Fully Eastern, Fully Catholic
Jesus commissioned His apostles to "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them all that I have commanded you." After the Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost in Jerusalem, the Gospel message was proclaimed in power throughout the world. As the Church spread, the same faith in the Holy Trinity took root in particular Eastern and Western peoples and was expressed according to their own unique cultures, languages, customs, art forms and music.
The Catholic Church is a world-wide communion of over twenty distinct, autonomous ritual churches, the Latin Church being the largest and often the best known. Catholic Christians, whether Eastern or Western, all share three important things in common:
Apostolic Faith
(The Word of God in Sacred Scripture
and Sacred Tradition as taught
by the Apostles and their Successors)
Apostolic Worship
(The Mysteries or Sacraments
of the Church)
Apostolic Ministry
(The Bishops, Priests and Deacons in
Visible Communion with each other and
the Apostolic See of Saint Peter in Rome)
Within this unity, which reflects the divine life and communion of the Holy Trinity, each Church also has its own distinct:
+ Liturgy
+ Theology
+ Spirituality
+ Church Law
Just as Israel in the wilderness was formed as one People of God made up of distinct tribes called together by the Word of God, so the Church, the New Israel, is made up of the many nations of the earth who boldly proclaim one faith in Christ!
Our particular Church is rooted in the Byzantine tradition of Kyiv, which was brought to the Slavic peoples in the 9th century through the missionary efforts of the brothers, Saints Cyril and Methodius, Apostles to the Slavs.
For further information on the Eastern Catholic Churches, be sure to read Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Letter, Orientale Lumen, "The Light of the East".
