www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News What does this mean for US Eastern Cathoics?

In other actions, the U.S. bishops:

Approved by a unanimous voice vote the creation of a new nongeographical episcopal region for the Eastern-rite bishops. They approved creation of Region XV; the United States is divided into 14 regions for the nation's Latin-rite bishops.


http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=21996

The full artical is about several other things, but I'm wondering what exactly they are saying and how this will effect Eastern Catholics in the US, or if it will really change anything.

It simply gives the Eastern Catholic bishops a formal structure within the USSCB. Currently they meet concurrently as the Eastern Catholic Associates. The USSCB does not and cannot interfere in the internal affairs of the Eastern Churches and its decisions only affect them when it is an issue for all Churches, irrespective of ritual and sui iuris status, such as the guidelines for sexual abuse reporting. So nothing has really changed as far as I can see it.

Fr. Deacon Lance

Thanks for the claification

Also, I think national episcopal conferences like the USCCB are meant to "act" as "one" and to put on a "single" face vis-a-vis the host secular State/government regardless of the number of sui juris Churches in a given country or region (like in the Middle East and in some other parts of Asia and Africa.)

Now that the Eastern Catholic Churches are grouped as "Region XV" encompassing the entire U.S., will you be allowed to come up with parallel structures such as, for example, your own "Committee on Evangelization?" Or, perhaps, a "Subcommittee on Evangelization" so that it can continue to draw support, especially financial support, from the "principal" USCCB Committee?

Yes, although the ECs are now afforded with a separate regional grouping, they remain part and parcel of the USCCB as a national epsicopal conference: Regions I through XIV comprise of Latin dioceses with distinct geographical limits while the additional Region XV comprise of all Eastern Catholic eparchies throughout the U.S.

Organizationally prudent!

According to the Code of Canons, the Eastern Catholic hierarchs in a given country have the right to organize their own, distinct, episcopal conference - which in the USA would be an excellent idea (find out how much money it costs your eparchy to belong to the USCCB). There would then be some sort of liason between the two conferences (and perhaps the Ukrainian and Ruthenian Metropolitans might be accredited to the USCCB).

This is not a prospect that the USCCB would welcome. So it is not foolish to assume that this Eastern Catholic structure within the USCCB has been created to preclude an insistence on administrative separation.

Father Serge

I think this is technically incorrect.

There can be only ONE episcopal conference in a given country (or defined territory or region), with the predominant sui juris Church given the responsibility to organize and formalize such an institution, considered permanent by canon law. Bishops of the minority sui juris Churches become associated members of that national episcopal conference.

In the case of the eparchs of the Eastern Catholic Churches in the United States, who form a minority of the Catholic bishops here, they are associated members of the USCCB but this time around they have been afforded a separate subgroup as Region XV of the USCCB.

As such, they can freely associate themselves in accordance with the provisions of Canon 322 of the CCEO but cannot erect a parallel "U.S. Episcopal Conference of Eastern Catholic Bishops."

For example, the "Conference of Catholic Bishops of India" includes under one umbrella all the bishops of the Latin Church, the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. The difference in their case is that all the bishops, regardless of Rite, equally each has both deliberative and voting powers. Thus, the Presidency of the Conference has been alternating among the 3 ritual Churches. There is no need to form a separate grouping for the Eastern Catholic hierarchs.