This excerpt might help more, then.
***ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER
POPE JOHN PAUL II
TO EASTERN CATHOLIC PATRIARCHS ***
Tuesday, 29 September 1998
- The Eastern Catholic Churches, together with the other Churches of the East, are living witnesses of the traditions that date back through the Fathers to the Apostles (cf. * Orientalium Ecclesiarum*, n. 1); their tradition is “part of the divinely revealed heritage of the universal Church” (ibid.).
The Church, in the image of the Holy Trinity, is a mystery of life and communion, Bride of the incarnate Word, dwelling place of God. The Lord Jesus chose the Twelve to shepherd and govern his Church, and wanted their successors, the Bishops, to be shepherds of God’s People on its pilgrimage towards the kingdom, under the guidance of the successor to the Coryphaeus of the Apostles (cf. *
Lumen gentium*, n. 18).
Within this communion, “it has come about through divine Providence that, in the course of time, different Churches set up in various places by the Apostles and their successors joined together in a multiplicity of organically united groups which, while safeguarding the unity of the faith and the unique divine structure of the universal Church, have their own discipline, enjoy their own liturgical usage and inherit a theological and spiritual patrimony. Some of these, notably the ancient Patriarchal Churches, as mothers in the faith, gave birth to other daughter-Churches, as it were, and down to our own days they are linked with these by bonds of a more intimate charity in what pertains to the sacramental life and in a mutual respect for rights and obligations” (
ibid., n. 23).
Although the Council was aware of the divisions which have occurred down the centuries, and despite the fact that communion between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches has not been completely reestablished, it did not hesitate to declare that the Churches of the East “have the power to govern themselves according to their own disciplines, since these are better suited to the character of their faithful and better adapted to foster the good of souls” (
Unitatis redintegratio, n. 16; cf. *
Orientalium Ecclesiarum*, n. 9)
Does this not apply now to your Churches, which are already in full communion with the Bishop of Rome? And should not the rights and duties of the Patriarchs, who are their fathers and heads, also be reaffirmed? Within the Catholic Church your Churches represent that Christian East to which we continue to extend our arms for the fraternal embrace of full communion. In their own territories and in the diaspora, the Eastern Catholic Churches offer their particular liturgical, spiritual, theological and canonical riches. You, who are their heads, have received from the Holy Spirit the vocation and mission to preserve and enhance this specific patrimony, so that the Gospel may be given in ever greater abundance to the Church and to the world. And it is the duty of the Successor of Peter to assist and help you in this mission.
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/j...ments/hf_jp-ii_spe_19980929_patriarca_en.html
