One of the beauties and glories of our Catholic Church is the diversity of other liturgical Rites that are in full communion with the Holy See. These Rites have existed for centuries and developed distinctive forms of celebrating Holy Mass and the other sacraments of the Church, with rich theology, expressions of piety and customs rising from their place of origin and historical circumstances.

Some western Catholics are surprised to learn about this reality of other Rites in the Church, presuming that the Latin or Roman Rite, to which probably the majority of Catholics reading this essay belong, is the only expression of Catholicism in the world. Perhaps in this day and age, as the world seems to be getting smaller and immigration from other parts of the world is common, people have some awareness of the existence of Christians who are not “Latin” or “Roman” or “Western” Catholics, but of other Catholic Rites, such as, Greek, Syro-Malabar, Maronite, Ukrainian, Armenian, Syro-Malankar, Melkite, Romanian, Albanian, Chaldean, Coptic, Ruthenian, Antiochian , Russian and others.

Today there are some twenty-three particular and distinct Eastern Rites, often called Churches, in full communion with the pope and part of the world-wide Catholic Church. These Churches are governed by their own Code of Canon, or Church, law pertaining to their particular Rite and traditions. The number of Eastern Catholics today is some sixteen million and they comprise about 1.5 per cent of the Catholic Church, with the remaining 1.2 billion people belonging to the Western or Latin Church.

It has to be admitted that the designation “east” and “west” is relative and dependent on where you call “home base,” so to speak. Designating Rome as the center, then places to the right (or east) on the globe become “eastern,” (up to a point), and to the left of the globe, “western.” I confess it strikes me as slightly awkward and perhaps an inaccurate delineation, but that is how the designations have been made for centuries now.

This is not the place to go into all the details, historical and liturgical, of the various Eastern Catholics. That could be an assignment, though, for those who are reading this. The present paragraphs will actually be more about my contacts in the city of Rome, where many of the Eastern Catholic Rites or Churches are represented.

When I was a student here, from 1985 to 1988, my Eastern Catholic contacts were mostly with Ukrainian Catholic monks of the Order of Saint Basil the Great. This is a relatively new Congregation of priests, with the active apostolate of parishes and schools around the world. They have a house in Rome, on the Aventine Hill, where the superiors of their Order and his assistants reside. The house also has rooms for it student brothers, some thirty or so when I was here before, who were studying at various schools of philosophy, theology, Canon (Church) Law here in Rome.

In my class at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas, run by the Dominican Order, we had several Ukrainian Basilians. I would sometimes go to their house, dedicated to the martyr Saint Josephat, and near to Sant’Anselmo on the Aventine Hill, where I lived. I attended the Divine Liturgy (Holy Mass) or a profession ceremony at Saint Josephat now and then, always sung beautifully by the young brothers. I am not sure how many Ukrainians Basilians are in Rome today, thirty years later.

“This time around” in Rome (and presumably the last, as I would be ninety-five years old in thirty years!) my Eastern Catholic contacts are mainly with Syro-Malabar Benedictine monks of India. For many years my monastery has had contacts and exchanges with the monks of Saint Thomas Abbey, at Kappadu, in Kerala, southern India. The monastery today numbers almost one hundred monks. This is sometimes hard for European monks to fathom, as the numbers in monasteries in Europe continue to decline. Many one-time great abbeys in Europe, that fifty years ago had a hundred or more monks, now have a couple dozen or fewer members. The growth of vocations in India, Africa, Korea and elsewhere is in sharp contrast with much of the modern western world. The monks of Kappadu belong to the ancient Syro-Malabar Rite and celebrate their Liturgy in the vernacular language, that is, Malayalam. While English is one of India’s official languages (along with Hindi), use of English is not prominent in every part of the country.

Six monks from various Indian monasteries are now studying in Rome and living at Sant’Anselmo. Some of them are regular visitors to our Curia Sant’Ambrogio. Though belonging to Congregations other than our own, they are nonetheless Benedictines and our brothers in Christ. On March 14th this year the Syro-Malabar monks at Saint’Anselmo, along with others in Rome of the Syro-Malabar Church, celebrated their Mass, called Holy Qurbana, in the church at Sant’Anselmo. The Mass lasted an hour, had a celebrant and two assistant priests, a reader and a choir of several monks and priest friends. I was privileged to attend the Mass and to enjoy the supper (cena) afterwards that the monks of Kerala had prepared. As everywhere, Christian life is not just about praying, as important as that is, but also eating and enjoying one another’s company!

Eastern Catholic parishes or religious houses near us in Rome’s historic center include the Greek Catholic parish at the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedian, where the famous “Bocca di Verita” is located. Nearby the Syro-Malabar Catholics worship at Sant’Anastasia church each Sunday. The Ukrainian Basilian monks are just up the Aventine hill near Sant’Anselmo. There is also, on the way to the Vatican, the Armenian Catholic parish of San Biaggio (Blaise) on the Via Giulia and the Ukranian Catholic parish just off Via Cavour. There is an Armenian Catholic parish near us also. There are probably other Eastern Catholic parishes or religious houses around us that I am not even aware of.

Saint John Paul II used to speak of “breathing with two lungs” when talking of the Catholic Church of East and West and its rich traditions beyond the Latin or Roman Rite. The point is still valid and a regular part of living in Rome is seeing, getting to know and being enriched by the liturgical, theological and cultural riches of our Eastern brother and sisters. This sometimes includes their diverse and delicious food as well!