Greek Catholic Church (Eastern Catholic)
GREEK CATHOLIC CHURCH (EASTERN CATHOLIC)
The Greek Catholic Church is a very tiny church that owes its existence to the reunion movement launched by Father John Marango (d. 1885) among Greek Orthodox in Istanbul. Father Isaias Papadopoulos formed a small group of zealous Greek Catholics in northern Greece. Bishop George Calavassy succeeded him and worked until his death in 1957 to make the Greek Catholic Church known in Greece by the works of corporal and spiritual mercy that he launched. The Catholic group in Turkey was practically dissolved when the Greeks were repatriated to Greece. Since 1957 the exarchate in Turkey has been directed by an apostolic administrator. In Greece the Greek Catholic Church has a resident Greek bishop in Athens. The Greek Orthodox Church has never warmed up to the Greek Catholic Church in its territory, viewing it as an intruder. It remains illegal for Greek Catholic priests to dress in Byzantine clerical style.
Bibliography: r. roberson, The Eastern Christian Churches: A Brief Survey, 6th ed (Rome 1999).
[g. a. maloney/eds.]