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                                  VIS-Press releases   
      
   EASTERN CATHOLIC CHURCHES MUST CONSERVE THEIR TRADITIONS   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 9 OCT 2010 (VIS) - At midday today the Pope received participants   
   in a congress called to mark the twentieth anniversary of the publication of   
   the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches.   
      
   This anniversary, said the Holy Father, provides an occasion "to examine to   
   what extent the Code has had effective force of law for all 'sui iuris' Eastern   
   Catholic Churches, and how it has been translated into their daily lives".   
   Moreover, it is an opportunity to consider "the extent to which the legislative   
   authority of each 'sui iuris' Church has undertaken to promulgate its own   
   particular law, while bearing in mind the traditions of its own rite and the   
   dispositions of Vatican Council II.   
      
   "The themes of your congress (divided into three sections: historical,   
   legislative and ecumenical) are", he added, "an important indication of the   
   course to be followed in this matter".   
      
   Benedict XVI then highlighted how "the 'sacri canones' of the ancient Church,   
   which are the inspiration for the current Eastern Code, stimulate all the   
   Eastern Churches to preserve their own identity, which is Oriental and Catholic   
   at one and the same time. In maintaining Catholic communion the Eastern   
   Catholic Churches had no intention of renouncing faithfulness to their own   
   tradition", he said. "As has been noted on several occasions, the union they   
   have already achieved with the Church of Rome must not cause the Eastern   
   Catholic Churches to lose an awareness of their own authenticity and   
   originality. Therefore, the task of all the Eastern Catholic Churches is that   
   of preserving their legal heritage and nourishing their traditions, which are a   
   treasure for the whole Church".   
      
   The Holy Father went on: "To a large extent, those same 'sacri canones' of the   
   early centuries of the Church also constitute the fundamental and identical   
   heritage of Canon Law that regulate the Orthodox Churches. Thus, the Eastern   
   Catholic Churches can make a specific and important contribution to the   
   progress of ecumenism".   
      
   The Pope concluded his remarks by noting how, "in the context of the Church's   
   current commitment to the new evangelisation, Canon Law, as the specific and   
   indispensable regulation of ecclesial unity, will not fail to make an effective   
   contribution to the life and mission of the Church in the world, if all members   
   of the People of God interpret it wisely and apply it faithfully".   
   AC/VIS 20101011 (400)   
      
   SUMMARY   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS =Meridian, MS= bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)