Vatican City, Oct 8, 2010 / 13:01 pm
Previewing the upcoming synod for the Church in the Middle East at a press conference today, Archbishop Nikola Eterovic announced that the gathering is meant to increase communion between the Eastern Catholic Churches and provide support to a community of believers plagued by violence and discrimination.
Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, announced additional information today during a briefing in the Holy See Press Office about the the planning for the synod. Extra considerations had to be taken because of the unique make-up of the Church in the Middle East.
Although only 1.6 percent of the population is Catholic within the 16 middle eastern states included in this synodal assembly, the 5.7 million Catholics in the region are made up of members of seven different traditions within the Catholic Church.
Archbishop Eterovic explained that "Apart from the Church of the Latin tradition, since earliest times, there have been six 'sui iuris' Eastern Catholic Churches, each with its own patriarch, father and head of the Church.” Those Churches are: the Coptic Church, the Syrian Church, the Greek-Melkite Church, the Maronite Church, the Chaldean Church and the Armenian Church.