Vatican City, Oct 11, 2010 / 11:19 am
On Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI received participants in a congress marking the 20th anniversary of the current Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. Reflecting on the occasion, the Pope called for Eastern Catholics to maintain their ancient traditions, as witnesses to the important diversity of the universal Church.
The Pope observed that the 20th anniversary of the code's implementation was an important chance to examine its impact on the lives of Eastern Catholics, and to consider its effectiveness as an instrument for the unity of many self-governing churches that maintain communion within the Catholic fold.
Pope Benedict also recalled the traditional roots of the modern code as an adaptation of many “sacred canons of the ancient Church.” The continuity of ancient and modern practice, he said, is an inspiration to all of the various Eastern Catholic Churches “to preserve their own identity, which is (Eastern) and Catholic at one and the same time.”
“In maintaining Catholic communion,” he stated, “the Eastern Catholic Churches had no intention of renouncing faithfulness to their own tradition. 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.”