If you grew-up in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, it can be tempting to think that it "is" the Catholic Church and that anything else is a Protestant church.
However, the Catholic Church is surprisingly diverse in its liturgical rites and encompasses a wide variety of cultural traditions.
One liturgy with multiple forms
The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that there is one liturgy, but expressed in a variety of forms:
From the first community of Jerusalem until the parousia, it is the same Paschal mystery that the Churches of God, faithful to the apostolic faith, celebrate in every place. The mystery celebrated in the liturgy is one, but the forms of its celebration are diverse.
Part of the reason behind a variety of liturgical forms is that the liturgy grew differently in the cultures where it was planted:
The diverse liturgical traditions have arisen by very reason of the Church's mission. Churches of the same geographical and cultural area came to celebrate the mystery of Christ through particular expressions characterized by the culture: in the tradition of the "deposit of faith," in liturgical symbolism, in the organization of fraternal communion, in the theological understanding of the mysteries, and in various forms of holiness. Through the liturgical life of a local church, Christ, the light and salvation of all peoples, is made manifest to the particular people and culture to which that Church is sent and in which she is rooted. The Church is catholic, capable of integrating into her unity, while purifying them, all the authentic riches of cultures.
These liturgical traditions grew over centuries and have been established in many different places in the world.
The Catechism gives the following list of the major liturgical rites that have developed in local cultures:
The liturgical traditions or rites presently in use in the Church are the Latin (principally the Roman rite, but also the rites of certain local churches, such as the Ambrosian rite, or those of certain religious orders) and the Byzantine, Alexandrian or Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Maronite and Chaldean rites. In "faithful obedience to tradition, the sacred Council declares that Holy Mother Church holds all lawfully recognized rites to be of equal right and dignity, and that she wishes to preserve them in the future and to foster them in every way."
It's important to note that all of these traditions are equal and one is not better than the others.
While the Roman Rite may be the most widely used rite in the world, it is not "the best."
Each have their own unique traditions that are designed to lead people closer to Christ. All have the same mission, but accomplish it differently.
