Sui iuris

Sui iuris is a Latin expression that implies 'legal competence', used in modern law (Black's Law Dictionary, Oxford English Dictionary) and in Catholic ecclesiastical contexts. In law, it is more usually spelled "sui juris".

Table of contents

1 Ecclesiastical use
2 Examples of use
3 External links

Ecclesiastical use

In the context of Catholic theology, sui iuris is a way of referring to the legal status of a church under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of the West — an office coterminous with the Pope. Each of the 24 particular churches that together comprise the Catholic Church enjoys a sui iuris status, which might be thought of as permitting unity without requiring uniformity. There are differences, for example, in liturgy, and each particular Church has a separate hierarchy. But each is obedient to the Pope and receives the full "deposit of faith" including a common understanding of the Catholic sacraments. The Pope's role in overseeing the sui iuris Churches can be understood in terms of his "position as patriarch of the West [being] as distinct from his papal rights as is his authority as local Bishop of Rome". [1] The Western portion is sometimes called the Latin Rite, to which 98% of all Catholics belong. The others are called Eastern-rite Catholic churches, which are more individuated. In some Vatican documents the term "sui iuris" is akin to a title: "Churches sui iuris". The Pope collaborates with sui iuris churches [1] [1] which expect to have the right to speak for themselves in negotiations that arise. [1]

The term is used also in the context of missions, which can exist sui iuris, ([1] [1]) before perhaps being "elevated" [1], and are said to be "erected" at their commencement. A mission is assigned a Rite, which is usually the Latin.

Examples of use

"The Eastern Catholic Churches are not 'experimental' or 'provisional' communities; these are sui iuris Churches, fully recognized by the universal Catholic Church, with the firm canonical base of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches promulgated by Pope John Paul II." [1]
"The hierarchs of the Byzantine Metropolitan Church sui iuris of Pittsburgh, in tile United States of America, gathered in assembly as the Council of Hierarchs of said Church, in conformity with the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, ..." [1]
"It would likewise be helpful to prepare a Catechetical Directory that would 'take into account the special character of the Eastern Churches, so that the biblical and liturgical emphasis as well as the traditions of each Church sui iuris in patrology, hagiography and even iconography are highlighted in conveying the catechesis' (CCEO, can. 621, §2)" John Paul II [1]
"On behalf of the Kyrgyzstan Catholics I would like to express our gratitude to the Holy Father for his prayers and for all that he has done for us: ... and for the creation of the new 'missioni sui iuris' in Central Asia, in a special way — for the trust placed on the 'Minima Societas Jesu', to which he entrusted the mission in Kyrgyzstan." [1]
"...[T]he rays originating in the one Lord, the sun of justice which illumines every man (cf. Jn 1:9), ... received by each individual Church sui iuris, has value and infinite dynamism and constitutes a part of the universal heritage of the Church." "Instruction for Applying the Liturgical Prescriptions of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches", Issued January 6, 1996 by the Congregation for the Eastern Churches [1].