Catholic Informative Speech

If I were to tell you that I am Catholic, what's the first thing that comes to mind? Perhaps you think of rosaries, Latin Masses and gothic style cathedrals.

"No, I'm not Roman Catholic."

You’re probably confused; aren't Catholic and Roman Catholic the same thing?

"No. I'm Byzantine Catholic."

Now what do you picture? I'm willing to bet that you aren't picturing anything, you're probably too busy typing “Byzantine Catholic” into Google, and you wouldn't be alone.

The Catholic Church is made up of 24 different versions of Catholicism known as “rites.” Due to different geographical points of origin, each rite varies in liturgical language, traditions, and theological outlooks. However, despite their differences, they are in union
with one another and each rite regards the other as true.

You're probably wondering why you never knew this, and the answer is very simple: Roman Catholics are by far the largest rite of all, making up 99.1% of all Catholics.
The remaining .9% rounds out to about 11 million people distributed amongst the other 23 rites. We are so small, that even a vast majority of Roman Catholics don't know we exist.

One very small yet obvious difference between Roman Catholics and Byzantine Catholics is how we do the sign of the cross. Roman Catholics cross up, down, left, right, while Byzantine Catholics cross up, down, right, and then left. I attended a Roman Catholic School from first grade through tenth, and every time we crossed ourselves, I stuck out like a sore thumb. I remember once, at the beginning of my 8th grade year, my religion teacher singled me out during class and said I was crossing myself backwards. She, as well as my classmates, had no idea what Byzantine Catholicism was.

I explained my faith to my teacher and classmates; they asked me so many questions and I loved having that opportunity to share my faith and culture. Then nearing the end of the discussion, my teacher said, "But you're not a real Catholic.” I insisted that I was just as Catholic as she, but she told me I was mistaken. Suddenly my faith and my culture, which had once brought me great happiness, became a source of shame. I felt like my beliefs were invalid, and for some time I was afraid to share my faith with
others.

Now that I’m older, it doesn’t upset me anymore. I understand that--through no fault of her own--my teacher was ignorant of my faith. That moment however, opened my eyes to just how important diversity was. We should strive to create diverse environments, particularly in an academic setting, so that everyone can be exposed to different ideas, be they religious, cultural, or even academic. Failure to do so, can result in fear of expression which will eventually lead to a stagnant society.

My encounter with my religion teacher, made me scared to talk about my faith for the rest of that year. Think of how many people have had a similar experience and became afraid to share their ideas for the rest of their lives. Without the exchanging of new ideas and without lively discussions involving multiple points of view, it is almost impossible to develop critical thinking skills. Our minds must be challenged in order for us to strengthen our beliefs and broaden our intellect.

A prosperous society relies on an educated populace. Therefore universities have an obligation to provide students with a quality education so that students may then become beneficial members of society. As such, colleges should foster an academically challenging environment. Diversity aids the creation of this environment by providing a tolerant and welcoming atmosphere in which individuals are encouraged to share their ideas and engage in dialogue; ultimately bringing about artistic and scientific advancements in society.