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Eastern Catholic Churches

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Orientalium Ecclesiarum (Vatican II)
===Union of Brest (1596)===
===Orientalium Ecclesiarum (Vatican II)===
 
Orientalium Ecclesiarium, the Decree on the Eastern Catholic Churches, was promulgated at the Second Vatican Council by Pope Paul VI on November 21, 1964. This decree instructs Eastern Catholics to "preserve their legitimate liturgical rite" and was in many ways a move away from previous episodes of open Latinizations. The Eastern liturgical traditions, at this time often heavily Latinized, was affirmed by the Council. In situations where the Eastern Tradition was lost, it was to be reclaimed. An example of this is the practice of infant Chrismation and communion and the singing of the Divine Office (i.e. Vespers and Matins) which, largely lost in many Eastern Catholic Churches, was slowly reclaimed after the council.
 
The rights and privilages of Eastern Catholic patriarchs were also emphasized in this document. The Synod as a form of government is given specific autonomous powers to, depending on the Church and territory in question, establish eparchies (dioceses) and exarchates, nominate and transfer bishops, and to legislate other items such as the date for Easter, appropriate liturgical texts, and the formation of clerics.
 
The document also discusses issues pertaining to the Orthodox Church. Eastern Christians are exhorted to recognize their role in ecumenism and to remain faithful to their liturgical traditions as an example. Eastern Orthodox clerics that enter into communion with the Roman See have recognied orders and are to be incorporated into their corresponding Eastern Catholic Church. (i.e. a Ukrainian Orthodox clergyman in Canada would be received into the Ukrainian Catholic Church and not into the Latin Church or another Eastern Catholic church) The document also controversially gives permission for Orthodox Christians to receive the sacraments in Catholic churches (Eastern or Western) without impediment.
 
It has been received in different degrees depending on the Church in question. Generally, however, Eastern Catholic Churches have slowly begun to reduce Latinizations and practice their Eastern Tradition. This is especially true among younger clergy who have not attended Roman seminaries and are educated in their Tradition. These rights were formally legislated in the 1990 [http://www.ulrichrhode.de/kanon/cceo_e.html Eastern Code of Canon Law] and the 1996 [http://www.byzcath.org/faith/documents/instruction.htm Instruction for Applying the Liturgical Prescriptions of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches].
 
The text of the document is available at: [http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19641121_orientalium-ecclesiarum_en.html The Decree on the Catholic Churches of the Eastern Rite]
==Eastern Catholic Theology==
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