LA Bishop-elect Bahhuth was once a Melkite, and is now a Latin Catholic. How does that work?

How 'ritual ascription' works in the Catholic Church - and why it matters.

The Vatican on Tuesday announced the appointment of four auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, including one with an unusual ecclesiastical backstory. 

Bishop-elect Albert Bahhuth was baptized, confirmed, and received first Holy Communion in Lebanon, as a member of the Melkite Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church with roughly 300,0…