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Catholics are most commonly associated with
the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Church though consists of many
churches or rites, the largest being Roman Catholic. Generally speaking,
the the word rite is used to indicate the external performance of some act or
deed which has been hallowed by continuous use and tradition. For example,
we have parlimentary rites practised in parliament, family rites used ad
weddings, and coronation rites practised at the coronations of kings and
queens. A Catholic rite defines the religious customs and religious
traditions, brought about by cultural, and geographic separations of the Early
Catholic Church. The religious traditions have been attributed to the four
centres of the early church, Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople and Rome.
Because of geographic separation, these churches deviated from each other in
forms of worship and religious tradition. From these centres the 5 Eastern Catholic
Traditions developed (Alexandrian, Antiochene (West Syrian), East Syrian,
Constantinopolitan, and Armenian), and One Western Tradition (Roman). Each
Tradition has its own rites.
Ukrainian Greek
Catholicism is one of 22 Catholic Churches which observe an Eastern rite within one
Catholic Church. The rite belongs to the Byzantine or Constantinopolitan
Tradition. There are approximately 16 million Eastern Catholics.
Ukrainian Greek Catholics comprise the largest rite within all Eastern Catholics
rites, numbering about 7 million people.
Within the Western Catholic
Church (Roman Tradition), the Roman Rite (Latin) is known as the Roman Catholic
Church. It numbers about 980 million followers. All 23 churches are
in communion with Rome, with the Pope as the leader of the worldwide Catholic
Church.
The Pope of Rome has three distinct roles:
- The Pope is the leader of the worldwide
Catholic Church.
- The Pope is the Patriarch of the West and
leader of the Latin or Roman Church.
- The Pope is the Bishop of the diocese of
Rome.
All
Catholic Churches believe the Pope is the successor of St. Peter the Apostle
appointed by Jesus Christ to build his church on earth. All catholic
churches share a common doctrine, but differ in how this doctrine is expressed
in worship, and religious tradition.
Other links pertaining to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Rite:
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