Aren’t All Catholics the Same?

NO! The Catholic Church is actually a communion of 22 particular churches. Each has its own distinctive way of worship and its special spirituality. What unites us all is our common faith in the doctrines of the Catholic Church and our acceptance of the Pope of Rome as head of the whole Church.

Of the 1 billion Catholics in the world the vast majority belong to the Roman Church. About 20 million Catholics belong to the 21 Eastern Catholic Churches. The largest of group of these are those Churches of the Byzantine tradition.

Byzantine?

The first Christian Emperor of Rome, Constantine the Great (273-337 A.D.) divided the Roman Empire in two halves. He established the capital of the Eastern half in a new city built on the site of the small town of Byzantium. This city he named Constantinople. It is today known as Istanbul, in present day Turkey.

The adjective "Byzantine" thus refers to the Christian tradition of worship and spirituality that developed in the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. The common language of this part of the world was Greek; the language in which the New Testament was written.

Almost all the major teachings of the Catholic Church were set down in writing by the Churches centered on Constantinople. This includes the basic Creed of Christianity first proclaimed by the Councils of Nicea and Constantinople in the Fourth Century. Throughout the first thousand years of Christian history the Byzantine Church and the Popes in Rome were almost always in agreement about the faith, and were in full communion with each other.