Western Orthodoxy
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Western Orthodoxy is a strand of Orthodox Christian worship adapted for congregations in traditionally Catholic or Protestant countries.
There are certain parishes known as Western Orthodox within Eastern Orthodoxy that follow the rituals of either:
- the Anglican/Episcopalian (about 75% of these parishes, using the Liturgy of St. Tikhon, a modification of the 1904 Book of Common Prayer); or
- Roman Catholic Churches (about 25% of these parishes, using the Liturgy of St. Gregory, similar to the Tridentine Mass).
By far the largest group of these parishes in North America is represented by the Western Rite Vicariate of the North American Archdiocese of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, which has neither autocephaly (complete hierarchical independence) nor autonomy (governance of internal affairs, but its primate is appointed by and answerable to a parent jurisdiction's synod), but reports ultimately to the Patriarch of Antioch. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) also has a small number of Western-Rite parishes.
One can compare the situation of Western Orthodox parishes with the analogous status of autonomous Eastern-Rite Catholic churches. For centuries, there have been hierarchical churches in full communion with the Vatican, but which the Pope allows to follow customs and rules like those of the Eastern Orthodox Church, (e.g., they confirm newly baptized infants via chrismation, they have married priests, their churches have iconostases, etc.).
External links
- Western Orthodoxy (http://www.westernorthodox.com)
- Western Orthodox Vicariate of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (http://www.antiochian.org/western-rite)
- Text of the Liturgy of St. Gregory (http://members.aol.com/FrNicholas/liturgy.htm)
- Text of the Liturgy of St. Tikhon (http://www.saintpeterorthodox.org/Mass.htm)