Orientalium Dignitas
Encyclopedia
Orientalium Dignitas is a papal encyclical concerning the Eastern Catholic churches issued by Pope Leo XIII
on November 30, 1894. The encyclical further established the rights of the Eastern Catholic churches. This includes a prohibition aganist latinizing
influences among Eastern Catholics, encouragement of Eastern Catholics to remain true to their church traditions, and the expansion of the jursidiction of the Melkite
patriarch to include the whole of the Ottoman Empire
.
In the encyclical Leo said "that the ancient Eastern rites are a witness to the Apostolicity of the Catholic Church, that their diversity, consistent with unity of the faith, is itself a witness to the unity of the Church, that they add to her dignity and honour. He says that the Catholic Church does not possess one rite only, but that she embraces all the ancient rites of Christendom; her unity consists not in a mechanical uniformity of all her parts, but on the contrary, in their variety, according in one principle and vivified by it."
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
on November 30, 1894. The encyclical further established the rights of the Eastern Catholic churches. This includes a prohibition aganist latinizing
Liturgical Latinisation
Liturgical Latinisation, also known as Latinisation, is the process by which liturgical and other aspects of the Churches of Eastern Christianity were altered to resemble more closely the practices of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church...
influences among Eastern Catholics, encouragement of Eastern Catholics to remain true to their church traditions, and the expansion of the jursidiction of the Melkite
Melkite Greek Catholic Church
The Melkite Greek Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Church. The Melkites, Byzantine Rite Catholics of mixed Eastern Mediterranean and Greek origin, trace their history to the early Christians of Antioch, Syria, of...
patriarch to include the whole of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
.
In the encyclical Leo said "that the ancient Eastern rites are a witness to the Apostolicity of the Catholic Church, that their diversity, consistent with unity of the faith, is itself a witness to the unity of the Church, that they add to her dignity and honour. He says that the Catholic Church does not possess one rite only, but that she embraces all the ancient rites of Christendom; her unity consists not in a mechanical uniformity of all her parts, but on the contrary, in their variety, according in one principle and vivified by it."
External links
- ORIENTALIUM DIGNITAS - On the Churches of the East at Papal Encyclicals Online