We are a group of Eastern Catholics who live in Eastern Iowa. At the moment, there are no permanent communities here, but the hope, and by the grace of God and through the intercessions of the Mother of God, we will gather and form communities throughout the region, and spread the Gospel of Christ. The popes of Rome since St John Paul II have called us to a New Evangelization. As we gather and live the Gospel in our particular ways, we will draw others closer to Christ and union with the consubstantial Trinity. The purpose of this site is to offer a single point of contact among the various Eastern Catholics in our region, be they Byzantine, Coptic, Chaldean, Malabar, Malankar, Maronite, Melkite, Romanian, Syrian, Ukrainian and so on, or for anyone who is interested in learning, and coming closer to Christ in a faith, spirituality, and way of life that has been handed down unbroken from the very Apostles themselves, and given life and inculturated in various ways.
We are currently currently an outreach of the Eparchy of Parma for the Ruthenians (aka, Byzantine Catholics) with the blessing of the Eparch-emitus for the Ruthenians of Parma, + John Kudrick, the Eparch for the Melkites, +Nicholas Samra, and the permission of of the Latin bishop of the Diocese of Davenport, His Grace Thomas Zinkula. Very Reverend Thomas Loya, Pastor of Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Church in Homer Glen, Il. is our administrator.. We are seeking out interested families and individuals who would support a mission here. This is a truly "Pan-Catholic" endeavor, one that, God willing, will exemplify our Savior's prayer, "May they all be one."
If you are interested in helping us form a community, please contact us using the email form.
Come, join us and help us to grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, to whom be all glory, honor, and worship, now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
We are currently currently an outreach of the Eparchy of Parma for the Ruthenians (aka, Byzantine Catholics) with the blessing of the Eparch-emitus for the Ruthenians of Parma, + John Kudrick, the Eparch for the Melkites, +Nicholas Samra, and the permission of of the Latin bishop of the Diocese of Davenport, His Grace Thomas Zinkula. Very Reverend Thomas Loya, Pastor of Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Church in Homer Glen, Il. is our administrator.. We are seeking out interested families and individuals who would support a mission here. This is a truly "Pan-Catholic" endeavor, one that, God willing, will exemplify our Savior's prayer, "May they all be one."
If you are interested in helping us form a community, please contact us using the email form.
Come, join us and help us to grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, to whom be all glory, honor, and worship, now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Apostolic Origins
One Holy, Catholic & Apostolic Church
Ruthenian Church
Who are we as Ruthenian Byzantine Catholics?The Ruthenian faith-journey begins in the homeland of our ancestors, “the old country,” central Europe. The word Ruthenian was originally used by the Catholic Church to describe the Byzantine (Greek) Catholics of Eastern Europe, predominantly those who were under the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Envision a map of the European continent. Our ancestral homeland known variously as Carpathian Rus’, Transcarpathia, Carpatho-Ruthenia, Carpatho-Russia, and Carpatho-Ukraine is the very heart of the picture, presently eastern Slovakia, southwest Ukraine, northeast Hungary and northwest Romania.
The religious life of these people came from the East. Like the other East Slavs, the Carpatho-Rusins received Christianity from the Byzantine Empire.
In the year 863, two Byzantine Greek missionaries, the brothers Cyril and Methodius – “The Apostles to the Slavs” – introduced Christianity and the new Slavonic alphabet to Greater Moravia, the present Czech Republic and Western Slovakia.
Thereafter, the followers of these Byzantine missionaries moved eastward, eventually converting the Ruthenian people.
During the late nineteenth century-early twentieth century many of these faithful traveled to the United States seeking employment, and their own Greek Catholic parishes. In 1924, Rome established the Pittsburgh Eparchy for the Ruthenians with Bishop Basil Takach as the first hierarch
This information is provided by the website of the Eparchy of Parma"
The Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma5000 Rockside Road, Suite 310 • Independence, Ohio • 44131
Phone: (216) 741-8773 • Email: [email protected] • Hours: Mon-Fri., 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
One Holy, Catholic & Apostolic Church
- Thanks to the Holy Spirit working through Apostles, the Church quickly spread from Jerusalem throughout the entire Roman Empire and beyond. From five major port cities grew the five Apostolic Sees or Patriarchates, three of which gave rise to the various Eastern Christian traditions:
- The Catholic Church is a communion of 24 “Sister Churches. There are nearly 18,000,000 Eastern Catholics world-wide, from the Holy Land, Eastern Europe and beyond. Each country and each culture add to the richness of expression of the rite that they adopt as their own.
- What is an Eastern Catholic Church?
The Catholic Church is a communion of churches. It is made up of churches from the Eastern Tradition and the Western Tradition. Eastern Catholics are in union with Rome. We share the same basic faith and the same mysteries (sacraments), however, our way of expressing them follows the same tradition as the Orthodox churches. In reality, there are many Eastern churches, each with its own heritage and theology, liturgy and discipline.
Jesus sent his disciples to the four corners of the world to spread the Gospel. Eventually, four great centers of Christianity emerged with distinctive Christian customs, but the same faith. These centers were Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome and Alexandria. A few centuries later when the capital of the Roman Empire was moved to the Eastern city of Byzantium, later renamed Constantinople, an adaptation of the Antioch celebration of the liturgy was made.
From this powerful cultural center the Byzantine church emerged.
(Radvansky, Joseph.
A Brief Explanation of the Eastern Catholic Churches, Introduction)
Ruthenian Church
Who are we as Ruthenian Byzantine Catholics?The Ruthenian faith-journey begins in the homeland of our ancestors, “the old country,” central Europe. The word Ruthenian was originally used by the Catholic Church to describe the Byzantine (Greek) Catholics of Eastern Europe, predominantly those who were under the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Envision a map of the European continent. Our ancestral homeland known variously as Carpathian Rus’, Transcarpathia, Carpatho-Ruthenia, Carpatho-Russia, and Carpatho-Ukraine is the very heart of the picture, presently eastern Slovakia, southwest Ukraine, northeast Hungary and northwest Romania.
The religious life of these people came from the East. Like the other East Slavs, the Carpatho-Rusins received Christianity from the Byzantine Empire.
In the year 863, two Byzantine Greek missionaries, the brothers Cyril and Methodius – “The Apostles to the Slavs” – introduced Christianity and the new Slavonic alphabet to Greater Moravia, the present Czech Republic and Western Slovakia.
Thereafter, the followers of these Byzantine missionaries moved eastward, eventually converting the Ruthenian people.
During the late nineteenth century-early twentieth century many of these faithful traveled to the United States seeking employment, and their own Greek Catholic parishes. In 1924, Rome established the Pittsburgh Eparchy for the Ruthenians with Bishop Basil Takach as the first hierarch
- Sui Iuris
The Byzantine-Ruthenian Church sui iuris (literally “of its own rights)” is:- Self-Governing
- Equal in Dignity to the Roman Catholic Church
- In communion with the Bishop of Rome
- Unique in its clergy, laws, institutions, liturgies, forms of spirituality, methods of theology
- Dogma & Discipline
- We profess the same Faith as other Catholics but express that Faith in our own way.
- Dogma is the essential core of the Faith that all Catholics share.
- Disciplines give expression to the Church’s teaching. The are important but they vary from church to Church and can change over time.
This information is provided by the website of the Eparchy of Parma"
The Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma5000 Rockside Road, Suite 310 • Independence, Ohio • 44131
Phone: (216) 741-8773 • Email: [email protected] • Hours: Mon-Fri., 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.