Under

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

, there were the several reforms of Catholic Eastern canon law applying to the

Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

Reforms of Eastern canon law

A commission was established in 1929 by Pius XI to draw up a schema for an Oriental Catholic canon code, the ''Commissionem Cardinalitiam pro Studiis Praeparatoriis Codificationis Orientalis''. In 1935, the same pope established another commission with the same goal, the ''Pontificia Commissio ad redigendum Codicem iuris canonici orientalis'', to replace the former. The Eastern Catholic Churches, not unlike the

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

before the Code of 1917, had their own ancient laws, which were not codified. Some reforms of Eastern Church laws for the Eastern Churches were done during the pontificate of Pius XII. The new Church canons promulgated by Pius XII for the government of the Eastern Catholic Churches concern matrimonial law, Church trials, administration of Church properties and religious orders and individual rights.

Eastern groups in the West

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a new situation developed as millions of united Christians from

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

emigrated to the West: United States,

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

, Canada,

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, and Australia. The new Church law was welcomed, yet in some points, it was critiqued, for not fully adopting to these new Western circumstances. Traditionally, Eastern Christians insisted on legal exemptions, allowing them to keep most of the ancient customs and laws.

''Mystici Corporis Christi''

stated in his encyclical '' Mystici Corporis Christi'' those reforms were intended to establish Eastern Catholics as equal parts of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Later developments

These individual

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

reforms of

were revised in 1991. The ''

Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches The ''Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches'' (CCEC; , abbreviated CCEO) is the title of the 1990 work which is a codification of the common portions of the canon law for the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in the Catholic Church. It is divided i ...

'' for members of the

were promulgated on 18 October 1990 by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

and came into effect on 1 October 1991.

, Apostolic Constitution ''Sacri Canones'' of 18 October 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pope Pius Xii Reforms Of Eastern Canon Law Theology of Pope Pius XII Eastern Catholic canon law Canon law history Canon law codifications

Reforms of Eastern canon law

Eastern groups in the West

''Mystici Corporis Christi''

Later developments

See also

References