Byzantine (Constantinopolitan)
The largest Eastern family, from the Church of Constantinople, using the liturgy of St John Chrysostom in many languages
Churches of this rite14
Albanian Greek Catholic Church
| Rite | Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) |
|---|---|
| Apostle | St Andrew, by tradition of Constantinople; St Paul preached as far as Illyricum (Romans 15:19) |
| Hierarchy | The Apostolic Administration of Southern Albania, with no bishop’s see of its own. It also serves Latin Catholics, and some reference works now list it as Latin |
| Where | Vlorë, Albania. An apostolic administration. |
| Dioceses | 1 |
| Members | A small community |
Origins
From Orthodox Christians of southern Albania who sought union with Rome, with early efforts in the 17th century.
History
The community grew slowly and was organised in 1939. Communist Albania banned all religion in 1967.
Worship
The Byzantine liturgy in Albanian.
Today
A very small Church, rebuilt since religion became legal again in 1990 and 1991.
Belarusian Greek Catholic Church
| Rite | Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) |
|---|---|
| Apostle | St Andrew, by tradition of Constantinople |
| Hierarchy | An apostolic administration for the Byzantine faithful of Belarus, set up in 2023 and led by a priest |
| Where | Belarus and abroad. No bishop of its own at present. |
| Dioceses | 1 |
| Members | A small community |
Origins
From the Union of Brest of 1596, which brought Orthodox bishops of the Polish-Lithuanian state into union with Rome.
History
Imperial Russia ended the union in Belarus in 1839. The Church revived for a time from 1905, and was crushed again under Soviet rule.
Worship
The Byzantine liturgy in Belarusian.
Today
Parishes returned after 1990. In 2023 the Holy See set up an apostolic administration for its faithful in Belarus.
Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church
| Rite | Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) |
|---|---|
| Apostle | St Andrew, by tradition of Constantinople; disciples of St Cyril and St Methodius brought the Slavonic liturgy |
| Hierarchy | A single eparchy under a bishop, directly under the Holy See |
| Where | Sofia, Bulgaria. Led by the Bishop of its eparchy. |
| Dioceses | 1 |
| Members | About 10,000 |
Origins
From a Bulgarian movement of 1859 to 1861, when some sought union with Rome during the struggle for a national Church.
History
The future St John XXIII served in Bulgaria as the Pope’s representative from 1925 to 1934. The Church suffered under communism. Its exarchate became an eparchy in 2019.
Worship
The Byzantine liturgy in Bulgarian and Church Slavonic.
Today
A small Church, renewing itself since 1989.
Croatian and Serbian Greek Catholic Church
| Rite | Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) |
|---|---|
| Apostle | St Andrew, by tradition of Constantinople; St Cyril and St Methodius |
| Hierarchy | No single head: two eparchies, one in Croatia and one in Serbia |
| Where | Croatia and Serbia, with separate eparchies. |
| Dioceses | 2 |
| Members | About 44,000 |
Origins
From Orthodox refugees fleeing Ottoman rule, who settled in Croatia and entered union with Rome from 1611.
History
The Eparchy of Križevci was established in 1777. It later served Ruthenians who settled in the region. An eparchy for Serbia was established in 2018.
Worship
The Byzantine liturgy in Church Slavonic and local languages.
Today
A small Church serving several peoples across two countries.
Greek Byzantine Catholic Church
| Rite | Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) |
|---|---|
| Apostle | St Andrew, by tradition of Constantinople; St Paul in Greece |
| Hierarchy | No single head: exarchates in Athens and Istanbul |
| Where | Greece and Turkey, with an exarchate in Athens. |
| Dioceses | 2 |
| Members | About 6,000 |
Origins
From a Catholic mission among Greeks in Constantinople at the start of the 20th century.
History
An exarchate was established in Constantinople in 1911. After the Greek-Turkish war of the 1920s, many moved to Athens.
Worship
The Byzantine liturgy in Greek, in the language in which it was first prayed.
Today
The smallest of the Churches with published figures, known for its charity to refugees.
Hungarian Greek Catholic Church
| Rite | Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) |
|---|---|
| Apostle | St Andrew, by tradition of Constantinople |
| Hierarchy | Metropolitan Church: Hajdúdorog with suffragan eparchies |
| Where | Debrecen, Hungary. Led by the Metropolitan of Hajdúdorog. |
| Dioceses | 3 |
| Members | About 297,000 |
Origins
From Greek Catholics of Ruthenian and Romanian background who came to speak Hungarian.
History
Pope St Pius X created the Eparchy of Hajdúdorog in 1912. Pope Francis made it a metropolia in 2015.
Worship
The Byzantine liturgy in Hungarian.
Today
A lively Church within Hungary, with strong schools and youth work.
Italo-Albanian Catholic Church
| Rite | Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) |
|---|---|
| Apostle | St Andrew, by tradition of Constantinople; St Paul in Italy |
| Hierarchy | No single head: two eparchies and the territorial Abbey of Grottaferrata |
| Where | Southern Italy and Sicily, including Lungro and Piana degli Albanesi. |
| Dioceses | 3 |
| Members | About 56,000 |
Origins
From Albanians who fled the Ottomans in the 15th century and settled in Italy, joining older Greek communities there.
History
It holds that it was never separated from Rome. Its eparchies date from 1919 and 1937. The Abbey of Grottaferrata near Rome, founded by St Nilus in 1004, belongs to this tradition.
Worship
The Byzantine liturgy in Greek and Albanian.
Today
It keeps the Albanian language and customs alive in Italy.
Macedonian Greek Catholic Church
| Rite | Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) |
|---|---|
| Apostle | St Andrew, by tradition of Constantinople; St Paul in Macedonia (Acts 16) |
| Hierarchy | A single eparchy under a bishop, directly under the Holy See |
| Where | Strumica, North Macedonia. Led by the Bishop of its eparchy. |
| Dioceses | 1 |
| Members | About 11,000 |
Origins
From the same 19th-century movement that gave rise to the Bulgarian Greek Catholics.
History
An apostolic exarchate was established for the Macedonian faithful in 2001, and it became the Eparchy of Strumica-Skopje in 2018.
Worship
The Byzantine liturgy in Macedonian and Church Slavonic.
Today
A small Church with a bishop of its own, in close contact with the Latin Catholics of the country.
Melkite Greek Catholic Church
| Rite | Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) |
|---|---|
| Apostle | St Peter, at Antioch |
| Hierarchy | Patriarchal Church: a Patriarch with eparchies in the Middle East and abroad |
| Where | Damascus, Syria. Led by a Patriarch. |
| Dioceses | 26 |
| Members | About 1.5 million |
Origins
From the Christians of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem who accepted the Council of Chalcedon. Melkite comes from the Syriac word for king, the emperor’s party.
History
A disputed election at Antioch in 1724 divided the patriarchate, and one line entered union with Rome. Its bishops spoke strongly for the Eastern Churches at the First and Second Vatican Councils.
Worship
The Byzantine liturgy in Arabic and Greek.
Today
Rooted in Syria, Lebanon and the Holy Land, with large communities abroad.
Romanian Greek Catholic Church
| Rite | Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) |
|---|---|
| Apostle | St Andrew, by tradition of Constantinople, who by tradition preached near the Black Sea |
| Hierarchy | Major Archiepiscopal Church: a Major Archbishop with eparchies in Romania and abroad |
| Where | Blaj, Romania. Led by a Major Archbishop. |
| Dioceses | 7 |
| Members | About 474,000 |
Origins
From Romanian Orthodox in Transylvania who entered union with Rome at the synods of Alba Iulia, 1698 to 1700.
History
It shaped Romanian language and national learning. The communists suppressed it in 1948 and imprisoned its bishops. Pope Francis beatified seven of those martyr bishops at Blaj in 2019.
Worship
The Byzantine liturgy in Romanian.
Today
Legal again since 1990, and a Major Archiepiscopal Church since 2005.
Russian Greek Catholic Church
| Rite | Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) |
|---|---|
| Apostle | St Andrew, by tradition of Constantinople |
| Hierarchy | No active hierarchy: exarchates exist on paper and have long been vacant |
| Where | Russia and abroad. No active bishop of its own. |
| Dioceses | 2 |
| Members | A small community |
Origins
It began after the Tsar’s edict of toleration in 1905 allowed Russians to become Catholics.
History
Its exarch, Blessed Leonid Feodorov, spent years in Soviet prison camps and died in 1935. He was beatified in 2001.
Worship
The Byzantine liturgy in Church Slavonic, in the Russian manner.
Today
A handful of parishes in Russia and abroad.
Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church
| Rite | Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) |
|---|---|
| Apostle | St Andrew, by tradition of Constantinople; St Cyril and St Methodius |
| Hierarchy | Three parts: the Metropolia of Pittsburgh, and the Eparchy of Mukachevo and an exarchate in the Czech Republic, both directly under the Holy See |
| Where | Pittsburgh, United States; Mukachevo, Ukraine; and the Czech Republic. |
| Dioceses | 6 |
| Members | About 366,000 |
Origins
From the Union of Uzhhorod in 1646, when 63 priests of the Carpathian Mountains entered union with Rome.
History
Blessed Theodore Romzha, the Bishop of Mukachevo, was killed in 1947, and the Soviets suppressed the Church in 1949. Emigrants built a strong Church in the United States, with a metropolia in Pittsburgh from 1969.
Worship
The Byzantine liturgy in Church Slavonic and English.
Today
A Church divided between its Carpathian homeland and America.
Slovak Greek Catholic Church
| Rite | Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) |
|---|---|
| Apostle | St Andrew, by tradition of Constantinople; St Cyril and St Methodius |
| Hierarchy | Metropolitan Church: Prešov with suffragan eparchies |
| Where | Prešov, Slovakia. Led by a Metropolitan. |
| Dioceses | 4 |
| Members | About 210,000 |
Origins
It shares the roots of the Union of Uzhhorod of 1646. Its Eparchy of Prešov was founded in 1818.
History
In 1950, the communists abolished it. Blessed Pavel Gojdič, its bishop, died in prison in 1960. Benedict XVI made Prešov a metropolia in 2008.
Worship
The Byzantine liturgy in Church Slavonic and Slovak.
Today
Fully restored, with an eparchy for its people in Canada too.
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
| Rite | Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) |
|---|---|
| Apostle | St Andrew, by tradition of Constantinople |
| Hierarchy | Major Archiepiscopal Church: a Major Archbishop with metropolias and eparchies in Ukraine and abroad |
| Where | Kyiv, Ukraine. Led by a Major Archbishop. |
| Dioceses | 36 |
| Members | About 4.3 million |
Origins
From the baptism of Kyiv under St Volodymyr in 988 and the Union of Brest in 1595 and 1596.
History
Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky led it for decades. In 1946 a false synod in Lviv merged it into the Russian Orthodox Church. It survived underground until 1989. Josyf Slipyj spent 18 years in Soviet camps.
Worship
The Byzantine liturgy in Ukrainian and Church Slavonic.
Today
The second largest Eastern Catholic Church, with a worldwide diaspora, and serving a nation at war.
| Population | About 7.3 million, not counting three small Churches with no published figures |
|---|---|
| Geography | Eastern Europe, the Middle East, southern Italy, the Americas and Australia |
| Dioceses | 95 |
| Apostle | St Andrew, by tradition of Constantinople. Many peoples add St Cyril and St Methodius, or St Paul |
| Liturgy | The Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, of St Basil on some days, and of the Presanctified Gifts in Lent |
| Language | Greek and Church Slavonic, with Arabic, Ukrainian, Romanian, Hungarian, Albanian and others |
| Music | Unaccompanied chant in eight tones (Oktoechos), Greek or Slavic in style. Icons and the iconostasis shape the worship |
| Hierarchy | One Patriarch (Melkite), two Major Archbishops (Ukrainian and Romanian), Metropolitans, bishops and exarchates |
| Year | Begins on 1 September |
History
Constantine founded Constantinople in 330, and its liturgy spread across the Christian East. In the 9th century, St Cyril and St Methodius brought it to the Slavs. East and West drifted apart, with the break usually dated to 1054. Parts of the East later returned to communion: Brest in 1596, Uzhhorod in 1646, Alba Iulia about 1700, and the Melkites in 1724. Communist governments persecuted many of these Churches, which revived after 1989.