www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Maronite Patriarch and a number of Eparchs resign

Well resignation of a head of state can lead to some interesting situations. Who would a pope hand his resignation to..the papal secratry of state?? Remember when tricky Dick turned his resignation into Henry Kissinger, who was Secretary of state at the time, in 1972 ?

I think many in the Latin Church know that in the Catholic Church (universal), there are only 2 cases whereby the office of the Supreme Pontiff becomes vacant or sedes vacante: the death of the Pope or his resignation.

The unresolved question is: to whom does the Pope tender his resignation?

Amado

This was a burning issue leading to the last days of Pope John Paul II. Many felt he was too sick to be the Pope and was expecting he would resign (at that point) soon.

I would say the Catholic Church needs to rethink its understanding of the term "Patriarch". I think the first step should be to stop using it as an honorary title for certain Latin bishop (e.g. Jerusalem).

But having said that, I think I would actually be surprised if the pope wasn't involved in Sfeir's decision to resign -- keep in mind that, in addition to being a Patriarch, Sfeir is the pastor of a parish in Rome (as are nearly all of the Eastern Catholic patriarchs).

The Emperor--the same fellow who had to ratify his election. What? You didn't know the Bishop of Rome had to get his election ratified, just like the Archbishop of Constantinople? So many problems could be resolved so easily, if only we could reestablish the Roman empire.

I don't think HB Sfeir is the "pastor" of a parish in Rome because he is the Patriarch of the Maronites. He is assigned a titular suburbicarian Church in Rome because he is a Cardinal. (BTW, even if HB Sfeir resigns as the Patriarch of the Maronites, he remains a Cardinal, unless he also resigns his cardinalate.)

Other Eastern Catholic Patriarchs, who are also named Cardinals, each has his own titular suburbicarian Church in Rome.

Amado

I think it's only the East that has not recovered from the loss of her Emperor!

Amado

What are a patriarchal curia, patriarchal eparchy, and titular suburbicarian church?

And does the authority that the pope submits his resignation to have the right to not accept it?

You're quite right, Amadeus. I would have said "titular pastor", except that I figured the titular part was obvious. (One big clue is the fact that he doesn't live in Rome. )

The Code of Canon Laws says that the Pope is not obligated to submit his resignation to anyone, but it has to be public and freely given.

Now who would decide those issues I couldn't say.

I wonder what the life/garb/residence of a pope-emeritus would be like.

In the old days, they put a pillow over his head and pushed down really hard. Or they slipped something in his bed time toddy. But the Church is different now.

Amado, my brother,

So good to see a post from you, my friend . However, as is invariably the case when you and I post of patriarchs who are cardinals, we must again disagree.

Canon 350 §1 of the Latin Code says:


As you will notice, a distinction is made between 'those Cardinals to whom the Roman Pontiff assigns the title of a suburbicarian Church and eastern-Rite Patriarchs who are made members of the College of Cardinals'.

As noted in §3 of the same Canon


Thus, the title of the Maronite Patriarch is that of his Patriarchal See, Antioch; that of the Patriarch of the Chaldeans is Babylon and Ur of the Chaldees; that of the Armenian Patriarch is Cilicia; and, that of the Coptic Patriarch is Alexandria. Were the Melkite Patriarch to accept the red hat, his would be of Antioch, Alexandria, & Jerusalem; were the Syriac Patriarch to be offered and to accept the red hat, his would be of Antioch, as well.

Certain Churches in Rome are designated as Patriarchal Churches. The Patriarchal Basilicas, so-called, and those to whom they are ascribed are:

Saint John in Lateran (the Pope of Rome)
Saint Peter in the Vatican (Patriarch of Constantinople)
Saint Mary Major (Melkite Patriarch of Antioch)
Saint Paul Outside the Walls (Patriarch of Alexandria)

Each of the other Eastern Catholic Patriarchs also holds title to a Patriarchal Church. In the case of the Maronites, it is the Church of St Maroun, if I remember correctly.

Many years,

Neil

Catherine,

A patriarchal curia is defined by Canon 114 of the CCEO (the Eastern Code of Canon Law):


For all intents and purposes, the patriarchal curia is comprised of those charged with the administrative functions of the patriarchate.

As to its components, which I bulleted above:

The permanent synod is the patriarch and the four bishops who function as the synod between (the usually annual) meetings of the full synod (all bishops of the Church).

The bishops of the patriarchal curia are those bishops with particular responsibilities over and above diocesan management that touch directly on the administrative functions of the patriarchate.

The ordnary tribunal is comprised of a president, judges, promoter of justice, defenders of the bond, and other necessary officials (e.g., notaries), and ordinarily hears appeals of matters initially decided by tribunals at lower jurisdictional levels.

The patriarchal finance officer administers the material goods and monies of the patriarchate.

The chancellor (or protosynchellos) presides over the chancery and archives of the patriarchate.

The liturgical commision - pretty self-explanatory.

Such other commissions as may be required for the effective administration of the patriarchate. For example, there might be one for humanitarian works, for the educational endeavors of the patriarchate, etc.

The patriarchal curia is distinct from the curia of the patriarchal eparchy - the latter has much the same responibilities, on a much smaller scale, for the eparchy of which the patriarch himself is the presiding hierarch/bishop.

**********

A patriarchal eparchy is a canonical jurisdiction (metropolitinate, archeparchy, eparchy, however styled) of which the patriarch himself is the incumbent/reigning hierarch, although its day-to-day management might be vested in auxiliary bishops, vicars, etc.

The patriarchal eparchies are:

- the Maronites, the Eparchy of Joubbe, Sarba and Jounieh of the Maronites
- the Armenians, the Archeparchy of Beirut of the Catholic Armenians
- the Copts, the Eparchy of Alexandria of the Catholic Copts
- the Syriacs, the Eparchy of Beirut of the Syriac Catholics
- the Chaldeans, the Metropolitan Archeparchy of Baghdad of the Chaldeans
- the Melkites, the Metropolitan Archeparchy of Damascus of the Melkites

***********

A titular suburbican church (or diocese) is one of 7 dioceses in the vicinity of Rome, By long tradition, these were assigned to those cardinals who held the rank of cardinal bishop. These were individuals who had important, virtually full-time, responsibilities in the administration of the Vatican and really had no time to devote to the administration of their dioceses. As a result, they were provided with auxiliary bishops who would deal with the diocesan responsibilities. During his reign, HH John Paul II made a change and assigned an actual (not auxiliary) bishop to each of the dioceses. The cardinal-bishops no longer have any responsibilities for the dioceses, but continue to hold the titular title as if they did - although it is now merely symbolic. It's a purely Latin function and of neither concern nor particular interest to the East.

Many years,

Neil

Yeah, but if that happened the Eastern Empire would come back too and we would just have some more good old fashioned religious wars.

Interesting distinction. Thanks for filling us in on that Neil.