User:Zfish118/sandbox3

Copied from on 2 September 2022

The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (sui iuris) particular churches of the Catholic Church, in full communion with the Pope in Rome. Although they are distinct theologically, liturgically, and historically from the Latin Church, they are all in full communion with it and with each other. Eastern-rite Catholics are a distinct minority within the Catholic Church; of the 1.3 Billion Catholics in communion with the Pope, approximately 18 Million are members of the eastern-rite churches.

Full communion with the Bishop of Rome constitutes mutual sacramental sharing between the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Latin Church, including Eucharistic intercommunion. Provisions within the Canon law of the Catholic Church, in particular Eastern Catholic canon law, govern the relationship between the Eastern and Latin rites, and protect the distinct liturgical practices of the Eastern Catholic Churches. Historically, pressure to conform to the norms of the Western Christianity practiced by the majority Latin Church led to a degree of encroachment (Latinization) on some of these traditions. The Second Vatican Council document, Orientalium Ecclesiarum, built on previous reforms to reaffirm the right of Eastern Catholics to maintain their distinct liturgical practices, which reflect ancient theological and spiritual practices that developed within Eastern Christianity.

Since 1990, the Eastern Catholic Churches have been collectively governed in accordance with the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, although each church also has its own internal canons and laws on top of this. Members of Eastern Catholic churches are obliged to follow the norms of their particular church regarding celebration of church feasts, marriage, and other customs. Notable distinct norms include many Eastern Catholic Churches regularly allowing the ordination of married men to the priesthood (although not as bishops to the episcopacy), in contrast to the stricter clerical celibacy of Latin Church. Additionally, Eastern Catholics who seek marriage are obliged by canon law have the union blessed by a priest, even when the marriage itself takes place at a Latin-rite parish. The Latin Church, in contrast, allows both deacons and priests to witness a couples marriage vows on behalf of the Catholic Church. Both Latin Rite and Eastern Rite Catholics may, however, freely attend a Catholic mass or divine liturgy celebrated in any rite.

The majority of the Eastern Catholic Churches are groups that, at different points in the past, used to belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox churches, or the historic Church of the East, but are now in communion with the Bishop of Rome. The five historic liturgical traditions of eastern Christianity, comprising the Alexandrian Rite, the Armenian Rite, the Byzantine Rite, the East Syriac Rite, and the West Syriac Rite, are all represented within one or more of the Eastern Catholic Churches. Consequently, the Catholic Church consists of six liturgical rites, including the aforementioned five liturgical traditions of the Eastern Catholic Churches along with the Latin liturgical rites of the Latin Church. On occasion, this leads to a conflation of the liturgical word "rite" and the institutional word "church". Although some theological issues divide the Eastern Catholic Churches from other the eastern churches not in communion with the pope, some Eastern Catholic jurisdictions admit members of the latter to the Eucharist and the other sacraments, as governed by applicable Eastern Catholic canon law.