Greek Greek Catholic Church

Greek Greek Catholic Church

Ελληνόρρυθμη Καθολική Εκκλησία Ellinórrythmi Katholikí Ekklisía
Basic data
Jurisdiction status	sui iuris
rite	Byzantine rite
Liturgical language	Koine , Modern Greek
calendar	Gregorian calendar
Establishment date	1859/60
Seat	Apostolic Exarchate Greece ( Athens )
Hierarch	Manuel Nin
statistics
Jurisdictions	2
Believers	6000
Bishops	1
Parishes	4th
Diocesan priest	7th
Religious priest	0
Permanent deacons	1
Friars	0
Religious sisters	15th
Stand 2013

The Greek Greek Catholic Church is the Eastern Catholic Church of the Byzantine Rite in Greece . It is therefore united with the Roman Catholic Church and recognizes the Pope as its spiritual leader. The language of the liturgy is Greek .

The church has around 2,500 believers, mainly in Greece.

History and structure

The fact that "Greek" denotes the Byzantine rite has historical roots in the development of the Eastern Churches from the Greek-speaking early churches in Eastern Rome (in contrast to the " Latin " Church in Western Rome). Therefore, one speaks - somewhat misleadingly - of " Greek Orthodox " and "Greek Catholic" for the Rome-Uniate Byzantines. Today there are several rite languages ​​of these, which is why the Greek-speaking rite church of Catholicism is referred to as "Greek Greek Catholic".

The Greek Greek Catholic Church as such was established in 1859 and 1860 through the union of Constantinople with Thrace and Macedonia in the Ottoman Empire . On June 11, 1911, Pope Pius X established an Apostolic Exarchate for the European part of the Ottoman Empire . In 1922, after the end of the Turkish War of Liberation ( Greco-Turkish War ), the Exarch fled to Athens; the Ordinariate there became the Apostolic Exarchate of Greece in 1923 . Later in 1932, the Turkish Exarchate was renamed the Apostolic Exarchate Istanbul .

The diocese of Greece has around 2,500 believers. The Greek Catholic Church in Turkey has almost completely disappeared through expulsion or emigration to the mother country and the diaspora , today only 25 believers are recorded in a parish. Therefore, today the term “Greek Greek Catholic Church” is understood to mean the Greek Catholic (Rome-Uniate) Church in Greece.

The Rome-Uniate Greek-speaking Byzantine believers in the diaspora are subject to the local Roman Catholic hierarchy or special ordinaries.

Individual evidence

1. ^ The Eastern Catholic Churches 2013. Catholic Near East Welfare Association, accessed February 9, 2015 . 
2. ^ ^{A b} Smaller Eastern Catholic Churches of the Byzantine Rite: Greek Greek Catholic Church, prooriente.at.

Web link

Small representation of the Greek Catholic Church in Greece (www.damian-hungs.de)