I was born and bred in Brittany; Roman Catholicism was the only option and I was very happy with it. I was an altar server very early on and living only 50 yards from the church, I was frequently called upon to assist the priests. Vatican II happened when I was in boarding school, I was 11 years old then. Changes to the way we worshipped were gradually introduced, latin disappeared... Then over the years, the celebrant turned facing the congregation, changing the whole process of the offering of the sacrifice.
Eventually, changes happened at an alarming rate to the point where the Mass was becoming unrecognizable. I then started to question the later dogmas that had been enunciated, particularly about the infallibility of the Pope when speaking ex-cathedra.
In the late 90's, I was examining students in Paris and had met one of my former college friends. I asked him what he was going to do on the Sunday morning that was free time for me. I used to go to the Catholic church at the back of the Sacré Coeur but my friend told me he was going to his church. Being curious, I asked if I could join him. So in the morning, I went to the church of Saint Ireneus, the Cathedral of the then Eglise Catholique Orthodoxe de France where Bishop Germain celebrated the Gallican Orthodox rite. I was most impressed with the rite which seemed to be more like the traditional way of worship that I remembered from my childhood.
So, some ten years later, once I had decided to leave the Roman Catholic Church and to look for a new home, I worked out that my new home would have to be as close to the original church as possible, one that would not be subjected to the new fangled decrees and dogmas of the modern RC church. It became obvious to me that the only option was the Orthodox Church. After a little research, it became obvious that the traditional rite of the Orthodox Church was quite foreign, so while looking for a more suitable 'church' I remembered the Gallican rite that I had attended some ten years earlier. I eventually found out that the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) had approved various Western Rites. Then I knew that I had found my new home.
Eventually, changes happened at an alarming rate to the point where the Mass was becoming unrecognizable. I then started to question the later dogmas that had been enunciated, particularly about the infallibility of the Pope when speaking ex-cathedra.
In the late 90's, I was examining students in Paris and had met one of my former college friends. I asked him what he was going to do on the Sunday morning that was free time for me. I used to go to the Catholic church at the back of the Sacré Coeur but my friend told me he was going to his church. Being curious, I asked if I could join him. So in the morning, I went to the church of Saint Ireneus, the Cathedral of the then Eglise Catholique Orthodoxe de France where Bishop Germain celebrated the Gallican Orthodox rite. I was most impressed with the rite which seemed to be more like the traditional way of worship that I remembered from my childhood.
So, some ten years later, once I had decided to leave the Roman Catholic Church and to look for a new home, I worked out that my new home would have to be as close to the original church as possible, one that would not be subjected to the new fangled decrees and dogmas of the modern RC church. It became obvious to me that the only option was the Orthodox Church. After a little research, it became obvious that the traditional rite of the Orthodox Church was quite foreign, so while looking for a more suitable 'church' I remembered the Gallican rite that I had attended some ten years earlier. I eventually found out that the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) had approved various Western Rites. Then I knew that I had found my new home.
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