Arent you called Greek Catholic sometimes? Where does the word Byzantine come from?
Yes, the term Greek Catholic is particularly used in Europe for our Church. The history of the nomenclature Greek Catholic and Byzantine is interesting. In the 300s AD, the Roman Empire split into the Western and Eastern Empires. The eastern Roman Empire made its capitol in the city of Byzantium, which the Emperor Constantine renamed Constantinople (presently, Istanbul, Turkey). The language of learned people, including clergy, in the Eastern Roman Empire was Greek, not Latin as in the Western Roman Empire with its capitol, Rome. In the 900s AD Greek-culture missionaries set forth from what came to be called the Byzantine Empire to convert Eastern Europe. Thus, the churches that they founded can be referred to as Byzantine or Greek Catholic.
