Byzantine Catholics QUESTION from Leanne Evans January 4, 2001 What is Byzantine Catholic? I know that it has to do with some difference between Eastern and Western Rites type churches, but am unclear.
ANSWER by John-Paul Ignatius, OLSM on March 19, 2001 Dear Mrs. Evans:
Byzantine Catholics belong to a Rite that uses the three Liturgical forms 1) Liturgy of St. James the Elder, modified by St. Basil and named after him (Liturgy of St. Basil); Sts. John Chrysostom's later moidifications which became the common Eucharistic service of Constantinople; and 3) the liturgy of the Presanctified, essentially the distribution of the Blessed Sacrament consecrated on the preceding Sunday.
The Byzantine Rite is the rite followed by the Church of Constantinople and is the second most widely used rite after the Roman Rite.
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