Roman Catholic Church

The Uniate Churches of the East.

All that has been written so far on the local organisation of the Catholic Church applies only to the Western Church and the Latin rite, which include the vast majority of Catholics. But there are also a number of so called Uniate Churches in full communion with the Holy See, but organized separately. These do not represent, as is often thought, any sort of compromise or intermediate position between Western Catholicism and the various schismatic or heretical churches of the east. All the Uniate Churches accept the full Catholic faith and are in matters of doctrine absolutely at one with Rome. They all accept in its fulness the primacy of the Holy See and are subject to its supreme jurisdiction. In each case the Uniate Church is made up of those faithful ones who have refused to follow the great body of their fellow countrymen into heresy or schism, and they retain their old privileges and represent the church of that district or country as it would have been had the schism never occurred. In no case, however, has the succession from the ancient hierarchy been preserved, but a new hierarchy has been instituted from Rome, with the old titles and privileges, and with the preservation of the ancient rite. The object aimed at by Rome in instituting a Uniate Church is not the Latinizing of the ancient rites, but the union of hearts in the one faith, and under the one primacy of the Holy See.

Religion in the East has always been far more a matter of nationality than it has in the West. It has been found impossible therefore to carry out the strict system of territorial jurisdiction which obtains everywhere in the West. In the East the churches are distinguished rather by nationality, by language, and by rite than by locality, and in consequence there is a system of inter penetrating jurisdictions which make it very difficult to explain clearly the plan on which the various Uniate Churches are or ganized. There are, for instance, at present seven patriarchs of Antioch, of whom three are schismatic, but four are in communion with the Holy See : the Latin patriarch, whose position is merely titular, originating during the Crusades and who resides in Rome; the Melchite patriarch, the Syrian patriarch and the Maronite patriarch. These last three each have jurisdiction over the Catho lics of their own rite only.

The Uniates in Europe are more or less directly subject to the general system of the Catholic Church. Those in Asia and Africa, however, since the rights of the patriarchates have been pre served, enjoy greater autonomy, being ruled by the Holy See mainly through their respective patriarchs.

Exact statistics of the various Uniate Churches have always been very difficult to obtain, and the task is now harder than ever on account of the political changes which have followed on the War in Eastern Europe and in Asia. The total number of their

adherents is probably somewhere about five millions, of whom the greater part belong to the Ruthenian Church. Their organisation too is very varied, some being under the local Latin bishops, some under a hierarchy of their own independent of the local Latin hierarchy; and some under the sole jurisdiction of their own patriarchs. The clearest way to exhibit this complicated system of jurisdiction is probably by a classification according to the rite employed.

I. Catholics of the Byzantine Rite in Europe.

These are to be found for the most part in the territory which at one time belonged to the Turkish empire in Europe at the time of its greatest extension, and which later belonged to Austria-Hungary. They use the Byzantine Liturgy.

a. The Ruthenian Church.—This is by far the most important of the Uniate Churches and is said to number between three and four millions. It is however but a fragment of the great body that gave in its adhesion to Rome in 1596, at the Synod of Brest in Lithuania; an adhesion which later on was completed in 1700 and 1702, of ter a bitter resistance, by the submission of the dioceses of Lemberg and Luzk. The larger part of these Catholics were in Russian territory and were forced to unite with the Orthodox Church of that country in successive persecu tions in 1795, 1839 and 1875. At the present time Galicia and Hungary hold the greater number of these Uniates. In Galicia they have an independent hierarchy under the archbishop of Lemberg, with two suffragan sees at Przemysl and Stanislawov. In Hungary there are two bishoprics of the Ruthenian rite, but they are under the Latin archbishop of Gran. In Yugoslavia the Ruthenian bishop of Koros is under the Latin Archbishop of Agram. The liturgical language of these churches is Old Slavonic.

b. The Rumanian Church.—The Catholics of the Byzantine rite in Rumania, who number about t,000,000, have their own organi sation under an archbishop at Agaras, with three suffragan sees.

c. Russia.—The Uniate Ruthenian Church in Russia was finally extinguished by Alexander II. who put an end to the only diocese which still survived, that of Chiem, and forced all its adherents to join the Orthodox Church. There is at present no organisation for any Catholics other than those of the Latin rite existing in Russia, and those Russians who desire to live in union with the Holy See have for the most part been obliged to accept the Latin rite for their own protection. But it is very difficult to obtain really trustworthy information as to what is the exact state of affairs on this point under the Soviet Government.