Otherwise known as Eastern Catholics, Uniates, or Greek Catholics, Eastern Rite Catholics are Christians who give allegiance to Rome but adhere to those religious customs common to Eastern Orthodoxy. Most of the Chicago area's Eastern Rite Catholics are Ukrainians, though Belarusians, Arab Melkites, Romanians, Lebanese Maronites, Syrians, and Assyrians also worship in the area's Eastern Rite churches. The Roman Catholic Church has not always embraced Eastern Christian traditions among Catholics and by the late twentieth century was pushing Eastern Catholic parishes to adopt Latin religious customs.

Brandon Johnson