Hi, Penny —

Thanks for your question.

Let's start by defining some terms. Neither you or your children need to convert. Any member of any Orthodox Church simply needs to go through a process known as coming into full union.

I'm assuming your children were chrismated when they were baptized, as is the tradition in the Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic Churches. If that's the case, with your permission of course, you would need to find a Greek Catholic Church in your area that can receive them into the Church. You would not have to come into full communion if you did not want to.

If you or they want to join the Roman Rite, after coming into full communion through the Greek Rite, you would have to seek a transfer from one Rite into another. As a rule, all Eastern Orthodox Christians must come into full communion through an Eastern Rite of the Church.

That said, once someone is in communion with the Church, then they are free to attend Church at any Catholic Church, no matter what the Rite. They may receive the Eucharist in any Rite of the Catholic Church.

Transferring Rites is a bit complicated and I would ask our colleague Eric to speak to this a bit more since he is a Ukrainian Catholic.

John

Hi, Penny —

In addition to my colleague's reply, I wanted to share with you a few articles from My favorites portion of our website. As John stated, I think Eric would have some good insights into your situation.

• How does one become a Catholic
  (mainly oriented for the Roman Rite, and would probably vary for Eastern Rite Catholics.)
  
• What ALL Catholics should know about Eastern Catholic Churches
• 12 reasons I enjoy being Catholic
  
• Why I am a Catholic

Mike

Hi, Penny —

I think it would largely depend on the priest doing the reception and the motivations behind it. There isn't a clear answer. One problem is that once they become Catholic, they would be obliged to attend a Catholic church on a weekly basis, and that may be a great inconvenience to parents who have an obligation to attend an Orthodox church on a weekly basis.

There is also the problem that you wouldn't really be able to raise them in the Catholic faith unless you either professed it, or knew it, but were willing to teach what you don't believe.

Find an Eastern Catholic parish in your area and consult them on the question. They (and you,
if you opt to be received yourselves) will be more at home in such a parish and they will respect your heritage. Look at www.masstimes.org; look for Byzantine or Greek Catholic churches,
in particular, Melkite, Ruthenian, Romanian, or Ukrainian parishes.

Finally, one should be received into the Catholic Church out of a conviction that it is true (or at least with a willingness to accept with faith what she teaches), and no other reason; children under the age of reason excepted.

Eric