# Dicastery for the Eastern Churches

The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches (also called the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches), previously named the Congregation for the Oriental Churches or Congregation for the Eastern Churches (Latin: Congregatio pro Ecclesiis Orientalibus), is a dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible for contact with the Eastern Catholic churches for the purpose of assisting their development and protecting their rights. It maintains whole and entire in the one Catholic Church the heritage and canon law of the various Eastern Catholic traditions. It has exclusive authority over Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula, Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, southern Albania and Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel (and Palestinian territories), Syria, Jordan and Turkey, and also oversees jurisdictions based in Romania, Southern Italy, Hungary, India and Ukraine.
It was founded by the motu proprio Dei providentis of Pope Benedict XV as the "Sacred Congregation for the Oriental Church" on 1 May 1917.

## Structure

Patriarchs and major archbishops of the Oriental churches, and the president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, are members of this dicastery by virtue of the law itself. The consultors and officials are selected to reflect the diversity of rites.

## Authority

This dicastery has authority over:
* all matters which relate to the Oriental churches referred to the Holy See (structure and organisation of the churches; exercise of the offices of teaching, sanctifying and ruling; status, rights, and obligations of persons), and
* the ad limina visits of Eastern bishops.
This dicastery's authority does not include the exclusive authority of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and for the Causes of Saints, of the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, and the Tribunal of the Roman Rota, including what pertains to dispensations from a marriage ratum sed non consummatum ('"ratified but not consummated"). In matters which affect the Eastern as well as the Latin churches, the dicastery operates, if the matter is important enough, in consultation with the dicastery that has authority in the matter for the Latin Church. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem is exempt from the authority of the dicastery, being directly subject to the Holy See.
The dicastery pays special attention to communities of Eastern Catholic faithful who live in the territory of the Latin Church and attends to their spiritual needs by providing visitors and even their own hierarchs, so far as possible and where numbers and circumstances require, in consultation with the congregation competent to establish particular churches in the region.
In regions where the Eastern churches have been dominant from ancient times, apostolic and missionary activity is solely the responsibility of this dicastery, even if the above is carried out by Latin Church missionaries.
The dicastery collaborates with the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity in matters that concern relations with non-Catholic Eastern churches and with the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue in matters within the scope of the latter.

## History

On 6 January 1862, Pope Pius IX established the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide pro negotiis ritus orientalis, a section of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith "for the affairs of the Oriental Rite", with the apostolic constitution Romani Pontifici. Pope Benedict XV declared it independent on 1 May 1917 with the motu proprio Dei providentis and named it the Congregatio pro Ecclesia Orientali (Congregation for the Eastern Church). It was presided over by the pope and a cardinal filled the role of Secretary. There were also councillors, chosen from among the more distinguished clergy and those experienced in issues affecting these churches. Pope Paul VI changed its name by adopting the plural Congregatio pro Ecclesiis Orientalibus (Congregation for Eastern Churches) with the apostolic constitution Regimini Ecclesiae Universae of 15 August 1967, reflecting the major decree Orientalium Ecclesiarum of the Second Vatican Council. Pope Francis, with his apostolic constitution Praedicate evangelium, which took effect on 5 June 2022, changed its name to the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.
The current prefect of the dicastery is Claudio Gugerotti. The secretary is Michel Jalakh. The undersecretary is Flavio Pace. Two are clerics of the Latin Church with Jalakh being a Maronite.

## Leadership

From 1917 to 1967, the pope held the title of prefect of the Congregation, which was headed by a cardinal secretary. From then until 2022 it was headed by a cardinal prefect. When Claudio Gugerotti was named to head this Curia office, by then called a dicastery, he was an archbishop.
| No. | Name | From | Until | Prefect/Appointer |
| 1 | Niccolò Marini | 1917 | 1922 | Benedict XV |
| 2 | Giovanni Tacci Porcelli | 1922 | 1927 | Pius XI |
| 3 | Luigi Sincero | 1927 | 1936 | Pius XI |
| 4 | Eugène-Gabriel- Gervais-Laurent Tisserant | 1936 | 1959 | Pius XI |
| 5 | Amleto Giovanni Cicognani | 1959 | 1961 | John XXIII |
| 6 | Gabriel Acacius Coussa | 1961 Pro-Secretary | 1962 Secretary | John XXIII |
| 7 | Gustavo Testa | 1962 | 1967 | John XXIII |
| No. | Name | From | Until | Appointer |
| 1 | Gustavo Testa | 15 August 1967 | 13 January 1968 | Paul VI |
| 2 | Maximilien de Furstenberg | 15 January 1968 | 8 February 1973 | Paul VI |
| 3 | Paul-Pierre Philippe | 6 March 1973 | 27 June 1980 | Paul VI |
| 4 | Władysław Rubin | 27 June 1980 | 30 October 1985 | John Paul II |
| 5 | Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy | 30 October 1985 | 24 May 1991 | John Paul II |
| 6 | Achille Silvestrini | 24 May 1991 | 7 September 2000 | John Paul II |
| 7 | Ignatius Moussa Daoud | 25 November 2000 | 9 June 2007 | John Paul II |
| 8 | Leonardo Sandri | 9 June 2007 | 21 November 2022 | Benedict XVI |
| 9 | Claudio Gugerotti | 21 November 2022 | Incumbent | Francis |