest existing today united with Rome church is the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine. She went as the Uniate communities in Russia and Belarus emerge from the Church Union of Brest in 1596. It came to this union, as were large areas of the said States politically to the Catholic Poland - Lithuania.

Their heyday had this Uniate Church on the territory of the Russian Empire until the mid- 19th century. Since 1859, the Belarus widespread Uniates were forcibly united for the most part with the Russian Orthodox Church.

In Poland, Belarus and Ukraine, according to the rite church building ( weißruss. царква; ukr.: церква ) are united churches as well as those of the autocephalous Orthodox Churches Orthodox church called, in contrast to Kościół ( weißruss. касцёл; ukr. костел ), designation for church building of the Latin rite.

On the territory of the former Austria - Hungary, especially in Galicia, Bukovina and Transylvania, and in parts of Upper Hungary (Carpathian Ukraine), the Uniate churches to develop freely, and have many members and a rich church life had. This condition was maintained in the interwar period (1918-1939), as Galicia belonged to Poland and the Carpatho - Ukraine to Czechoslovakia. The largest Uniate church of this room had the Ruthenians as Ukrainians were called in the Habsburg monarchy.

When the predominantly Ukrainian populated areas fell to the Soviet Union in the Carpathian arc 1944/45, immediately began a sharp suppression of the Uniate Catholics. Your bishops and priests were arrested and confiscated church property. Subsequently, the Uniates forced the Russian Orthodox Church was assumed. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is independent again. Today, the Uniate Church still counts some 5.2 million members in Ukraine and in the global diaspora. Their leader is the Greek Catholic Major Archbishop of Kiev.

The 1945 living in the present borders of Poland after separation Galician Uniate Catholics, often from Ruthenian or Ukrainian families have their own Greco- Roman Catholic dioceses.

One other Union, of Uzhhorod in 1646, comes from the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church in Transcarpathia ( Eparchy of Mukachevo, southwestern Ukraine), Slovakia ( Eparchy of Prešov / Presov and Kosice Exarchate / Košice ) and Hungary ( Exarchate of Miskolc ).

The Romanian Orthodox Church in Transylvania was united by Decision of the Metropolitan Atanasie Anghel and the Provincial Synod of 1698 with Rome. In addition to the bishopric of Alba Iulia Fagaras uniertes a new diocese in Oradea was established in 1777. In 1853 two other Romanian Orthodox, bishoprics were founded, the diocese Gherla (today Cluj- Gherla diocese ) and the Diocese of Lugoj. Added to this was the Diocese of Maramureş, which was founded in 1930 with headquarters in Baia Mare in the 20th century. The Romanian Greek-Catholic Church is headed since 2005 by a major archbishop.

Rest of the world

The Uniate churches and communities in the East, the Balkans and elsewhere emerged from other Union movements, each with its own historical backgrounds have ( Turkish threat, theological or church policy differences within the affected Eastern Churches, European colonialism, and others). In most cases, with the exception of the Maronites, only a minority of Orthodox Christians of the Union joined.

Some of the existing today united with Rome in the focus shifted to the New World. For example, the Ruthenian Church had in the meantime only in America dioceses. From their sister churches in the original settlement area of ​​the Ruthenians, she was completely self- organization.

Particular Churches

Byzantine rite

The United Churches of the Byzantine rite are collectively often referred to as the " Greek-Catholic Churches."

• Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church ( unofficially known as Bulgarian Catholic Church )
• Georgian Greek Catholic Church ( informally also called Georgian Catholic Church )
• Greek Greek-Catholic Church ( originated in 1859 and 1860 by the Union of Constantinople Opel, Thrace and Macedonia )
• Italo - Albanian Church
• Kazakh Greek Catholic Church
• Melkite Greek Catholic Church ( the Middle East)
• Romanian Greek Catholic church ( found mainly in Transylvania by Emperor Leopold of Austria since 1693 spread )
• Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church (also called Ruthenian Church, was created by the Union of Mukachevo in 1646 with headquarters in Uzhhorod )
• Slovak Greek Catholic Church ( originated from the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church )
• Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church ( unofficially known as Ukrainian Catholic Church was created by the Brest Union of 1595 /96)
• Hungarian Greek Catholic Church ( originated from the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church )

• Croatian Greek Catholic Church
• Macedonian Greek Catholic Church
• Russian Greek Catholic Church
• Serbian Greek Catholic Church
• Belarusian Greek Catholic Church

Alexandrian rite

• Ethiopian Catholic Church
• Coptic Catholic Church

Westsyrischer (or Antioch ) rite

• Maronites
• Syriac Catholic Church
• Syro - Malankara Catholic Church

East Syriac (or Chaldean ) rite

• Chaldean Catholic Church
• Syro -Malabar Church

Armenian rite

• Armenian Catholic Church