Decree on the Oriental Catholic Churches
![handle is hein.journals/juristcu25 and id is 177 raw text is: DECREE ON THE ORIENTAL
CATHOLIC CHURCHES*
INTRODUcTION
1. Promulgation. The text of the decree on the Catholic
Churches of the Eastern Rite passed by vote of 2,110 to 39
by the ecumenical council Vatican II on November 21, 1964,
and was approved and promulgated by Pope Paul VI on the
same day with a vacatio legis of two months.
This vacatio was expressed in these words (AAS, LVII
[1965], 89): Pro Decreto De Ecclesiis Orientalibus Cath-
olicis Summus Pontifex statuit vacationem legis duorum men-
sium, facta tamen facultate Patriarchis illam iusta de causa
reducendi vel prorogandi. Pericles Felici, Archiepiscopus tit.
Samosatensis, Ss. Oecumenici Concilii Vaticani II Secretarius
Generalis.
Since it was not determined where the patriarchs could use
this faculty and since this is a favor to be exercised by them
and thus to be interpreted broadly, it may be concluded that
the patriarchs, who are the heads of their entire rites, were
able to use it for their whole Churches or rites, even outside
the territory of their patriarchates for their own faithful.
As archbishop major and head of the Ukrainian (Ruthen-
ian) Church or Rite, with the same faculty as a patriarch (cf.
* This article includes, in addition to a commentary, the full text of the
Decretum de Ecclesiis Orientalibus Catholicis, which was promulgated by the
Second Vatican Council on November 21, 1964. The text is printed in AAS,
LVII (1965), 76-89. Accompanying the text (ibid., 89) is a notificatio, signed
by the Secretary of the Council, concerning the vacatio legis which is referred
to in the body of the article.
The English translation of the decree is substantially the same as that
published by the NCWC News Service, but corrections have been made
where necessary.
For the sake of clarity, the writer's notes have been incorporated into the
commentary, so that the footnotes are those attached to the official publi-
cation of the decree in AAS.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/juristcu25&div=14&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
What Is HeinOnline?
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
Decree on the Oriental Catholic Churches
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most