Pope addresses participants in
a symposium on eastern canon law
preceding synodal assembly on the Mideast
Translated from
Oct. 9, 2010
On the eve of the special synodal assembly for the Middle East of the Bishops' Synod, Pope Benedict XVI today expressed the hope that the Catholic churches of the Orient may thrive, in an address to participants of a study conference organized by the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, on the 20th anniversary of the promulgation of the Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium (Code of Canon Law for the Oriental Churches).
The Pope received them in a midday audience at the Sala Clementina.
Here is a translation of the Holy Father's words:
Eminences, Venerated Patriarchs, Major Archbishops,
Dear brothers in the Episcopate and Priesthood,
Distinguished representatives of other Churches and ecclesial communities,
Workers in the field of Oriental canon law:
I welcome you with great joy at the conclusion of your study conference, which marks the 20th anniversary of the promulgation of the Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium.
I cordially greet everyone, starting with Mons. Francesco Coccopalmiero, whom I thank for the words he spoke in your name.
And my appreciative thoughts go to the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Pontifical Oriental Institute, who have worked with the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts to organize the conference.
I wish to express my heartfelt appreciation to the lecturers for their competent scientific contributions and their ecclesial initiative.
Twenty years since the Code of Canon Law for the Oriental Churches was promulgated, we must pay homage to the intuition of the Venerable John Paul II, who out of concern that the Catholic Churches of the Orient "may flourish and carry out their mission with renewed apostolic zeal" (cf. Conc. Ecum. Vat. ii, Decr. Orientalium Ecclesiarum, 1), wished to grant these venerable Churches a complete Codex to share in common and adapted to the times.
This fulfilled "the constant desire of the Roman Pontiffs to promulgate two Codes, one for the Latin Church and the other, for the Eastern Churches" (Apost. Const. Sacri canones).
At the same time, it reaffirmed most clearly "the constant and firm intention of the Supreme Legislator of the Church regarding the faithful custody and diligent observance of all rites" (ibid.)
The Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium was followed by two other important documents of John Paul II's Magisterium: the encyclical Ut unum sint (1995) and the Apostolic Letter Orientale lumen (1995).
We should not forget the Directives for the application of the principles and norms of ecumenism, which was published by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (1883) and the Instruction from the Congregation for Oriental Churches on the application of the liturgical prescriptions in the Code (1996).
In these authoritative documents of the Magisterium, various canons of the Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium are cited almost textually. annotated and applied to the life of the Church.
This 20th anniversary gathering is not only a celebration to remember the event, but a providential occasion for its verification, to which the Oriental Churches are called on above all, and their institutions, most especially their hierarchies.
In this respect, the Apostolic Constitution Sacri canones anticipated the fields for verification. It involves seeing to what degree the Code has had the effective force of law in all the Oriental Cahtolic Cchurches sui juris, and how it has been translated into the activities of the daily life of the Churches.
And then, to what degree the legislative potential for each Church sui juris has provided for the promulgation of its own specific law, taking into account the traditions of its own rite, as well as the dispositions of the Second Vatican Council.
The subjects of your conference, articulated into three units - history, specific legislations, and ecumenical prospects - indicate the course that is important to follow in this process of verification.
It must start from the awareness that the new Codex has created for the Eastern Catholic faithful a disciplinary situation that is partly new, becoming a valid instrument to protect and promote their own respective rites, each rite understood as "the liturgical, theological, spiritual and disciplinary patrimony, distinct according to the culture and historical circumstances of its people, who express their faith in a way of living that is specific for every Church sui iuris" (can, 28, 1).
In this regard, the 'sacred canons' of the ancient Church, which inspire the existing Oriental codification, stimulate all the oriental Churches to conserve their own identity which is at the same time oriental and Catholic. In maintaining Catholic communion, the oriental Catholic churches do not in any way renounce fidelity to their tradition.
As it has been reiterated often, the already realized full communion of the eastern Catholic Churches with the Church of Rome should not mean any diminution of their awareness about their own authenticity and originality.
Therefore, it is is the task of all the eastern Catholic Churches to conserve their common disciplinary patrimony and nourish their own traditions, which is a wealth for the whole Church.
The very same sacred canons of the first centuries of the Church constitute in large measure the fundamental patrimony of canonical discipline which also regulates the Orthodox Churches. Thus, the eastern Catholic Churches can offer a particularly relevant contribution to the ecumenical journey.
I am glad that in the course of your symposium, you took account of this particular aspect, and I encourage you to give it further study. thus cooperating on your part to the common commitment to adhere to the prayer of the Lord, "That they may be one... so that the world may believe..." (Jn 17.21).
Dear friends, in the Church's present commitment to a new evangelization, canon law, as a specific and indispensable order, cannot fail to contribute effectively to the life and mission of the Church in the world, if all the components of the People of God can interpret it wisely and apply it faithfully.
Therefore, as the Venerable John Paul II did, I exhort all our beloved Oriental brothers "to observe the indicated precepts with sincere spirit and humble will, not doubting in any way that the eastern Churches will provide in the best way possible for the good of the souls of faithful Christians with renewed discipline, and that they may always flourish and carry out the task entrusted to them under the protection of the glorious and ever blessed Virgin Mary, who is called Theotokos in full truth, and who shines forth as the sublime Mother of the universal Church" (Apost Const Sacri canones).
I accompany this wish with the Apostolic Blessing that I impart to you and to all those who make their contribution to the various fields that have to do with eastern canon law.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 10/10/2010 11:11]