“[T]hat all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you” (Jn. 17:21)
When we think about the Church, it tends to be in generalities and monoliths. When people ask us what we are, we have a tendency of calling ourselves “Roman Catholic.” In anti-Catholic circles, we are sometimes referred to as “Romanists” and are asked why we follow “that Roman religion.”
Many Catholics, myself included, will begin to defend our faith as we ought, to show why either the Papacy is true and situated in Rome, or how Sts. Peter and Paul founded their Sees in Rome, and so on. We often fail to ask a simple yet often ignored question in response however: “who says our faith is exclusive to Rome?”
Though it is true that St. Peter established the papacy in Rome, it is equally true that he established his first episcopal line in Antioch. Though it is true that the Mass of the Roman Rite has a long and venerable history, it is by no means the earliest liturgy we have on record, and when codified in its recognizable form under Pope Gregory the Great, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom had already been used for centuries.
Customs and disciplines like a completely celibate clergy, unleavened bread for the Eucharist, and the denial of the chalice for communion were developments that took off almost exclusively in the Western Church. It seems then that we ought to broaden our scope of the practices, rules, and expressions of faith that we see as falling within the realm of Catholicism.
So then, if we wish to be precise with our language and welcoming to the entire history and life of the Church from all corners of the world, we ought to examine what actually belongs within the bounds of the Catholic Church.
The Catholic Church is actually a kind of union of 24 sui juris (self-rule) churches, the Latin Church being by far the one with the most members. The other 23 are various Eastern Churches in full communion with the Latin Church and the Pope. Each of these other Churches has their own ecclesiastical order with their own bishops, customs, and even abide by a different set of Canon Law.
These Churches also follow different liturgical rites than the Roman Rite practiced in the Latin Church. The most common one amongst the Eastern Churches is the aforementioned Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, though there is some variation. Some of these Eastern Churches include the Melkite Church, the Ukrainian Catholic Church, and the Byzantine Catholic Church.
One important point of clarification about these “Particular Churches” is that though they may have differing theological schools and practices, they are all united in the same dogmatic and doctrinal beliefs. For example, the Oriental Code of Canon Law states that “The Roman Pontiff obtains supreme and full power in the Church by legitimate election accepted by him along with episcopal ordination” (can. 44, §1)
So then, both when we ourselves are thinking about the Catholic Church, and when we are discussing what the Catholic Church is to others, we ought to have this fuller perspective that what it means to be Catholic is not this tradition or that rule, but that we are part of the whole and diverse body of Christ, all called in different ways to show forth His glory.
James Pritchett is a Sophomore studying History and Classics with a deep affinity for his native land, the Golden State. Despite being the most recent lover of Catholicism on the Torch staff, he is the C101 editor and his main interests consist of reading Dostoyevsky, playing devil’s advocate, and correcting people on niche theological heresies.
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