Greek Byzantine Catholic Church

Greek Byzantine Catholic Church
Cathedral of the Holy Trinity
Classification	Eastern Catholic
Governance	Sui iuris
Structure	ApostolicExarchates
Pope	Francis
Leader	BishopManuel Nin ApostolicExarchofGreece
Associations	Congregation for the Oriental Churches
Region	Greece,Turkey
Liturgy	Byzantine Rite
Headquarters	Holy Trinity Cathedral
Origin	June 11, 1911
Separated from	Greek Orthodox
Branched from	Catholic Church
Congregations	4
Members	6,016
Ministers	11

TheGreek Byzantine Catholic Church(Greek:Ελληνόρρυθμη Καθολική Εκκλησία,Ellinórrythmi Katholikí Ekklisía) or theGreek-Catholic Church of Greeceis asui iurisEastern Catholicparticular churchof theCatholic Churchthat uses theByzantine RiteinKoine GreekandModern Greek.Its membership includes inhabitants ofGreeceandTurkey,with some links withItalyandCorsica.

History

There were several failed attempts to repair theEast-West Schismbetween Greek and LatinChristians:theCouncil of Bariin 1098, theCouncil of Lyonin 1274, and theCouncil of Florencein 1439. Subsequently, many individualGreeks,then underOttomanrule, embracedcommunionwith theCatholic Church.They typically followed theRoman Riteof theLatin Church,maintaining their parishes through contact and support mostly from theVenetians.

However, it was not until the 1880s that a particular church specifically for Greek Catholics who followed the Byzantine rite was built in the village ofMalgarainThrace.Before the end of the 19th century, two more such churches were built, one inConstantinopleand the other inChalcedon.

In 1826, Catholic priest John Marangos began a mission among the Orthodox Christians of Constantinople, where he managed the construction of a small community. In 1878, he moved on toAthens,where he died in 1885 after he had founded a church. In addition, he won over two small villages in Thrace to the Catholic faith.

After 1895, theAssumptionistsbegan their mission in Constantinople, a seminary and two other small towns, founded in 1910; there were about 1,000 worshipers with 12 priests, 10 of which were Assumptionists.

In 1907, a nativeGreekpriest,Isaias Papadopoulos,the priest who had built the church in Thrace, was appointedvicargeneral for the Greek Catholics within the Apostolic Delegation of Constantinople, and in 1911, he receivedepiscopal consecrationand was put in charge of the newly established ordinariate for Greek Byzantine Rite Catholics, which later became anexarchate.Theparticular Churchof Byzantine Rite Greek Catholics was being founded. Much more numerous were the Catholic Greeks of theLatin Church,who formed the majority of the population in someAegeanislands.

As a result ofthe conflict between Greece and Turkeyafter theFirst World War,the Greek Catholics ofMalgaraand of the neighbouring village ofDaudelimoved toGiannitsainMacedonia,where today lives a sizeable community, and many of those who lived inIstanbulemigrated or fled toAthens,one being thebishopwho had succeeded to the position ofexarch,and thereligious instituteof the Sisters of the Pammakaristos, founded in 1920.

In 1932, the territory of the Exarchate for Byzantine-Rite Greek Catholics was limited to that of theGreek state,and a separateExarchate of Constantinoplewas established for those resident inTurkey.Continued emigration and anti-Greek nationalist incidents by Turks, such as theIstanbul Pogrom,extremely reduced the number of the Greek Catholics in Turkey. The last resident Greek-Catholic priest inConstantinopledied in 1997 and has not since been replaced. The only regular services in theGreek-Catholic Church of the Holy Trinitythere are held by exiledChaldean Catholicsliving in the city.

Vocations to the Greek Byzantine Catholic Church are largely drawn from theGreek islandsofSyrosandTinos,which both have sizable Catholic populations.

BishopManuel Nin(titularbishop ofCarcabia) is current ApostolicExarchof the Byzantine Rite Catholics inGreece.

Byzantine Rite Catholic Greeks in Greece number were mildly rising to 6,016 (6,000 in Greece and 16 in Turkey) as of 2017.In Athens, the main Greek Catholic church is theHoly Trinity Cathedral, Athens.

Although not under the jurisdiction of the Greek Byzantine Catholic Church, a Greek-Catholic community of the descendants of expatriated Greeks exists atCargèse,inCorsica.A priest based inAthens,ArchimandriteAthanasios Armaos, visits Cargèse several times a year to conduct services in the Greek church.

Byzantine Greek Catholics

Notable Greek Byzantine, or Eastern, Catholics (also calledUniatesfor favouring the Union of the Churches) include:

• George Acropolites,historian
• George Metochites,deacon
• Bessarion,Cardinal
• Isidore of Kiev,Cardinal
• Theodorus Gaza,scholar
• Gregory III of Constantinople,Ecumenical Patriarch
• Leo Allatius,scholar
• Nilus the Younger,abbot
• Giuseppe Schirò,Arbëreshscholar

Exarchs

• George Calavassy,from 1932 to 1957
• Hyakinthos Gad,from 1957 to 1975
• Anargyros Printezis,from 1975 to 2008
• Dimitri (Dimitrios) Salachas,from 2008 to 2016
• Manuel Nin,from 2016

See also

Related institutions outside of Greece:

• Sant'Atanasio
• Pontifical Greek College of Saint Athanasius

Historical connections:

• Italo-Albanian Catholic Church(the Byzantine Catholic church of theArbëreshë/Albanian minorityin Italy)

Other:

• Catholic Church in Greece,including the more numerous Latin-rite Church in the country
• Church of Greece,an Orthodox Church

External links

• Website of the Greek Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Greece
• Unofficial website of the Society of St John Chrysostom of the Holy Trinity Greek Catholic Church in Istanbul
• A Greek Catholic church in Cargèse, Corsica
• A Greek Catholic church in Rome
• Article on the Greek Catholic Exarchate by Ronald Roberson on the CNEWA website.