Explore the Eastern Christian Traditions

Eastern Catholic churches of the Alexandrian rite, rooted in the ancient Church of Egypt and the Horn of Africa — each with its own saints, Ge'ez or Coptic liturgical heritage, and history entirely distinct from one another.

Churches tracing their heritage to the ancient Patriarchate of Antioch and the West Syriac liturgical tradition — praying in a language closely related to the Aramaic spoken by Christ — each with its own saints, history, and spiritual patrimony.

The Armenian rite stands entirely on its own — a unique alphabet, biblical canon, saints, councils, and an apostolic heritage from the world's first Christian nation.

Eleven distinct national churches sharing the Byzantine liturgical tradition — the Divine Liturgy of Saints John Chrysostom and Basil the Great — each in full communion with Rome, but each with its own history, saints, martyrs, and spiritual heritage that belong to it alone.

The Eastern Catholic churches of the East Syrian rite — heir to the ancient Church of the East — including the oldest continuous liturgical tradition in Christianity and the Thomas Christians of India. Each has its own saints, history, and heritage.

The Orthodox traditions — Eastern Orthodox (Chalcedonian) and Oriental Orthodox (pre-Chalcedonian) — are distinct from one another with different saints, councils, theology, and liturgical heritage spanning two millennia.

The Latin Church — the largest Christian body in the world — with its own treasury of saints, spiritual traditions, and theological heritage spanning two thousand years.