Eastern Catholic Reflections on Liturgy and Ecclesiology from East-Central Europe

Abstract

The Byzantine Church in Slavic countries, in the act of Union with the Catholic Church, attempted to secure its rituals so that they remained untouched and unaltered. Despite the original intentions, various Latin features began to intrude into Byzantine worship and alter not only external rites but also the background of spirituality, as well as the understanding of the religion. The Byzantine Catholic Church is thus marked by a perpetual battle between new developments, usually understood as latinization, and a more conservative attitude, which attempts to conserve the original rituals as they were.