“The celebration of Mass, as the action of Christ and of the People of God arrayed hierarchically, is the center of the whole of Christian life for the Church both universal and local, as well as for each of the faithful individually. For in it is found the high point both of the action by which God sanctifies the world in Christ and of the worship that the human race offers to the Father, adoring him through Christ, the Son of God, in the Holy Spirit. In it, moreover, during the course of the year, the mysteries of redemption are celebrated so as to be in some way made present. As to the other sacred actions and all the activities of the Christian life, these are bound up with it, flow from it, and are ordered to it.”  (General Instruction of the Roman Missal, #16)

The Catholic Family of Churches: Rites in Communion with the Roman Catholic Church in the Diocese of Orlando:

Eastern Churches

“The Catholic Church holds in high esteem the institutions, liturgical rites, ecclesiastical traditions, and the established standards of the Christian life of the Eastern Churches, for in them, distinguished as they are for their venerable antiquity there remains conspicuous the tradition that has been handed down from the Apostles through the fathers and that forms part of the divinely revealed and undivided heritage of the universal Church.” (Orientalium Ecclesiarum, Pope Paul VI)

BYZANTINE
The Byzantine liturgy is based on liturgy developed by St. James for the Antiochaian church but modified by St. Basil (329-379) and St. John Chrysostom (344-407). This liturgy is similar if not identical to the liturgy used by the Orthodox churches. After the schism between the churches in Rome and Constantinople in 1054, many particular churches remained separated from Rome. Over the years some of these churches came back into union. These churches after they returned to the fold have generally been treated as separate rites based on their particular location, even though they have similar if not identical liturgy. The churches using the Byzantine liturgy include the Albanian, Belarussian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Greek, Hungarian, Italo-Albanian, Melkite, Romanian, Russian, Ruthenian, Slovak, and Ukrainian.

MARONITE
The Maronite rite traces its origins to the work of St. Maron in the 4th century who founded a monastery east of Antioch. Later monks moved to the mountains in what is today Lebanon. This rite never fell into heresy and was only separated from Rome by the political reality of Moslem or Ottoman occupation. The Maronites use a hybrid liturgy based on the Antiochian St. James. Maronites make up 17% of the population of Lebanon and by the law of that country the president of Lebanon is always a Maronite.

SYRO-MALABAR
The Malabar rite is based in India. Its members are descendants of the Thomas Christians and could be called a brother rite to the Malankarese. The Malabar rite never broke with Rome despite the conflict with the Portuguese in the 16th century. They are generally grouped with the Chaldean family of rites because the Assyrian (later called Chaldean) church provided their bishops until the Portuguese took over that task. Also their liturgy was originally in the Syriac language which the Chaldean church used. Although an ancient rite, it had no single administrator until Pope John Paul II appointed a Major Archbishop in 1992.

ORDINARIATE OF THE CHAIR OF ST. PETER
The Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter is a national structure, similar to a diocese, that was created by the Vatican in 2012 for former Anglican communities and clergy seeking to become Catholic. Once Catholic, the communities retain many aspects of their Anglican heritage, liturgy, and traditions. Priests must apply for ordination as Catholic priests and first complete an approved formation program. (USCCB) There is one church in the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter in Orlando: Incarnation Catholic Church, Orlando

Churches Not in Communion with Rome

Please be aware that there are churches in Central Florida who identify themselves as “catholic,” however are not Roman Catholic Churches or parishes of the Diocese of Orlando. These churches are not in full communion with the Pope and Bishops of the one Catholic Church governed by Apostolic See nor do they recognize authority of the Pope.  Some of these churches are affiliated with groups which left the communion of the Roman Catholic Church (for example Churches affiliated with the Society of Pope Pius X) while others are founded without a beginning in the communion of the Roman Catholic Church.

To avoid confusion, please be aware that these churches are not reliable for their adherence to the Catholic faith as articulated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  Therefore, attendance at a liturgical service on Sunday at one of these churches may not fulfill your obligation to attend Sunday Mass and participate in the Sacred Liturgy.  Check the Diocese of Orlando website or call the Diocesan office at 407-246-4800 to determine if a church is affiliated with the Diocese of Orlando, under the leadership of Bishop John Noonan.

Not Affiliated with Rome and the Diocese of Orlando:

St. Paul Polish National Catholic Church, Belleview

St. Patrick Catholic Anglican Church, Cocoa

St. Filumena Roman Catholic Church, Eustis

St. Francis Old Catholic Community, Kissimmee

St. Thomas More Old Catholic Community, Lakeland

Holy Family Traditional Catholic Church, Melbourne

Church of St. Raphael Archangel, Orlando

Holy Angels Catholic Community, Orlando

Iglesia Rey de Reyes, Orlando

Sacred Heart Traditional Catholic Church, Orlando

St. Thomas More Church and Priory (Society of St. Pius X), Sanford

Santuario Divino Nino de Jesus, St. Cloud

St. Dorothy Catholic Community, Winter Park

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