PITTSBURGH, PA—A local woman got quite the shock the other day when she found out she technically belonged to an Eastern Catholic Rite.
“I was so confused—I didn’t even know Catholic had directions,” 26-year-old Liz Pappas said.
Pappas found out her new identity when she tried to apply to the Franciscan Sisters T.O.R. of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother, a Roman Catholic order, in Steubenville, Ohio. During her application, the sisters realized Pappas officially belonged to the Eastern Rite.
Pappas casually brought up that her grandfather had come to America from Romania, which prompted the sisters to do an investigation. They discovered her grandfather had been Romanian Orthodox, and when he converted to Catholicism technically became a Byzantine Catholic, meaning Pappas’ father—and her—are also technically Byzantine Catholic.
“I don’t get it. I’ve gone to Catholic Church all my life! I’ve done Rosaries, Adoration, Stations of the Cross…how can I not be Catholic?” Pappas said, apparently equating the Roman Rite with the Catholic Church in general.
“Apparently, I’m something called ‘Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic,’” she went on, reading Wikipedia. “What does that even mean?”
Pappas eventually decided to give her new church a try after reading she was still technically Catholic. The following Sunday, she showed up to her new Eastern Catholic parish with her trusty Rosary in hand, where she was immediately beaten to death.
Originally published Apr 15, 2022
