There are two broad divisions within the Roman Catholic Church (CCC, 1200-1203):
1. The Latin Church, most of which is associated with "The Roman Rite."
2. The Eastern Churches, each of which has its own associated rite, liturgical language, customs, spirituality, region, patriarch, episcopacy, and particular name. Each of these Roman Catholic Churches has its own history, legal tradition, and culture.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church
- Liturgical traditions and the catholicity of the Church
- 1200 From the first community of Jerusalem until the parousia, it is the same Paschal mystery that the Churches of God, faithful to the apostolic faith, celebrate in every place. The mystery celebrated in the liturgy is one, but the forms of its celebration are diverse.
- 1201 The mystery of Christ is so unfathomably rich that it cannot be exhausted by its expression in any single liturgical tradition. The history of the blossoming and development of these rites witnesses to a remarkable complementarity. When the Churches lived their respective liturgical traditions in the communion of the faith and the sacraments of the faith, they enriched one another and grew in fidelity to Tradition and to the common mission of the whole Church.
- 1202 The diverse liturgical traditions have arisen by very reason of the Church's mission. Churches of the same geographical and cultural area came to celebrate the mystery of Christ through particular expressions characterized by the culture: in the tradition of the "deposit of faith," in liturgical symbolism, in the organization of fraternal communion, in the theological understanding of the mysteries, and in various forms of holiness. Through the liturgical life of a local church, Christ, the light and salvation of all peoples, is made manifest to the particular people and culture to which that Church is sent and in which she is rooted. The Church is catholic, capable of integrating into her unity, while purifying them, all the authentic riches of cultures.
- 1203 The liturgical traditions or rites presently in use in the Church are the Latin (principally the Roman rite, but also the rites of certain local churches, such as the Ambrosian rite, or those of certain religious orders) and the Byzantine, Alexandrian or Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Maronite and Chaldean rites. In "faithful obedience to tradition, the sacred Council declares that Holy Mother Church holds all lawfully recognized rites to be of equal right and dignity, and that she wishes to preserve them in the future and to foster them in every way."69
"The Eastern Catholic Churches are autonomous, self-governing (in Latin, sui iuris) particular Churches in full communion with the Bishop of Rome—the Pope. They preserve some of the centuries-old liturgical, devotional, and theological traditions of the various Eastern Christian Churches they were once associated with. Although the Churches they formerly were associated with are not all in communion with one another, the Eastern Catholic Churches are in communion with each other and with the Latin or Western Church. However, they vary in theological emphasis, forms of liturgical worship and popular piety, canonical discipline and terminology. They all recognize the central role of the Bishop of Rome within the College of Bishops and his infallibility when speaking ex cathedra."[1]
Patriarchs
"The oldest version of Canon Law in the Church identified three patriarchs: The bishops of Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch. Each patriarch governed a territory of the Church: The patriarch of Rome governed the whole Church in the West; the patriarch of Alexandria, the area of Egypt and Palestine; and the Patriarch of Antioch, Syria, Asia Minor, Greece and the remainder of the Church in the East. These three patriarchates were recognized as having a supreme place among the bishops by the Council of Nicea in 325.
"[After 451 AD,] the New Order of the Patriarchs then became in descending order Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. Keep in mind that the patriarchs are considered equal in rank even though they may have a precedence of honor. Moreover, just to underscore an important point, even though the bishop of Rome is a patriarch, as pope he has supreme authority and governance over the whole Church."[2]
Today, the Eastern Rites are organized under four patriarchates: Alexandrian, Antiochene, Armenian, and Chaldean [(ibid).
East-West Schism
The mutual excommunications in 1054 AD were issued by the Pope, Patriarch of Rome, and the Patriarch of Constantinople, who felt that he should have primacy because Constantinople was the capital of the Roman Empire.[3]
Latin Rites
Roman rite
The Roman rite forms the largest part of the Catholic Church.
| Language
|
Latin
|
| Origin
|
Diocese of Rome; 1st century; revised 5th century.
|
| Region
|
Western Europe; North America; Asia; Pacific
|
| United to Rome
|
n/a
|
Anglican-Catholic Ordinariates
"Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus": "Providing For Personal Ordinariates For Anglicans Entering Into Full Communion with The Catholic Church":
- "This Apostolic Constitution provides the general normative structure for regulating the institution and life of Personal Ordinariates for those Anglican faithful who desire to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church in a corporate manner." ...
- "Without excluding liturgical celebrations according to the Roman Rite, the Ordinariate has the faculty to celebrate the Holy Eucharist and the other Sacraments, the Liturgy of the Hours and other liturgical celebrations according to the liturgical books proper to the Anglican tradition, which have been approved by the Holy See, so as to maintain the liturgical, spiritual and pastoral traditions of the Anglican Communion within the Catholic Church, as a precious gift nourishing the faith of the members of the Ordinariate and as a treasure to be shared."
- In keeping with the discipline of the Latin rite, only those vowed to celibacy may be ordained to the priesthood. An exception to this general rule may be made for the ordination of married Anglican priests who wish to enter the Catholic Church with their congregations.
Ambrosian (Milanese) rite
| Language
|
Latin and Italian (I think).
|
| Origin
|
St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan in the 4th century; well attested by 8th century.
|
| Region
|
Archdiocese of Milan, in some parishes of the Diocese of Como, Bergamo, Novara, Lodi and in about fifty parishes of the Diocese of Lugano, in the Canton Ticino, Switzerland.
|
| United to Rome
|
Never separated.
|
Mozarabic Rite
"The Mozarabic, Visigothic, or Hispanic Rite is a form of Catholic worship within the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, and in the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church (Anglican).[1] Its beginning dates to the 7th century, and is localized in the Iberian Peninsula (the Roman Hispania). Mozarab is the term for the Christian population living under Muslim rulers in Al-Andalus."[4]
| Language
|
Arabic
|
| Origin
|
St. Isidore, 7th century
|
| Region
|
Iberian Peninsula
|
| United to Rome
|
Never separated.
|
Eastern Rite Catholic Churches
"The Eastern Rite Church:" "The Second Vatican Council’s 'Decree on the Catholic Eastern Churches' emphasized, 'The Catholic Church values highly the institutions of the Eastern Churches, their liturgical rites, Ecclesiastical traditions and their ordering of Christian life. For in those churches, which are distinguished by their venerable antiquity, there is clearly evident the tradition which has come from the Apostles through the Fathers and which is part of the divinely revealed, undivided heritage of the Universal Church' (No. 1)."
"These reunited Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church, except the Maronite Rite, all have counterparts remaining in the Orthodox Churches."[5]
Byzantine Rite Churches
"The Byzantine Rite, the largest Eastern Rite, is based on the Rite of St. James of Jerusalem with the later reforms of St. Basil and St. John Chrysostom. These rites employ the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. This parent rite comprises many rites, which are themselves highly ethnic-oriented. ... The three largest of the Byzantine Rites are the Melkite, Ruthenian and Ukrainian."[6]
Ruthenian Rite
Also known as the "Carpatho-Russian Rite."[]
| Language
|
Old Slavonic and English
|
| Origin
|
|
| Region
|
Ukraine, United States, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Australia, and North and South America.
|
| United to Rome
|
Union of Brest-Litovsk in 1596 and the Union of Uzhorod in 1646.
|
Hungarian Rite
| Language
|
Greek, Hungarian, and English
|
| Origin
|
|
| Region
|
Hungary, Europe, the Americas.
|
| United to Rome
|
1646
|
Melkite Rite
The Melkite Rite has strong congregations in The Melkites reunited with Rome during the Crusades but due to impediments caused by the Moslem occupations more officially reunited in the early 1700s and use in the liturgy.
| Language
|
Greek, Arabic, English, Portuguese, and Spanish.
|
| Origin
|
|
| Region
|
Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, United States, Brazil, Venezuela, Canada, Australia, and Mexico.
|
| United to Rome
|
Crusades and early 1700s.
|
Ukrainian Rite
| Language
|
Old Slavonic and Ukrainian
|
| Origin
|
|
| Region
|
Ukraine, Poland, the United States, Canada, England, Australia, Germany, France, Brazil and Argentina.
|
| United to Rome
|
1595; forcibly united to Russian Orthodox Church under Stalin in 1943; reunited after Ukraine gained independence (after 1989???).
|
Greek Rite
| Language
|
Greek.
|
| Origin
|
|
| Region
|
Greece and Turkey with congregations also in Asia Minor and Europe.
|
| United to Rome
|
1829
|
Albanian Rite
| Language
|
Albanian
|
| Origin
|
|
| Region
|
Albania
|
| United to Rome
|
1628
|
Belarussian (Byelorussian) Rite
| Language
|
Old Slavonic
|
| Origin
|
|
| Region
|
Belarussia with large populations in Europe, North and South America, and Australia.
|
| United to Rome
|
1600s
|
Bulgarian Rite
| Language
|
Old Slavonic.
|
| Origin
|
|
| Region
|
Bulgaria
|
| United to Rome
|
1861
|
Croatian Rite
| Language
|
Old Slavonic
|
| Origin
|
|
| Region
|
Croatia and the United States.
|
| United to Rome
|
1611
|
Italo-Albanian Rite
| Language
|
Italo-Albanian languages
|
| Origin
|
|
| Region
|
Italy and the Americas
|
| United to Rome
|
Never separated from Rome.
|
Romanian Rite
| Language
|
Modern Romanian
|
| Origin
|
|
| Region
|
Romania and the United States.
|
| United to Rome
|
1697; forced to join Romanian Orthodox Church in 1948 but later returned to union with Rome.
|
Russian Rite
| Language
|
Old Slavonic
|
| Origin
|
|
| Region
|
Russia and China with congregations in Europe, Australia, and North and South America.
|
| United to Rome
|
1905
|
Georgian Rite
| Language
|
Georgian
|
| Origin
|
|
| Region
|
The former Soviet Republic of Georgia.
|
| United to Rome
|
1329-1507; 1917.
|
Slovak Rite
| Language
|
Old Slavonic
|
| Origin
|
|
| Region
|
Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Canada.
|
| United to Rome
|
|
Alexandrian Rite Churches
"The Alexandrian Rite is officially called the Liturgy of St. Mark. (St. Mark is traditionally considered the first bishop of Alexandria.) Their present liturgy contains elements of the Byzantine Rite of St. Basil and the liturgies of Sts. Mark, Cyril, and Gregory Nazianzen."[7]
Coptic Rite
| Language
|
Coptic and Arabic
|
| Origin
|
|
| Region
|
Egypt
|
| United to Rome
|
1741
|
Ge'ez (Ethiopian) Rite
| Language
|
Ge'ez
|
| Origin
|
|
| Region
|
Ethiopia, Jerusalem, and Somalia
|
| United to Rome
|
1846
|
Antiochene Rite Churches
"It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians" (Acts 11:26).
"The Antiochene Rite is the Liturgy of St. James of Jerusalem."
Maronite Rite
| Language
|
Syriac and Arabic
|
| Origin
|
St. John Maron
|
| Region
|
Lebanon, Cyrpus, Egypt, and Syria but with large populations of the faithful also in the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, and Canada.
|
| United to Rome
|
Never severed ties with Rome.
|
Syrian Rite
| Language
|
Syriac and Arabic
|
| Origin
|
|
| Region
|
Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt and Syria, with healthy communities in Asia, Africa, Australia, and North and South America.
|
| United to Rome
|
1781
|
Malankar Rite
| Language
|
Syriac and Malayalam
|
| Origin
|
St. Thomas the Apostle; 1st century AD.
|
| Region
|
India
|
| United to Rome
|
1930
|
Chaldean Rite Churches
"The Chaldean Rite, also technically a distinct rite, also originated from the Antiochene Rite."
Chaldean Rite
| Language
|
Syriac and Arabic
|
| Origin
|
|
| Region
|
Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Turkey and the United States.
|
| United to Rome
|
1692
|
Syro-Malabar Rite
| Language
|
Syriac and Malayalam
|
| Origin
|
|
| Region
|
|
| United to Rome
|
No formal schism; lost touch with Rome until the "Thomas Christians" were rediscovered in the 1500s.
|
Armenian Rite
"The Armenian Rite, technically a distinct rite, derived from the Antiochene Rite and is an older form of the Byzantine Rite. Although it uses a different language, this rite is technically called the Greek Liturgy of St. Basil."[8]
| Language
|
Classical Armenian
|
| Origin
|
|
| Region
|
Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, France, Greece, Romania, Armenia, Argentina and the United States.
|
| United to Rome
|
During the Crusades.
|
Miscellany
- Seems to be a total of 25 rites, not counting the Anglican Ordinariate: 3 in the West, 22 in the East.
- Preserving the rites.
- Intercommunion.
- Intermarriage.
- Ordination of married men.