second class Christians…

… do you get that feeling sometimes that in certain circles Eastern Catholics are second class Christians. Romans (for the most part) don’t know or care we exist and the Orthodox, at least those I’ve encountered, treat Eastern Catholics like pseudo-wanna-be Orthodox who play dress up with the Divine Liturgy.

One example comes to mind… upon visiting a local Orthodox church for the first time the priest introduces himself to me. The conversation was pleasant enough and cordial; however, the minute I said I attend an Ukrainian Catholic parish he turned his back on me and walked away. This is not an exaggeration. The only explanation I could gather was that since this particular church was an OCA parish and made up mostly of protestant converts there was a bit of anti-Catholic baggage involved that protestants usually carry around toward us.

I’m curious… what do you Orthodox readers of this blog really think of Eastern Catholics? Why are the more ethnic Orthodox churches so suspicious of outsiders? Why is there such disdain for converts to Orthodoxy and the OCA considered among some not real Orthodoxy? Are Americans in general, us Westerners, just not supposed to encroach upon those things that are Eastern in origin?

I mean no disrespect in this post but just ask out of genuine curiosity. Hopefully, this post can be productive.