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The Primary Sources of the Particular Law of the Ukrainian Catholic

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The Primary Sources of the Particular Law of the Ukrainian Catholic CHAP TER ONE DOCUMENTS OF THE APOSTOLIC SEE OF ROME INTRODUCTION The primary sources of the particular law of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada promulgated by the Apostolic See of Rome are: 1) the apostolic letter Officium supremi apostolatus issued by Pope Pius X in 1912 to erect the Apostolic Exarchate for the Ukrainian Catholic faithful in Canada; 2) the decree Fidelibus ruthenis promulgated by the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith for the Affairs of the Eastern Rite in 1913 to regulate mutual disciplinary relations between the Ukrainian bishop and the Latin bishops of Canada and their clerics and faithful; 3) the decree Graeci-rutheni ritus promulgated by the Sacred Congregation for the Eastern Church in 1930 to revise the decree Fidelibus rutbenis, and 4) the apostolic constitutions which reorganized the Canadian Ukrainian Catholic Church, namely, Pope Pius XII's Omnium cuiusvis ritus, dividing the Apostolic Exarchate into Central, Western, and Eastern Exarchates in 1948; De Ruthenorum, further dividing the Central Exarchate into the Exarchates of Manitoba and Saskatchewan in 1951; Hane apostolicam, elevating each Exarchate to an Eparchy and erecting an ecclesiastical province in 1956; and Pope Paul Vi's Cum territorii amplitudo, erecting the Eparchy of New Westminster in 1974. These sources are studied here as they constitute an integral part of the canonical-historical development of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada and demonstrate the Apostolic See's desire to provide spiritual care for Ukrainian Catholics living outside Ukraine. These sources are best understood in light of the canonical principle that the Latin Church exercises jurisdiction over those Eastern Catholic faithful lacking their own hierarchy. Therefore, the study necessarily begins here. 4 Eastern Christians in the New World JURISDICTION OF LATIN ORDINARIES OVER EASTERN CATHOLICS When Ukrainians began immigrating to Canada at the end of the nineteenth century they immediately came under the jurisdiction of the already established Latin Catholic Church. 1 An overview of the evolution of this principle of jurisdiction will help to explain why and how it was later applied to Ukrainian Catholics in the diaspora. Ecumenical Council of Nicea I (325) Historical background The first universal council of the Church was summoned by Emperor Constantine in 325 at Nicea to put an end to the Arian heresy and to regulate several aspects of Church life.2 The more than 250 bishops of East and West produced a definition of faith-the Nicene Creed, dealt with the date of Easter, and healed the schism in Egypt involving Bishop Meletius. They also promulgated twenty disciplinary canons regulating clergy, laity, conflict of jurisdictions, transfer of bishops to another episcopal see, and certain cases of apostasy.3 'Already in 1534 a Roman Catholic priest accompanying explorer Jacques Cartier celebrated the Eucharist on the Gaspe Peninsula. With the foundation of Quebec in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain and French settlers, the Latin Church began to firmly establish itself in Canada. In 1658, Prancois de Montmorency-Laval was appointed as the first Vicar Apostolic of New France and subsequently named Ordinary of Quebec in 1674. For a canonical-historical overview of the Latin Church in Canada see F. MORRISEY, The Juridical Status of the Catholic Church in Canada (1534-1840), Ottawa, Saint Paul University, doctoral manuscript, 1972; id., "The Development of Ecclesiastical Particular Law in Canada," in Canadian Catholic Historical Association, Study Sessions 50 (1983), pp. 141-158; and J. SCHMEISER, "The Development of the Canadian Ecclesiastical Provinces, Councils, Rituals and Catechisms from the Time of Bishop Francois Montmorency-Laval (1658) to the Plenary Council of Quebec (1909)," in Studia Canonica, 5 (1971), pp. 135-165. 2For a historical overview of the ecumenical council of Nicea I see K. HEFELE, History of the Councils of the Church from the Original Documents, translated from the German byW. Clark, Edinburgh, T&T Clark, 1883-1896: vol. 1 (2nd ed., revised): A History of the Christian Councils, From the Original Documents, to the Council of Nicea, AD 325, pp. 262- 447; H. ]EDIN and]. DOLAN, eds., History of the Church, vol. 2: The Imperial Church from Constantine to the Early Middle Ages by K. Baus, et al., translated from the German by A. Biggs, New York, NY, Seaburt Press, 1980, pp. 22-29; and L. DAVIS, The First Seven Ecumenical Councils (325- 787), Their History and Theology, Collegeville, MN, M. Glazier Inc., 1987, pp. 33- 80. 3F or an overview, critical text and English translation of the canons of Nice a I, see N. TANNER, Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, 2 vols., London, Sheed and Ward - Washington, DC, Georgetown University Press, 1990, vol. 1, pp. 1-19. Documents of the Apostolic See 5 ne bishop, one church The Council Fathers decreed in canon eight that there were not to e two bishops in the same city, basing themselves upon the teachings of St. Ignatius of Antioch ( + 107): "Where the bishop is, therein are the multitudes, just as where Jesus Christ is, therein is the catholic Church.?' When the responsibilities became too great for any one bishop, the Fathers maintained that the eparchy was to be divided, thus preserving the principle of one bishop, one church. Fourth Lateran Ecumenical Council (1215) Historical background The pontificate of Innocent III (1198-1216) is characterized by ecclesiastical reform, emphasis on Rome's primacy, emancipation from the Empire, and attempts at regaining the Holy Land.5 The Fourth Ecumenical Council of Lateran (1215) was his greatest achievement; it battled heresy, culminated his reform activity, and prepared the way for a new crusade.6 The Council was in part occasioned by the failed Fourth Crusade (1202-04) which was diverted by profit-seeking Venetians to Byzantine Christian Constantinople against the pope's will. When the city fell to Latin crusaders in 1204, East-West church relations were dealt another serious, if not fatal, blow. Innocent erected a Latin patriarchate in Constantinople in the mistaken belief that it would promote unity among the Churches. , The 404 Council Fathers, of which only two were from the East, promulgated seventy constitutions. These dealt with a new profession of faith, heretics and dogmatic statements, church discipline, reform of clerical morals, episcopal elections, the administration of benefices, exaction of taxes, canonical suits, matrimony, tithes, simony, and Jews. "Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, chapter viii. 5See J. KELLY, The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, Oxford, England-New York, NY, Oxford University Press, 1986, pp.186-188; and]. CLAYTON, Pope Innocent III and His Times, Milwaukee, WI, Bruce, 1941. 6On the Ecumenical Council of Lateran IV see ]EDIN and DOLAN, History of the Church, vol. 4: From the High Middle Ages to the Eve of the Reformation, pp. 166- 172; CLAYTON, Pope Innocent III and His Times, pp. 171-190; and TANNER, Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, vol. 1, pp. 227-229. .
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