That They May Be ONE

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 The Institute for Eastern Christian Studies is dedicated to the scholarly study of Eastern Christianity and how it applies to unifying with the West. We offer professional consultations, conduct research, educate students, provide information to the public through conferences and public lectures, and offer printed & digital publications.

One of the main educational opportunities is teaching Roman Catholic priests about the Divine Liturgy.  We have found, over the years, that most western Catholics know very little about the Eastern Rites.  By teaching priests about the Divine Liturgy they then will be able to teach their congregations about the East.

The more the Roman Catholic priest knows about the East and shares it with his congregation, the more easily it will be for East and West to unite.

St. Peter and St. Andrew were brothers, fishermen from Galilee, and among the first apostles called by Jesus. 

Peter became the leader of the Apostles and Bishop of Rome, while Andrew (the "First-Called") is recognized as the founder of the Church of Constantinople, symbolizing a deep bond between Catholic and Orthodox traditions.

   Our  people  are  in  shackles  and  our  land  in  captivity,  the enemy does not even allow us to pray...  Great God, grant our land freedom, grant it fate  and  happiness,  strength  and  power.  Let us embrace one another and  call  each  other Brother!  Rise up all of you in defense of the rights of the Ukrainian  Catholic  Church,  but  also  defend  the  rights  of  the  Ukrainian Orthodox  Church,  destroyed  with  equal  cruelty  by  the violent deeds  of the foreign  invader!   Defend  also  all  the  other  Christian  and  religious  com­munities  on  Ukrainian  soil,  for  they  are  all  deprived  of  the  basic  freedom of conscience and  religion,  and  they all  suffer for their belief in One  God!

The closest  to  us  in  faith  and  blood  are  our  Orthodox  brothers.  We  are united  by  the  traditions  of  our  native  Christianity,  common  religious  and national  customs,  and  by  a  two-thousand  year  old  culture!   We  are  united by  a  common  struggle for  the  originality  of our  native  Church  and  for its full status of which the visible symbol will be a single Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Church!

All  of us, both  Catholics  and  Orthodox,  are fighting for the  raising  up  of our Church  and  for its spiritual strength  in Ukraine and  in all the countries where  our  faithful  have  settled.  And  all of us, while confessing  Christ,  are bearing our Lord’s heavy cross.

Pray, work  and  fight for the preservation of the Christian  soul of everyone who belongs to the Ukrainian people, and for the whole Ukrainian nation, and  ask the Almighty God to  help us fulfill our longing for unity  and  our struggles for Church unity in the accomplish­ment of the Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Church! 

The Divine Liturgy is celebrated in the exact same way whether you are Roman Catholic or Greek Orthodox.  This is where we are offering much study and deep investigations on how the Church is already united in the Divine Liturgy.

We, in our jurisdiction, have united through the efforts of Josyf Cardinal Slipyj when he established us.  We are an example on how the Church is United as both East and West.  This is why Cardinal Slipyj established us as autocephalous and sui juris.  We are both Roman Catholic and Orthodox and are an example for Rome and the Phanar.  

There are other things that are under investigation and scholarly conversation such as the filioque, papal infalibility, the Immaculate Conception and more.  We have several documents that explain on how we can accept both positions and continue to be united.

The Institute for Eastern Christian Studies is an "island" where we are the united Church both East and West after Cardinal Slipyj established us.  We are Catholic and Orthodox and living in union with both.  We are sui juris and autocephelous specifically to not take the sides of the Catholic Church or Orthodox Churches but in full communion with each other according to the strategy of Cardinal Slipyj when he united the Ukrainian Catholics and the Ukrainian Orthodox.

Now it is our mission to work with Catholic priests to teach them how to offer the Divine Liturgy so that this will "open-the-doors" to understand the Orthodox and to share this information with their parishioners.  

Unfortunately, the West knows very little about the East and if we can assist Roman Catholic priests to be "bi-ritual" as Archbishop Fulton Sheen was, this may inspire more priests to learn about the mysteries of the East and share this with their people.  This will allow His Holiness Pope Leo XIV and the Ecumenical Patriarch His All Holiness Bartholomeus to work things out at the top while the flock is working things out through the clergy.