byzcat you'd be shown the door.

markus, this is somewhat true, in eastern law you would be encouraged to attend in order
your rite
if not available
another similar eastern rite
the orthodox equivalent
if none of the the above
western liturgy

Well, I'm sure they were SUPPOSED to register at their parish.  I doubt everyone did, and I don't think there were canonical penalties for not doing so.  Now, if you weren't somehow active in the parish, you'd probably undergo some questioning if you requested some of the Sacraments that require certificates and/or preparation ... Baptism, Confirmation, Matrimony, etc.  But even then I'm sure if you had the priest call the Eastern Rite priest and vouch for the fact that you attend regularly, they would likely not deny you even those Sacraments.

But perhaps someone who was around and old enough to remember those days could chime in on this matter.

yes. our obligation is fulfilled by the office so you would be encouraged to attend either the Sunday office or liturgy of the orthodox equivalent. until the eastern code was promulgated, liturgy would not have been encouraged, either Roman or Orthodox

It really comes down to,what gets you out the door to get to Mass.  For me, it is that I want my kids, my wife and me to be present at Calvary continued and to receive a valid Holy Communion.  The other aspects of mass are all secondary to me:  community of likeminded Catholics, the sermon, gong to mass in the Rite of my ancestors, etc.  

The primary consideration outweighs the secondary, so that is why I go to the eastern rites.  So long as the priest is not teaching heresy, which I have never encountered at any eastern rite Church, the primary consideration for me is to keep getting to Mass and receiving Holy Communion so long as God permits me to do so.  

I don’t care if the priest understands the crisis in the Church or preaches on it, (which you won’t hear in the eastern rites, since they are clueless on this point) so long as he doesn’t teach heresy against the Faith, which I haven’t seen.  I keep my focus squarely on the primary consideration.  

I don’t care if the priest understands the crisis in the Church or preaches on it, (which you won’t hear in the eastern rites, since they are clueless on this point)

Well I wasn't around back then, but from what I gather from people I know and based on pragmatism, I don't think they'd be huge sticklers about having to go to the church you technically lived in. The Mass that's most convenient for you to go to could vary for a number of different reasons, maybe the closest church isn't technically in the same parish you go to, maybe you visit family on Sundays so you go to their local Mass instead, etc.

Of course you'd be registered in a parish and that's where your kids would get their Sacraments, etc. but that wasn't always the same parish you were technically living in. Sometimes if you were living in the countryside, you and your next door neighbour 2 minutes down the road might send your kids off to schools in different villages, and your kids would get their Sacraments through their schools in their respective villages(so different parishes) even if your homes were technically in the same parish. As long as they got their Communion and Confirmation in the same place, what would it matter? I know of a number of cases of that sort of thing prior to 1983 without any issues, and I was in a situation sort of similar to that(went to a school and got all my Sacraments in a neighbouring parish), albeit after 1983.

yes. our obligation is fulfilled by the office so you would be encouraged to attend either the Sunday office or liturgy of the orthodox equivalent. until the eastern code was promulgated, liturgy would not have been encouraged, either Roman or Orthodox