www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West The Buck Stops Here

1. In your opinion, who has final authority in our Church?

A. Each individual hierarch overseeing his own eparchy.
B. The Metropolia or synod/conference of all Eastern Catholic bishops.
C. The Congregation for the Eastern Churches.
D. The Pope.

2. Using your answer to Question #1, how does this affect the meaning of 'sui juris?'

Joe

The answer is:

The Lord Jesus Christ.

He uses A, B, C, and D in various ways to fulfill His will. Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised (or greatly disappointed) if avenue C disappeared. As for D...there's certainly a place for papal primacy in the Church. If we're serious about reunion of the Church East and West the pattern for papal micro-management of the Eastern Catholic Churches has got to change. I think everyone agrees on that point. How to actually do that is still being worked out.

David Ignatius DTBrown@aol.com

It depends on the issue, I think.

Absent both A. and B. (as is usually the case), we might as well be Baptists -- every believer for him/herself.

And liturgical & chant "promulgations" notwithstanding, it's still

Jak popyk, tak typik.
As the priest goes, so does the typikon.

Dear Joe:

First of all, I'm not sure what you mean by "our Church." There are many sui juris Churches represented here.

Anyway, my answer is based upon my UGCC Church.

That answer is (drum roll) - none of the above.

Choice A - the individual eparch. For most things within his jurisdiction, he is "the man." Still, the Church, in her wisdom, did establish somewhat more ofa structure.

Choice B - the synod or conference of ALL Eastern Catholic Bishops. Certainly not ALL of them.

Choice C - HA!

Choice D - On very very very very very serious doctrinal or dogmatic matters, possibly, once in a thousand years type-of-thing, maybe.


The final authority over the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church lies (or, more precisely, should lie) with its Patriarch and the Holy Syond of Bishops of the UGCC. This is what sui juris means.

Yours,

kl

To be honest with you I think this all depends.
First of all if the head of our church is for example a Studite then he should be considered a Patriarch and the final decisions should be delt with him and the synod of bishops.(Real Sui Juris)
If the head of our church in the future is let's say a Basilian then he should be considered a Major Archbishop (because the Basilians are all satisfied with that title) and the decisions of our church will probably be dealt with the Vatican first and than only with the synod of bishops.(Real Fareseistvo).
I've got the feeling that I'm in trouble.
Lauro

Dear Lauro:

In trouble? Not with me you ain't. BRAVO!

Yours,

kl

You know, I think I've only ever seen *one* public document from the bishops of the Pittsburgh Metropolia that was on a common letterhead, "Byzantine Catholic Church of America". That was from back in the 1980s when Metropolitan Stephen Kocisko, and Bishops John (Bilock), Michael (Dudick) and Thomas (Dolinay) inaugurated the cause for canonization of the then-three Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Bishops of Eastern Europe.

Is there even a "Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh" or some such letterhead in existence? If not, we may be waiting a while before there's a need to print some. (Unless September 1 comes to pass as the doomsayers assert! Or will each eparch issue his own "recension" of that announcement/promulgation?)

Geez, two minutes in Word or Publisher and you can whip out some stationary. Put a little icon graphic on there and you're good to go.

Dear Chtec:

I'm sure our good friend Pope Pius XIII knows a thing or two about creating an official-looking letterhead.

Yours,

kl

No icons, please, we're American Ruthenians. We prefer stuff like this: [Linked Image] [Linked Image] [Linked Image] [Linked Image]

Another good thing about do-it-yourself stationary is that you can always edit the name... Byzantine Catholic Church of America, Byzantine-Ruthenian Metropolia, Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh, etc. :p

I would definately have icons or 3-bar crosses on my jurisdiction's stationary. Maybe some vyshivani designs to add some color, too.

Are you taking orders, Chtec? :p I'll take a case! (now I just have to come up with a name for my "jurisdiction"...)

Dear All:

This is starting to remind me of Father Guido Sarducci's bit about having broken from the Roman Church and started his own religion where "Everybody is Pope."

"Everyone is Patriarch?" "Metropolitan?"

Yours,

kl

Whether we admit it or not it is pretty evident that everyone has control over the church but the actually people who belong to it.My bishop is a Fransiscan!I love and respect Fransiscans but how is it possible to be one and also be Byzantine? Which order does he follow? Both? One of them will be sacrificed to an extent which is unfair to east and west.We have no representation in the byzantine church.We have the fancy clothes and a better liturgy but no history and no future unless something very drastic happens,like a miracle.The reason we left the Orthodox church doesnt exist anymore.Look where our identity lies.Our rich heritage is all from the Orthodox church,lets quit pretending already.

Michael,

You state: "My bishop is a Fransiscan!"

Given your location I take it you belong to the Eparchy of Parma. In that case your Bishop is not a Franciscan. Bishop John was TOR at one time but left the TOR and was incardinated as a priest of the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh.

You also state: "The reason we left the Orthodox church doesnt exist anymore."

Last time I checked the Catholic and Orthodox Churches had not resumed communion. When they do our reason for existing will have ceased.

In Christ,
Subdeacon Lance