There is only one Catholic Church, within which there are different Churches. They all recognise the pope as their leader. The most important distinction came about as a result of the split in the Roman Empire. This led to a Western Church with Rome as its centre: the Roman Catholic Church. Apart from this, there are various Eastern Catholic Churches.
A ‘rite’ is the way in which the liturgy is celebrated. This rite can be different for each Church, and there can be several rites within one Church. What is always the same is the essence of the liturgy, thus the centre of the Eucharist is always the presence of Jesus himself.
The two most widespread rites are the Roman Rite or Latin Rite and the Byzantine Rite or Greek Catholic Rite, which have both been translated into many local languages. Other important rites are the Coptic Rite (Egypt), the Ethiopian Rite, the West-Syrian Rite, the East-Syrian Rite and the Armenian Rite.
