The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches is the organ of the Roman Curia entrusted, according to the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium, with dealing with "matters concerning the Eastern Catholic Churches sui iuris with regard to persons and things"[1]. The direct heir of the Congregatio pro negotiis ritus orientalis instituted by Pope Pius IX on 6 January 1862 as a mere section of the Congregation de Propaganda Fide, it owes its full autonomy to Pope Benedict XV, who erected it as an independent congregation by the motu proprio Dei providentis of 1 May 1917[2].
It is one of the oldest and most singular dicasteries of the Curia: from 1917 to 1967, the Pope himself was formally its prefect, assisted by a cardinal secretary — a configuration unique in the entire history of the Roman Curia, reflecting the personal attention the twentieth-century popes paid to the fidelity of the Eastern Churches united to Rome[3]. Only in 1967, under Paul VI, was the office of prefect entrusted to a residential cardinal, as with the other dicasteries.
Its mission concerns neither doctrine nor sacramental discipline in general — matters reserved to other dicasteries[4] — but the proper government of the twenty-three Eastern Catholic Churches sui iuris: hierarchical structure, appointment of bishops and superiors, canonical status of persons, five-year reports and ad limina visits[5]. Uniquely in the Curia, the patriarchs and major archbishops of these Churches are its members by right[6], and not mere consultants — the dicastery is thus the only Roman body in which the Eastern episcopate participates by statute in the central government of the Church.
Since 21 November 2022, the Italian Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, a former nuncio in several Eastern European countries and a fine connoisseur of Eastern languages and liturgies, has been its prefect[7]. Under the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, elected on 8 May 2025 after the death of Francis on the preceding 21 April[8], the dicastery remains a central channel of pontifical solicitude towards Churches often described as "martyr Churches", scarred by the wars of the Middle East and Eastern Europe[9].
Institutional history: four statutes in one hundred and sixty years
| Period | Name | Founding act | Pope |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1862-1917 | Eastern section of Propaganda | Romani Pontifices (6 January 1862) | Pius IX |
| 1917-1967 | Congregation for the Oriental Church | Dei providentis (1 May 1917) | Benedict XV |
| 1967-2022 | Congregation for the Eastern Churches | Regimini Ecclesiae Universae (15 August 1967) | Paul VI |
| Since 2022 | Dicastery for the Eastern Churches | Praedicate Evangelium (19 March 2022, in force 5 June 2022) | Francis |
A section for "Oriental rite" affairs within Propaganda (1862)
Until the mid-nineteenth century, the affairs of Eastern-rite Catholics fell, like distant missions, to the Congregation de Propaganda Fide founded by Gregory XV in 1622. This attachment created a fundamental confusion: the Eastern Churches united to Rome are not "missions" in the sense of territories to be evangelised, but apostolic Churches in their own right, endowed with their own hierarchy, liturgy and law. On 6 January 1862, Pope Pius IX answered this unease by creating, through the apostolic constitution Romani Pontifices, a specialised section within Propaganda, the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide pro negotiis Ritus Orientalis, with its own secretary and its own consultors[10]. It was the first time Rome gave Eastern affairs a distinct permanent structure, even though it remained juridically an emanation of Propaganda.
The independence willed by Benedict XV: Dei providentis (1917)
Attachment to Propaganda ended up producing "the unfortunate impression that this department was a mere appendage" of the missionary Congregation, while the volume and complexity of Eastern affairs kept growing[11]. On 1 May 1917, in the midst of the First World War, Pope Benedict XV settled the matter with the motu proprio Dei providentis: the section became a Roman congregation in its own right, the Sacra Congregatio pro Ecclesia Orientali — the Sacred Congregation for the Oriental Church, in the singular, a sign that Rome still thought of the Christian East as a single bloc rather than as a plurality of sui iuris Churches[12].
The most astonishing provision of Dei providentis concerns the presidency of the new congregation: unlike all the others, it is presided over by the Sovereign Pontiff himself, with a cardinal secretary handling day-to-day management. This arrangement remained in force for fifty years, until the 1967 reform[13]. Seven cardinal secretaries succeeded one another in this form, from Niccolò Marini (1917-1922) to Gustavo Testa, who became the first full cardinal prefect in 1967[14].
The Pontifical Oriental Institute, twin institution (1917)
That same month, Benedict XV completed his design by founding a twin academic institution. The motu proprio Dei providentis of 1 May created the congregation; the apostolic letter Orientis catholici of 15 October 1917 founded the Pontifical Oriental Institute (Pontificium Institutum Orientalium Studiorum), "a school of higher studies whose particular mission is the service of the Eastern Churches"[15]. Since 1922, the Institute has been entrusted to the Society of Jesus; its chancellor was by right the prefect of the dicastery, sealing its close institutional bond with the central government of the Eastern Churches[16]. On 19 May 2024, the Institute was incorporated into the Pontifical Gregorian University, while keeping its name, its own mission and its library, one of the richest in the world on Eastern Christianity[17].
Pius XI, the formation of the Eastern clergy and the Ethiopian rite (1917-1939)
Between the two wars, Roman policy towards the Christian East stressed the formation of an indigenous clergy. Under Pius XI, several Roman colleges for Eastern clerics were founded or rebuilt, including the Ethiopian College and the Ruthenian College, so that future Eastern priests might "cultivate their rite with the greatest care, observe it and have full knowledge of it" — a direct reprise of the principle laid down by Leo XIII in 1894 (see below)[18]. It was also under Pius XI, on 3 September 1930, that the Ethiopian Catholic rite was formally erected, distinct from the Coptic Alexandrian rite, likewise falling under the competence of the dicastery[19].
Pius XII and the first partial codification: Cleri Sanctitati (1957)
Until the mid-twentieth century, the Eastern Catholic Churches had no proper body of canon law comparable to the 1917 Latin Code: each lived by its own ancient particular law, supplemented case by case by pontifical legislation. Pius XII began the first attempt at a common codification through a series of four motu proprios: Crebrae allatae (1949, matrimonial law), Sollicitudinem Nostram (1950, procedure), Postquam Apostolicis (1952, temporal goods and religious) and finally Cleri Sanctitati of 2 June 1957, devoted to persons and rites[20]. Together, these four texts form the Codex Iuris Canonici Orientalis (CICO), nearly 1,590 canons constituting, for the first time, a common law for all Eastern Catholic Churches — without ever attaining the status of a unified and complete code as the 1990 CCEO would[21].
Vatican II strengthens the dicastery: Orientalium Ecclesiarum (1964)
The Second Vatican Council adopted on 21 November 1964, by 2,110 votes to 39, the decree Orientalium Ecclesiarum on the Eastern Catholic Churches — one of the briefest conciliar documents, but one of the most decisive for the mission of the dicastery[22]. The text states unambiguously:
"They are therefore of equal dignity, so that none of them is superior to the others by reason of its rite." — Second Vatican Council, decree Orientalium Ecclesiarum, no. 3, 21 November 1964[23]
The council immediately adds that "the Eastern Churches, like those of the West, have the right and the duty to govern themselves according to their own particular disciplines"[24]. It is precisely this conciliar mandate — to govern the Eastern Churches according to their own disciplines, not according to Latin law — that the dicastery is charged with implementing day by day. The decree adds that the Apostolic See remains the "supreme arbiter of relations between Churches" and "will provide for needs in an ecumenical spirit, by itself or through other authorities"[25] — a formula directly aimed at the mediating and coordinating role entrusted to the competent Roman congregation.
For the whole of the major magisterium on the Catholic East — Orientalium Dignitas of Leo XIII (1894), Orientalium Ecclesiarum and Unitatis Redintegratio (1964), Orientale Lumen of John Paul II (1995) — and for the complete panorama of the twenty-three sui iuris Churches, see the dedicated article The Eastern Catholic Churches, which treats these questions exhaustively. The present article focuses on the Roman institution itself.
Paul VI: pluralisation of the name and end of direct pontifical presidency (1967)
The great reform of the Curia undertaken by Paul VI after the council, the apostolic constitution Regimini Ecclesiae Universae of 15 August 1967, also touched the Eastern congregation on two structural points. First, its name became definitively plural: Sacra Congregatio pro Ecclesiis Orientalibus, institutional recognition of the fact that there is not one single "Eastern Church" but twenty-three distinct sui iuris Churches[26]. Second, and most visibly, the Pope ceased to be its titular prefect: from 15 August 1967, a cardinal was appointed prefect in his own right, like the other Roman congregations — Gustavo Testa, already secretary since 1962, thus becoming the first cardinal prefect in the full sense[27].
John Paul II: Pastor Bonus (1988) and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (1990)
The apostolic constitution Pastor Bonus of John Paul II (28 June 1988), which reorganised the whole Curia, essentially renewed the competences fixed in 1967, in its articles 56 to 61[28]. But the most decisive act of John Paul II's pontificate for the dicastery lies elsewhere: the promulgation, on 18 October 1990, by the apostolic constitution Sacri Canones, of the Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium (CCEO) — the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, which came into force on 1 October 1991[29]. For the first time, the twenty-three sui iuris Churches have a common framework code, distinct from the 1983 Latin Code of Canon Law but built on a comparable architecture, which each Church then completes with its own particular law[30]. The dicastery is henceforth the Roman organ of reference for the application of this code to the Eastern Churches — the authentic interpretation of universal laws remaining governed by common law —; see also the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith for a dicastery of comparable rank on the doctrinal side.
Francis: recast as a Dicastery (Praedicate Evangelium, 2022)
On 19 March 2022, on the solemnity of Saint Joseph, Pope Francis promulgated the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium on the Roman Curia, which came into force on 5 June 2022, Pentecost Sunday. The text entirely replaces Pastor Bonus and substitutes the word "dicastery" for "congregation" and "pontifical council" throughout[31]. The Congregatio pro Ecclesiis Orientalibus thus became the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, its competences being redefined in articles 82 to 87 of the new constitution — the current juridical foundation of its action, detailed below.
Current competences under Praedicate Evangelium
Matters proper to the Eastern Churches sui iuris
Article 84 §1 of Praedicate Evangelium sets the heart of the dicastery's mission:
"The Dicastery is competent for all matters proper to the Eastern Churches which must be submitted to the Apostolic See concerning: the structure and organisation of the Churches; the exercise of the functions of teaching, sanctifying and governing; persons, their status, rights and duties." — Pope Francis, apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium, art. 84 §1, 19 March 2022[32]
The same article adds a more discreet but essential competence for the pastoral oversight of these Churches: the dicastery deals with "everything established concerning the five-year reports and the ad limina Apostolorum visits"[33] — that is, the periodic reports each Eastern bishop must submit to Rome on the state of his eparchy or diocese, and the visits these same bishops make every five years to the tombs of the Apostles and to the Pope.
Article 82 §2 introduces a remarkable flexibility, peculiar to this dicastery: for the patriarchal Churches of ancient tradition, it "will examine from time to time […] which questions concerning internal government may be left to their higher authorities, in derogation from the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches"[34]. Rome thus explicitly recognises that an ancient Eastern patriarchate — Coptic, Syriac, Maronite, Melkite, Chaldean, Armenian — is not a mere administrative district among others, but a Church endowed with an autonomy of government going back, for some, to the apostolic or patristic age.
What remains outside its competence
Article 84 §2 precisely delimits the boundaries of this competence: "the specific and exclusive competence of the Dicasteries for the Doctrine of the Faith, for the Causes of Saints, for Legislative Texts, of the Apostolic Penitentiary, of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura and of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota remains intact"[35]. In concrete terms: a doctrinal matter touching an Eastern theologian falls to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, not to the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches; a cause for the beatification of an Eastern saint falls to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints; a marriage nullity case before the Rota follows its normal course whatever the rite of the parties. The dicastery is therefore not a globalising "ministry of Eastern worship", but a body of institutional and disciplinary government, coordinated with the other Roman organs according to the matter at hand.
Vigilance over Eastern faithful outside their proper territory
Two articles deal with a pastoral reality that has become major with the migrations of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries: the growing presence of Eastern faithful outside their traditional canonical area, notably in Western Europe, America and Oceania.
"The Dicastery follows with attention the communities of Eastern faithful found within the territorial circumscriptions of the Latin Church. It provides for their spiritual needs through visitors and also, as far as possible, through a proper hierarchy where the number of the faithful and circumstances require it." — Pope Francis, Praedicate Evangelium, art. 85[36]
Article 86 goes further still for regions of ancient Eastern tradition: "the apostolate and missionary activity depend exclusively on this Dicastery, even if exercised by missionaries of the Latin Church"[37] — a provision preventing a Latin mission, however well-intentioned, from resulting in a de facto Latinisation of historically Eastern faithful, a constant concern since Leo XIII.
Inter-dicasterial cooperation
Finally, article 87 organises joint work with neighbouring dicasteries: for relations with the non-Catholic Eastern Churches — Orthodox ones in particular — the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches "proceeds by common accord with the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity", as well as with the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue and the Dicastery for Culture and Education "for questions concerning them"[38]. That is why the prefect of the dicastery for Christian unity is himself an ex officio member of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches[39]: the boundary between the internal government of the Eastern Catholic Churches and ecumenical dialogue with the separated Eastern Churches is porous, and Rome has institutionalised it as such.
Structure and governance
Ex officio members unique in the Curia: patriarchs and major archbishops
The most singular feature of the dicastery lies in the composition of its college of members. Whereas, in most Roman dicasteries, members are cardinals and bishops chosen by the Pope in a personal capacity, article 83 §1 of Praedicate Evangelium makes the patriarchs and major archbishops of the Eastern sui iuris Churches members by right — that is, in full right, by the sole fact of their office, without ad personam appointment[40]. In concrete terms, the Maronite, Melkite, Coptic, Syriac and Chaldean patriarchs, as well as the Ukrainian and Syro-Malabar major archbishops, among others, thus sit in the dicastery by right. Article 83 §2 adds that, "as far as possible, consultors and officials will be chosen either from among the faithful of Eastern rite of the various sui iuris Churches, or from among the faithful of Latin rite"[41]: the dicastery structurally watches over its own internal ritual diversity, mirroring what it governs.
The prefect, secretary and under-secretary today
| Office | Holder (2026) | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Prefect | Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti | 21 November 2022 |
| Secretary | Msgr Michel Jalakh, titular Archbishop of Nisibis of the Maronites | February 2023 (episcopate: 8 June 2024) |
| Under-Secretary | Msgr Filippo Ciampanelli | — |
Msgr Michel Jalakh, a Lebanese Maronite priest and former rector of the Antonine University of Baabda, was appointed secretary of the dicastery by Pope Francis on 15 February 2023[42]. A year later, on 8 March 2024, Francis appointed him titular Archbishop of Nisibis of the Maronites; his episcopal ordination was celebrated at Bkerke on 8 June 2024[43].
A vanished singularity: when the Pope was himself prefect (1917-1967)
One must measure how exceptional the 1917-1967 arrangement was: for half a century, no cardinal bore the title of prefect of the Eastern congregation — that office, in all official documents of the time, belonged to the Pope in person, the cardinal in office being merely "secretary", however high his effective authority otherwise[44]. Seven churchmen exercised this secretarial function between 1917 and 1967: Niccolò Marini (1917-1922), Giovanni Tacci Porcelli (1922-1927), Luigi Sincero (1927-1936), the great Orientalist Eugène Tisserant (1936-1959, the longest tenure in the history of the dicastery), Amleto Giovanni Cicognani (1959-1961), the Melkite Archbishop Gabriel Acacius Coussa (1961-1962) and finally Gustavo Testa (1962-1967), who became, in 1967, the first true cardinal prefect[45].
Consultors and commissions
The dicastery relies, according to its official profile, on a body of some fifty consultors, as well as three specialised commissions: one for Eastern liturgical questions, one for the study of the Eastern Christian heritage, and a third for promoting vocations and the formation of the Eastern clergy[46]. This apparatus completes the college of ex officio members and enables the dicastery to handle, case by case, the very great liturgical, linguistic and disciplinary diversity covered by the twenty-three sui iuris Churches.
Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect since 2022
Born on 7 October 1955 in Verona, ordained a priest for that diocese on 29 May 1982, Claudio Gugerotti combines a twofold training in Oriental languages and literatures and in sacred liturgy. He taught patristics at the San Zeno theological institute in Verona (1981-1984), then Eastern theology and liturgy at the Institute of Ecumenical Studies in the same city (1982-1985), before joining the staff of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches as early as 1985, becoming its under-secretary from 1997 to 2001[47].
Appointed archbishop in 2001, he pursued a long diplomatic career for the Holy See as apostolic nuncio in several Central and Eastern European countries between 2001 and 2020 — including Ukraine, where his knowledge of the Byzantine Churches earned him particular recognition — then in Great Britain from 2020 to 2022[48]. Besides Italian, he speaks Armenian, English, Greek, Kurdish and Russian[49]. On 21 November 2022, Pope Francis appointed him prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches[50], then created him cardinal at the consistory of 30 September 2023[51]. Under the pontificate of Leo XIV, Gugerotti remains at the head of the dicastery: the Pope still greets him explicitly, as prefect, at the ROACO assembly of 18 June 2026[52].
The Pontifical Oriental Institute, scholarly arm of the dicastery
Founded at the same time as the congregation itself, the Pontifical Oriental Institute is its academic extension. Its proper mission — forming the Eastern clergy, cultivating the scientific study of the theology, liturgy, history, canon law and languages of the Eastern Churches — makes it an indispensable instrument enabling the dicastery to draw on a pool of competent specialists, able to understand from within the twenty-three distinct traditions it accompanies[53]. From 1917 until its incorporation into the Pontifical Gregorian University in 2024, the chancellor of the Institute was by right the prefect of the dicastery, guaranteeing a rare institutional continuity[54].
ROACO, the charitable arm serving the Eastern Churches
Since 1968, the dicastery has led and coordinated ROACO (Riunione delle Opere di Aiuto alle Chiese Orientali — Meeting of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches), an international committee bringing together charitable organisations from several countries — among them the Œuvre d'Orient, Aid to the Church in Need, Caritas Internationalis, the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and the Pontifical Mission for Palestine, founded in 1949 — to fund the building of places of worship, study grants, health and educational aid, and emergency support for Eastern communities struck by war[55]. Each year, a plenary assembly gathers these agencies around the prefect of the dicastery and, most often, the Pope himself.
Receiving the ROACO assembly on 26 June 2025, Pope Leo XIV summed up in a striking formula the role of this charitable network:
"You are the oxygen supply of the Eastern Churches, exhausted by conflict." — Pope Leo XIV, address to participants in the ROACO Plenary Assembly, 26 June 2025[56]
He added a principle that holds for the whole action of the dicastery and its partner agencies: "The Christian East can only be preserved if it is loved; and it is loved only if it is known."[57]
A territorial jurisdiction unique in the Curia
Beyond its competence over the persons and institutions of the Eastern Churches wherever they are, the dicastery exercises, in certain territories of ancient Eastern tradition, an exclusive territorial competence extending also to Latin-rite faithful found there — an arrangement no other dicastery of the Curia knows.
| Zone of exclusive territorial competence |
|---|
| Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula |
| Eritrea and northern Ethiopia |
| Southern Albania and Bulgaria |
| Cyprus, Greece, Iran, Iraq |
| Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Jordan |
| Syria and Turkey |
In these regions, article 86 of Praedicate Evangelium specifies, "the apostolate and missionary activity depend exclusively on this Dicastery, even if exercised by missionaries of the Latin Church"[58] — a direct continuation, more than one hundred and thirty years on, of the principle laid down by Leo XIII in his apostolic letter Orientalium Dignitas of 30 November 1894: the Eastern rites being a "witness to the apostolicity of the Catholic Church", whose diversity, far from harming the unity of the faith, "adds to her dignity and honour", no Latin missionary action must undermine them, even indirectly, through de facto Latinisation[59]. Leo XIII already gave concrete instructions there for founding schools where future Eastern clerics would "cultivate their rite with the greatest care"[60] — a principle taken up almost word for word by Pius XI forty years later (see above) and by the Second Vatican Council seventy years later in Orientalium Ecclesiarum.
The dicastery and the magisterium of Leo XIV (2025-2026)
Received at the Vatican on 14 May 2025 for the Jubilee of the Eastern Churches, a highlight of the 2025 Jubilee of Hope, a group of Eastern faithful and pastors heard the new Pope recall that "the work of human redemption began in the East" and urge the Eastern Churches to "continue to be outstanding for your faith, hope, and charity, and nothing else"[61]. Leo XIV also addressed a demanding appeal there, in line with the solicitude of all his predecessors since Leo XIII:
"Preserve your traditions without attenuating them, for the sake perhaps of practicality or convenience." — Pope Leo XIV, address at the Jubilee of the Eastern Churches, 14 May 2025[62]
A year later, at the ROACO assembly of 18 June 2026, the Pope developed a doctrinal reflection on the place of the Eastern Churches in the one Catholic Church, directly continuing the teaching of Orientalium Ecclesiarum and Orientale Lumen:
"Our Mother the Church is thus one, but not uniform; her fruitful womb has given birth to various spiritual and theological traditions." — Pope Leo XIV, address to the ROACO Plenary Assembly, 18 June 2026[63]
He specified there, echoing the conciliar decree Unitatis Redintegratio, that these various theological formulations "are often to be regarded as complementary rather than contradictory"[64], before warning against a purely material conception of support for the Eastern Churches: "Supporting a Church does not only mean providing it with material means of subsistence, but also helping it to grow in its identity and in its capacity to evangelise."[65] Describing the concrete situation of the Churches the dicastery accompanies, the Pope used a word rare in the mouth of a Sovereign Pontiff: "There is a scourge, a scourge born of war […] I define it in a single word: instability."[66]
On 10 October 2026, receiving the Synod of Bishops of the Melkite Greek-Catholic Church of Antioch, Leo XIV mentioned a pastoral project entrusted to the dicastery: scholarships covering the annual cost of school and university fees for the children of Christian families in need in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq[67]. In his address, the Pope specified the aim: to support young people so that Christian families receive the help they need to remain in the Middle East and maintain a Christian presence there[68].
Table of prefects since 1917
| Period | Holder | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1917-1922 | Niccolò Marini | Secretary (the Pope is prefect) |
| 1922-1927 | Giovanni Tacci Porcelli | Secretary |
| 1927-1936 | Luigi Sincero | Secretary |
| 1936-1959 | Eugène Tisserant | Secretary |
| 1959-1961 | Amleto Giovanni Cicognani | Secretary |
| 1961-1962 | Gabriel Acacius Coussa | Pro-Secretary then Secretary |
| 1962-1967 | Gustavo Testa | Secretary |
| 1967-1968 | Gustavo Testa | First cardinal prefect |
| 1968-1973 | Maximilien de Fürstenberg | Prefect |
| 1973-1980 | Paul-Pierre Philippe | Prefect |
| 1980-1985 | Władysław Rubin | Prefect |
| 1985-1991 | Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy | Prefect |
| 1991-2000 | Achille Silvestrini | Prefect |
| 2000-2007 | Ignace Moussa I Daoud | Prefect |
| 2007-2022 | Leonardo Sandri | Prefect |
| Since 2022 | Claudio Gugerotti | Prefect |
This table alone illustrates the dicastery's proper mission: its holders, whether named Tisserant (great French Orientalist), Coussa (Melkite Greek-Catholic archbishop), Daoud (Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch before his Roman appointment) or Gugerotti (nuncio in Eastern Europe for twenty years), are almost always men long trained in intimate knowledge of the Eastern Churches — far more than a mere administrative office among others.
What to remember
The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches is neither a mere administrative office nor a quaint survival of the Curia: it is the institutional instrument by which Rome has given concrete form, since 1862, to the conviction affirmed by Leo XIII and then by all subsequent magisterium — from Orientalium Ecclesiarum to Orientale Lumen, down to the addresses of Leo XIV — that the Catholic Church — in the words of John Paul II — breathes with two lungs, East and West, and that the legitimate diversity of the Eastern rites is not a tolerance reluctantly conceded, but a constitutive richness of catholicity itself. Its structural originality — a pope-prefect for fifty years, patriarchs as ex officio members, a territorial competence spilling over onto Latin faithful, a worldwide charitable arm like ROACO — translates, better than any speech, this conviction into a living institution.
To go further
- Read The Eastern Catholic Churches for the complete panorama of the 23 sui iuris Churches, the CCEO, the major magisterium (Orientalium Dignitas, Orientalium Ecclesiarum, Orientale Lumen) and the tragic history of the twentieth century (the pseudo-synod of Lviv, the Middle-Eastern exodus).
- Read The Roman Curia for placing this dicastery within the whole central architecture of the Church since Praedicate Evangelium.
- Read The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith for a dicastery of comparable rank, competent in strictly doctrinal matters.
- Read Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur for another Roman mechanism of ecclesial discernment and approval.
- Consult the full text of the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium (19 March 2022) on vatican.va for the detail of articles 82 to 87.
- Consult the official profile of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches on vatican.va for its updated institutional presentation.
Notes and References
Pope Francis, apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium on the Roman Curia, 19 March 2022 (in force 5 June 2022), art. 82. Full text in French on vatican.va. Art. 82 §1 sets the competence over the Eastern Catholic Churches sui iuris "with regard to persons and things"; §2 allows the dicastery to leave certain questions of internal government to the patriarchal authorities, in derogation from the CCEO.
1 34Wikipedia contributors, "Dicastery for the Eastern Churches", Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, version accessed July 2026, on en.wikipedia.org. Historical synthesis covering the 1862 foundation (constitution Romani Pontifices of Pius IX), the 1917 autonomy (motu proprio Dei providentis of Benedict XV, direct pontifical presidency until 1967), the 1967 pluralisation (Regimini Ecclesiae Universae of Paul VI) and the 2022 recast (Praedicate Evangelium of Francis), as well as the full list of secretaries (1917-1967) and prefects (since 1967).
2 3 10 11 12 13 14 26 27 31 44 45Pope Francis, Praedicate Evangelium, art. 84 §2 and §3, 19 March 2022. Text on vatican.va. §2 expressly reserves the competence of the Dicasteries for the Doctrine of the Faith, for the Causes of Saints, for Legislative Texts, of the Apostolic Penitentiary, of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura and of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota; §3 requires consulting the competent Latin dicastery for mixed affairs also touching Latin faithful.
4 35Pope Francis, Praedicate Evangelium, art. 84 §1, 19 March 2022. Text on vatican.va.
5 32 33Pope Francis, Praedicate Evangelium, art. 83 §1-2, 19 March 2022. Text on vatican.va. §1 makes the patriarchs, the major archbishops of the Eastern sui iuris Churches and the prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity ex officio members; §2 recommends choosing Eastern and Latin consultors and officials.
6 39 40 41Vatican News, "Archbishop Gugerotti appointed new prefect of Eastern Churches", 21 November 2022, on vaticannews.va.
7 50Wikipedia contributors, "Pope Leo XIV" and "2025 conclave", Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, version accessed July 2026: death of Pope Francis on 21 April 2025; conclave of 7-8 May 2025; election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, taking the name of Leo XIV, on 8 May 2025.
8Pope Leo XIV, address to participants in the Jubilee of the Eastern Churches, Paul VI Hall, 14 May 2025. Text (English) on vatican.va: "the work of human redemption began in the East"; "Continue to be outstanding for your faith, hope, and charity, and nothing else"; "preserve your traditions without attenuating them, for the sake perhaps of practicality or convenience"; reference to the "martyr Churches" taking up an expression of Pope Francis.
9 61 62Wikipedia contributors, "Pontifical Oriental Institute", Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, version accessed July 2026, on en.wikipedia.org. Foundation by the motu proprio Dei providentis (1 May 1917) then by the apostolic letter Orientis catholici (15 October 1917); Jesuit administration since 1922; first degrees in 1920 (constitution Quod nobis in condendo); incorporation into the Pontifical Gregorian University on 19 May 2024; rule of the ex officio chancellor as prefect of the dicastery.
15 16 17 53 54Encyclopedia.com, "Eastern Churches, Congregation for the", encyclopaedic synthesis accessed July 2026 on encyclopedia.com, on the policy of forming the Eastern clergy pursued under Pius XI (foundation/rebuilding of the Ethiopian and Ruthenian colleges in Rome) continuing the principle laid down by Leo XIII in 1894.
18Wikipedia contributors, "Ethiopian Catholic Church", Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, version accessed July 2026, on the erection of the Ethiopian Catholic rite by Pius XI on 3 September 1930, distinct from the Coptic Alexandrian rite.
19Paul Pallath (trans.), Code of Eastern Canon Law: English Translation of the Four Apostolic Letters Issued Motu Proprio by Pope Pius XII, text presented on archive.org and academia.edu; synthesis accessed July 2026 on the four motu proprios of Pius XII (Crebrae allatae 1949, Sollicitudinem Nostram 1950, Postquam Apostolicis 1952, Cleri Sanctitati 2 June 1957) forming the Codex Iuris Canonici Orientalis of about 1,590 canons, prior and preparatory to the 1990 CCEO.
20 21Wikipedia contributors, "Orientalium Ecclesiarum", Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, version accessed July 2026, on the adoption of the decree on 21 November 1964 by 2,110 votes to 39 at the Second Vatican Council.
22Second Vatican Council, decree Orientalium Ecclesiarum on the Eastern Catholic Churches, 21 November 1964. Full text in French on vatican.va. Quotations: no. 3 ("They are therefore of equal dignity..."); no. 5 (right and duty to govern themselves according to their particular disciplines); no. 4 (Apostolic See as "supreme arbiter of relations between Churches").
23 24 25Pope John Paul II, apostolic constitution Pastor Bonus on the Roman Curia, 28 June 1988, art. 56-61 (Congregation for the Eastern Churches), repealed and replaced by Praedicate Evangelium (2022) whose art. 82-87 take up and update its general framework.
28Wikipedia contributors, "Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches", Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, version accessed July 2026, on en.wikipedia.org. Promulgation by the apostolic constitution Sacri Canones of John Paul II on 18 October 1990; entry into force on 1 October 1991; framework code distinct from but architecturally comparable to the 1983 Latin Code of Canon Law.
29 30Pope Francis, Praedicate Evangelium, art. 85, 19 March 2022. Text on vatican.va.
36Pope Francis, Praedicate Evangelium, art. 86, 19 March 2022. Text on vatican.va.
37 58Pope Francis, Praedicate Evangelium, art. 87, 19 March 2022. Text on vatican.va.
38ZENIT (French edition), "Dicastère pour les Églises orientales : P. Michel Jalakh, nouveau secrétaire", 15 February 2023, on fr.zenit.org.
42Middle East Council of Churches, "Father Michel Jalkh the Antonine Promoted to the Episcopal Rank", 13 March 2024, on mecc.org; episcopal ordination at Bkerke on 8 June 2024.
43Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, official profile page, on vatican.va and the earlier 2003 version on vatican.va, accessed July 2026, on the internal structure (prefect, secretary, ex officio members, consultors, three specialised commissions) and the role of ROACO.
46Wikipedia contributors, "Claudio Gugerotti", Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, version accessed July 2026, on en.wikipedia.org. Born 7 October 1955 in Verona; priestly ordination 29 May 1982; teaching of patristics and Eastern liturgy in Verona (1981-1985); service in the Congregation for the Eastern Churches from 1985, under-secretary 1997-2001; career as apostolic nuncio in Eastern Europe (2001-2020) then in Great Britain (2020-2022); languages spoken (Italian, Armenian, English, Greek, Kurdish, Russian).
47 48 49Aleteia, "Cardinal-to-be Claudio Gugerotti, expert in Eastern Europe", 30 September 2023, on aleteia.org, on the consistory of 30 September 2023.
51Pope Leo XIV, address to participants in the Meeting of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches (ROACO), 18 June 2026. Text (English) on vatican.va; commentary in French by Vatican News, "Léon XIV invite à sauver les chrétiens d'Orient de la précarité causée par la guerre", on vaticannews.va, and by ZENIT, "Léon XIV : Préserver les Églises orientales, c'est préserver un trésor pour toute l'Église", on fr.zenit.org. The Pope there greets by name "the Prefect, Cardinal Gugerotti, the other Superiors and the Officials of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches".
52 63 64 65 66Œuvre d'Orient, "ROACO : le Pape veut fortifier l'espérance des Églises du Moyen-Orient", on oeuvre-orient.fr, and the official ROACO index on vatican.va, accessed July 2026, on the foundation of ROACO in 1968 under the aegis of the dicastery and its member agencies (Œuvre d'Orient, Aid to the Church in Need, Caritas Internationalis, Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, Pontifical Mission for Palestine founded in 1949).
55Pope Leo XIV, address to participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Meeting of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches (ROACO), Clementine Hall, 26 June 2025. Full text in French on vatican.va.
56 57Pope Leo XIII, apostolic letter Orientalium Dignitas, 30 November 1894. Text (English) on papalencyclicals.net: "the ancient Eastern rites are a witness to the Apostolicity of the Catholic Church, that their diversity, consistent with unity of the faith, is itself a witness to the unity of the Church, that they add to her dignity and honour"; instructions for founding schools for Eastern clerics. French rendering in the body text specific to the French version of this article.
59 60Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, statement "Pope Leo XIV allocates funds to support Christian students in need in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq", 10 October 2026, published in the Holy See Bulletin on press.vatican.va: through the dicastery, the Pope secured scholarships covering the annual cost of school and university fees for the children of these families, as a sign of closeness to faithful tried by conflict; and Pope Leo XIV, address to the Synod of Bishops of the Melkite Greek-Catholic Church of Antioch, 10 October 2026, on press.vatican.va: "the Apostolic See is ensuring that there are scholarships available for the faithful in Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq to receive a Catholic education. Our goal is to support young people, so that Christian families will have the assistance required to remain in the Middle East and maintain a Christian presence."
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