Changing rites and other Qs on rites

[Anastasia13]

Is it true that one can change rites only once in one's lifetime? If so, why?

Rite is determined by baptism?

If someone is baptised one rite, changes with parents to another, then gets older and wants to change, that person would not be able to?

How many rites are there? Is it just Eastern and Roman?

I came accross this online. Is what it says true? If so, non-italicized questions are mine.

[i]The practical implications of this, if you're a Roman rite Catholic,
You must follow the rules of the Roman rite regarding marriage.
[/i]If that is different from Eastern and a Roman rite person marries an Eastern rite person, how do they know which to do?

[i]If you need a dispensation that a confessor cannot give, you have to get it from a Roman rite priest or bishop, not a priest or bishop of any other rite.[/i]
What is that talking about/What does that refer to/mean?

[i]You are bound by the Canon Law of the Roman rite, not of any other rite.[/i]
Canon Law differs with rites? I thought it was all the same.

[i]You are bound to observe the Holy Days of Obligation according to the Roman Calendar, even if on those days, you decide to attend the liturgy in the church of another rite.[/i]
Is that always possible?

Does Roman Catholic specifically refer to Roman rite?

Edited October 19, 2005 by Light and Truth

[Pio Nono]

JMJ
10/19 - Canadian Martyrs

Light and Truth,

Let's see what I can do...

(1) In general, yes; changing Rites is a big deal in the Catholic Church and shouldn't be done whimsically. In fact, the attitude of the Church towards it is "allowed but discouraged" - those are my own words. I'm not exactly certain as to why, so I'll leave that for another.

(2) Yes and no; in whatever Rite someone is baptized, he or she is a member of that Rite. However, one can change Rites in extraordinary circumstances.

(3) No, that person would be able to change Rites if he or she wanted to, since they were not "of age" when they switched the first time (by "of age" I mean still under the authority of their parents).

(4) There are a number of Rites - I forget the exact number, but I want to say that there are somewhere around twenty-six. Most of these are in the East; for instance, Byzantine, Chaldean, Antiochene, Assyrian Catholic, Melchite and Maronite are all examples of Eastern Rite Churches.

(5) I don't know, honestly. That's a question for Canon lawyers, and thankfully I'm not one. :

(6) This refers to things like marrying Protestants, getting married in a building other than a Catholic Church, and the like. There are certain things that you need permission from a bishop to do, and this means that if you're in the Roman Rite you have to go to a Roman bishop.

(7) To my knowledge, there are two codes - the Code of Canon Law in the Roman (Latin) Church and the Code of the Canons of the Eastern Churches. They don't differ substantially (i.e. in matters of faith, morals or beliefs), just in particular laws.

(8) Unless you're stranded on a Greek island or are in the backwoods of an Islamic nation, this tends to be possible. When it isn't possible to go to a Roman Mass, then one is not obliged to go to Mass.

Hope this helps.

Yours,
Pio Nono