[NYer]

Thank you for you valuable input! Much of the Western vs Eastern conflicts is still relatively new and fascinating to me.

The large exodus of American Uniates from the Catholic church back into Orthodoxy here in America in the late 19th century was spurred in no small part due to these already heavily Latinized Eastern Europeans being pushed just too far in that direction by the Irish hierarchy here in America with the help of Polish clergy.

This goes a long way to explaining the current census undertaken by the Maronite Church. They are seeking to learn more about what happened to Maronite immigrants, througout the world. Obviously if there was no Maronite Church when they arrived in those countries, they would have sought refuge in an RC or Orthodox Church.

As an RC who has grown in spirituality and faith through the Maronite Church, I am emotionally invested in sharing this information with other RCs. Initially, I wondered why RCs weren't beating down the doors to enter the Maronite Church. Our Abouna explained that the Maronites do not evangelize others. None of this made sense until recently. As a Roman Catholic, though, there is nothing to impede me from 'evangelizing' ;-D.

Again, thank you for the history lesson. Each snippet of new information helps to fill in the gaps of the puzzle.

[Kolokotronis]

Nyer, Agrarian was posting about the Ruthenians and certain other Eastern European immigrants here in America, not the Maronites. I don't know where the early Maronite immigrants went to church, but it seems likely to me that they went to Roman Catholic churches since their liturgy at that point in time was almost completely Franco/Latinized as was their clergy. Once there they probably melted into the background like so many other smaller immigrant groups. The Ruthenians, on the other hand, were true Uniates, with a Liturgy and praxis virtually identical to that of Russian Orthodoxy. They left for Orthodoxy when the Latin Rite bishops here in America tried to do to them what they had succeeded in doing to the Maronites back in Lebanon.