Can the distinction between the sui iuris Church and the Rite mentioned in the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches be made clear?

In the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO), Canons 27 to 41 of Title II refer to sui iuris Churches and Rites. These two terms are often used without properly understanding their difference. At present, there are 24 particular Churches in the Catholic Church, including the Latin Church. Among them, the Latin Church is known as the Western Church, and the other 23 Churches are known as the Eastern Churches. The Second Vatican Council referred to the Eastern Churches by different names. In the Decree on the Eastern Catholic Churches (OE 4), the term particular Churches was used. However, the same term was used by other Council documents to refer to dioceses (LG 13, 23; CD 11). Additionally, terms such as local Churches (UR 14; LG 23) and Rites were also used to refer to Eastern Churches, which led to a lack of clarity that needed to be addressed.

When the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches was revised after the Second Vatican Council, one of the main instructions given to the commission responsible for the revision was to provide clear definitions for terms that caused confusion in the previous usage. Accordingly, the revision commission of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches clarified the distinction between Rite and particular Church. However, since the term particular Church was already used to refer to dioceses in the Latin Code, the Latin Code revision commission took the position that another term had to be used to refer to Eastern Churches. Following further discussions, the term Ritual Church sui iuris was temporarily adopted. But later, after additional deliberations, the term Rite was replaced, and the term Sui iuris Church (Ecclesia sui iuris) was finalized to refer to Eastern Churches. The term Rite was separately defined. Thus, CCEO c. 27 defines what a sui iuris Church is, and c. 28 defines what a Rite is.

The Latin term sui iuris means “of its own right.” That is to say, Eastern Churches are Churches that have self-governance rights recognized in matters of governance and discipline. The definition of a sui iuris Church given in CCEO c. 27 is as follows:
“A community of the Christian faithful, which is joined together by a hierarchy according to the norm of law and which is expressly or tacitly recognized as sui iuris by the supreme authority of the Church, is called in this Code a church sui iuris.”

According to this definition, for an Eastern Church to be called a sui iuris Church, it must fulfill three essential elements: it must be a community of Christian faithful; it must be united in accordance with the law under a hierarchy; and it must be recognized, either explicitly or implicitly, by the supreme authority of the Catholic Church. Based on this definition, there are 24 sui iuris Churches in the Catholic Church, including the Latin Church. All these Churches are considered sui iuris Churches because they are lawfully established with the recognition of the Church’s hierarchy.

The term that distinguishes each of these Churches from one another is Rite. CCEO c. 28 §1 explains what a Rite is: “A Rite is a liturgical, theological, spiritual and disciplinary heritage, differentiated by the culture and the circumstances of the history of peoples, which is expressed by each Church sui iuris in its own manner of living the faith.”

Thus, Rite refers to the heritage of each particular Church. Each sui iuris Church expresses and lives out its faith through a unique tradition of liturgy and theology. These traditions differ based on historical and cultural conditions of the respective peoples. In brief, the term Rite refers to the unique manifestation of the received faith as lived in each Church according to its own context. The differentiating components among the Rites are the cultural differences and historical particularities of each people. A Rite is not something that stands alone; rather, it is proper to each sui iuris Church. The
term Rite is not used to designate a Church itself. In summary, Rite is a heritage or a distinguishing element that differentiates one Church from another.

Rev. Dr. Joseph Mattathil