A church is an aggregation of particular churches with distinct liturgical, spiritual, theological and canonical traditions that is recognized as a particular church within the Catholic Church. The term denotes the relative autonomy of the
Eastern Catholic Churches to keep up their patrimonial autonomous nature. The autonomy of these churches is relative in the sense that it is under the supreme authority of the
Roman Pontiff. By far the largest of the churches is the
Latin Church. Over that particular church, the
pope exercises his papal authority, and the authority that in other particular churches belongs to a
patriarch. He has, therefore, been referred to also as Patriarch of the West.
Patriarchal churches A patriarchal church is a full-grown form of an Eastern Catholic church. It is 'a community of the Christian faithful joined together by' a Patriarchal hierarchy. The Patriarch together with the synod of bishops has the legislative, judicial and administrative powers within jurisdictional territory of the patriarchal church, without prejudice to those powers reserved, in the common law, to the Roman pontiff (CCEO 55-150). Among the Eastern Catholic Churches the following churches are of patriarchal status: •
Coptic Catholic Church (1741):
Cairo, Egypt •
Maronite Church (union re-affirmed 1182):
Bkerke, Lebanon, Cyprus, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Argentina, Brazil, United States, Australia, Canada, Mexico •
Syriac Catholic Church (1781):
Beirut, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Palestine, Egypt, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, United States and Canada, Venezuela •
Armenian Catholic Church (1742):
Beirut, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Jordan, Palestine, Ukraine, France, Greece, Latin America, Argentina, Romania, United States, Canada, Eastern Europe •
Chaldean Catholic Church (1552):
Baghdad, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, United States •
Melkite Greek Catholic Church (definitively 1726):
Damascus, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Brazil, United States, Canada, Mexico, Iraq, Egypt and Sudan, Kuwait, Australia, Venezuela, Argentina
Major archiepiscopal churches Major archiepiscopal churches are the oriental churches, governed by the
major archbishops being assisted by the respective synod of bishops. These churches also have almost the same rights and obligations of Patriarchal Churches. A major archbishop is the
metropolitan of a see determined or recognized by the Supreme authority of the Church, who presides over an entire Eastern Church that is not distinguished with the patriarchal title. What is stated in common law concerning patriarchal Churches or patriarchs is understood to be applicable to major archiepiscopal churches or major archbishops, unless the common law expressly provides otherwise or it is evident from the nature of the matter" (CCEO.151, 152). Following are the Major Archiepiscopal Churches: •
Syro-Malankara Catholic Church (1930):
Thiruvananthapuram, India, United Arab Emirates, United States of America •
Syro-Malabar Church (1923):
Ernakulam, India, Middle East, Europe and America •
Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic (1697):
Blaj, Romania, United States of America •
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (1595):
Kyiv, Ukraine, Poland, United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, Germany and Scandinavia, France, Brazil, Argentina
Metropolitan churches A church which is governed by a
Metropolitan (Bishop) is called a metropolitan church . "A Metropolitan Church is presided over by the Metropolitan of a determined see who has been appointed by the Roman Pontiff and is assisted by a council of hierarchs according to the norm of law" (CCEO. 155§1). The Catholic metropolitan churches are the following: •
Ethiopian Catholic Church (1846):
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. •
Ruthenian Catholic Church (1646) – a metropolia, an eparchy, and an apostolic exarchate: United States (594,465), Canada, Ukraine, Czech Republic. •
Slovak Greek Catholic Church (1646):
Prešov, Slovakia. •
Eritrean Catholic Church (2015):
Asmara, Eritrea •
Hungarian Greek Catholic Church (2015) –
Hajdúdorog, Hungary
Other churches Other than the above-mentioned three forms of churches there are some other ecclesiastical communities. It is "a Church which is neither patriarchal nor major archiepiscopal nor Metropolitan, and is entrusted to a hierarch who presides over it in accordance with the norm of common law and the particular law established by the Roman Pontiff" (CCEO. 174). The following churches are of this juridical status: •
Albanian Greek Catholic Church (1628) – apostolic administration: Albania •
Belarusian Greek Catholic Church (1596) – apostolic administration: Belarus •
Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church (1861) – apostolic exarchate:
Sofia, Bulgaria •
Byzantine Catholic Church of Croatia and Serbia (1611) – an eparchy and an apostolic exarchate:
Eparchy of Križevci for Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and
Byzantine Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Serbia •
Greek Byzantine Catholic Church (1829) – two apostolic exarchates:
Athens, Greece, Turkey •
Italo-Albanian Catholic Church (never separated) – two eparchies and a territorial abbacy: Italy •
Macedonian Greek Catholic Church (1918) – an eparchy:
Skopje, Republic of Macedonia •
Russian Greek Catholic Church (1905) – two apostolic exarchates, at present with no published hierarchs: Russia, China; currently about 34 parishes and communities scattered around the world, including 20 parishes and 5 missions in Russia itself, answering to bishops of other jurisdictions == Secular law ==