Authentic reasons to leave Roman Catholicism?

Authentic reasons to leave Roman Catholicism?

If a Roman Catholic desires to leave the Latin Rite and join an Eastern Rite Catholic community permanently, he or she is obliged to obtained permission from the bishops of both Rites concerned.

If one desires to transfer to an Eastern Rite Catholic Church because you are attracted to the spirituality of the Byzantine Church, then your request will almost always be granted.

This answer may surprise you, as Catholics are generally unaware that they have millions of coreligionists who are not themselves part of the Roman Catholic Church.

In a point of fact, the Catholic Church directly under the jurisdiction of Rome is properly and canonically termed the Latin Church. All official Church documents simply use the term, "Catholic Church." And contrary to popular belief, most of the day-to-day work preformed by the Holy Father is not in his role as pope and pastor of the Universal Church but in his position in the Latin Church as the bishop of Rome and the patriarch of the West.

So who are these "other" Catholics? They have their own hierarchies and liturgies, as well as their own distinct apostolic lineages. They may look and act like Eastern Orthodox churches, but they recognize the pope of Rome as the head of the visible Church on earth and have suffered for the cause of that unity.

There’s nothing wrong with changing rites if you so desire. It’s a bit of a hassle and really isn’t necessary. You can join an Eastern-rite parish without changing rites. However, if you still want to change rites, check with the pastor of the Eastern-rite parish you wish to join.

To change from the Latin Church to the Byzantine Church, you must first be involved in a Byzantine parish for at least a year. You need this time to become acquainted with Byzantine spirituality and liturgical life. You should then discus the matter with the Byzantine pastor. He will then guide you in writing a letter to the Byzantine bishop, asking to join his eparchy. The Byzantine bishop will then contact the Latin bishop, who will investigate the matter. If you are cleared, the Latin bishop will turn you over to the care of the Byzantine bishop, and you will officially become Byzantine Catholic. The entire process only takes a few months.

You will only be refused if one of the bishops suspects that you have the wrong motivation. If you want to transfer because you are attracted to the spirituality of the Byzantine Church, your request will almost always be granted. But if you want to transfer because you don’t like the Latin Church, and you say this in your letter, your request will be refused.

This is a big step to take, and should be treated with great seriousness. But if you find yourself falling in love with the Byzantine Church, and begin to think of it as home, then go for it. - Roman Catholics becoming Eastern Catholic

It is more difficult for Eastern Rite Catholics to become members of the Latin Rite and permission of the Holy See is also required.

The transition of a Eastern Catholic to the Latin church is ruled by cann. 31 - 38 CCEO. Only relevant is here can. 32:

Can. 32 - § 1. No one can validly transfer to another Church sui iuris without the consent of the Apostolic See.

§ 2. In the case of Christian faithful of an eparchy of a certain Church sui iuris who petition to transfer to another Church sui iuris which has its own eparchy in the same territory, this consent of the Apostolic See is presumed, provided that the eparchial bishops of both eparchies consent to the transfer in writing.

So a Eastern Rite Catholic man can be transfered either with the consent of the Apostolic See ("Rome") and with the consent of the local Latin and Eastern bishops (if there are both).

If one has a good reason for changing the Church sui iuris this will succeed normally but with some paperwork. The process is not too easy because in the history of the church often Eastern Catholics were pressed into the Latin Church. Because of that can. 31 CCEO states:

Can. 31 - No one can presume in any way to induce the Christian faithful to transfer to another Church sui iuris.

The reason that Rome makes it harder to transfer to the Roman Rite from an Eastern Rite is because Rome desires to preserve the historical Eastern Liturgies.