Frequently Asked Questions

NO! The Catholic Church is actually a communion of 22 particular churches. Each has its own distinctive way of worship and its special spirituality. What unites us all is our common faith in the doctrines of the Catholic Church and our acceptance of the Pope of Rome as head of the whole Church.

Of the 1 billion Catholics in the world the vast majority belong to the Roman Church. About 20 million Catholics belong to the 21 Eastern Catholic Churches. The largest of group of these are those Churches of the Byzantine tradition.

Holy Resurrection Monastery is an eparchial monastery sui juris. This means it exists as part of the Romanian Catholic Eparchy of St. George in Canton, Ohio. The Abbot governs the internal affairs of the monastery. The diocesan Bishop has a general role to supervise and protect the monastic institution, subject to Canon Law. This way of doing things is a more traditional way of arranging monastic life than the medieval western institution of the independent religious order, like the Franciscans, Dominicans, Jesuits, etc.

The first Christian Emperor of Rome, Constantine the Great (273-337 A.D.) divided the Roman Empire in two halves. He established the capital of the Eastern half in a new city built on the site of the small town of Byzantium. This city he named Constantinople. It is today known as Istanbul, in present day Turkey.

The adjective “Byzantine” thus refers to the Christian tradition of worship and spirituality that developed in the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. The common language of this part of the world was Greek; the language in which the New Testament was written.

We are an Eastern Catholic monastery. We understand this to mean that we are orthodox in our liturgy, spirituality and theological outlook, while faithful to our communion, through membership in our local Church, with the Pope in Rome.

“Our Eastern Catholic brothers and sisters are very conscious of being the living bearers of this tradition, together with our Orthodox brothers and sisters. The members of the Catholic Church of the Latin tradition must also be fully acquainted with this treasure.” (Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter, Orientale Lumen, no. 1)

“In the East are to be found the riches of spiritual traditions which are given expression in monastic life especially … ” (Pope John Paul II, Orientale Lumen, no. 6)

Our services are in English.  There may be Greek, Romanian, or Slavonic sprinkled through as well.