[Magdalen] 31 December 2015 - Beth and George Conant-Lambert

[Joseph Cirou]

The Slav and Hungarian Byzantine Catholics received the misnomer Greek Catholics from the Austro=Hungarian Empire resulting in the US the further misnomer "Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic" as a result of many Byzantine Catholics entering into communion with the Orthodox Church over the forced Latinization by   the Roman Catholic hierarchy in the late 19th/early 20th century. Their leader is now a canonized Saint of the OCA St. Alexis Toth who was originally a Byzantine Catholic priest in Minnesota. The actual Greek Catholics, would be Greek citizens who belong to the Byzantine Catholic Church in Greece, Cyprus and other Greek speaking areas, Italo-greeks or Italo-Albanians with two eparchies and one abbey in Southern Italy also known as Magna Gracia. Their liturgical language is Greek but they use Albanian (in a dialect that only remains in southern Italy) and Italian They have 2 parishes in the US and the Melkites, who use Arab, Greek, and the local vernacular. the church where I sang on St. Basil's Day is such a church.

Our OCA Cathedral in Chicago, HOly Trinity was partially endowed by the Czar, but the cornerstone reads Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic.  Many o of the former Byzantine Catholics are now OCA others belong to the Carpathian Jurisdiction which is under Constantinople. The OCA is autocephalic. I don't know whether the group is now independent of Constantinople. Constantinople needs ever USA body it can hold on to. Some groups in Europe formerly were under the omophor of the Ecumenical Patriarch, but are no longer so; but I don't think this development has reached the US. Some Ukrainian Orthodox are independent with their own Patriarch; others are with Russia; and still others still with the Ecumenical Patriarch.

At the time of Florence, some Ukrainians were in communion with both Rome and Constantinople. It was this group that encouraged the further union of Brest Litovsk in 1596. Some Orthodox repudiated the Union of  Florence; others did not enter a formal breach. In 1453 Constantinople was in communion with  Rome; but not all agreed with Florence (which was only a few years earlier) so it was not hard to retrench for those who wished to do so.
IN fact one of the reasons for establishing the Patriarchate of Moscow was Constantinople's acceptance of the Council of Florence in the previous century.

Joe (I still think of myself as a Chicagoan, even tho I have lived in Atlanta for more than 20 years. I was very involved with Slavic Christianity in its many forms when I lived in Chicago. I had limited contact with the Greek Orthodox. In Atlanta my contact is much more with the Greeks (I played in a Greek Orthodox Church) and the Melkites have much contact with both the Greek and Antiochian Orthodox.)



-----Original Message-----
>From: Cantor03--- via Magdalen <magdalen at herberthouse.org>
>Sent: Jan 2, 2016 5:44 PM
>To: magdalen at herberthouse.org
>Cc: Cantor03 at aol.com
>Subject: Re: [Magdalen] 31 December 2015 - Beth and George Conant-Lambert
>
>
>
>In a message dated 1/2/2016 3:19:40 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
>romanos at mindspring.com writes:
>
>. Where  do you sing?>>>>>
> 
>Thanks, Joe.  You are an encyclopedia of information!
> 
> 
>It's been awhile, but when I do go "Eastern" it is at Saint Mary's
>"Greek Catholic Church" in Hazleton, PA:
> 
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>https://www.facebook.com/StMarysByzantineCatholicChurch
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> 
>David S.