Congregation For The Oriental Churches - Competance

Competance

This Congregation has authority over

1. all matters which relate to the Oriental Churches referred to the Holy See (structure and organisation of the Churches; exercise of the offices of teaching, sanctifying and ruling; status, rights and obligations of persons) and
2. the ad limina visits of Eastern bishops.

This congregation's competence is does not include the exclusive competence of the Congregations for the Doctrine of the Faith and for the Causes of Saints, of the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura and the Tribunal of the Roman Rota, as well as the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments for what pertains to dispensations for a marriage ratum sed non consummatum ('"ratified but not consummated" in Latin). In matters which affect the Eastern as well as the Latin Churches, the Congregation operates, if the matter is important enough, in consultation with the Dicastery that has competence in the matter for the Latin Church.

The Congregation pays special attention to communities of Eastern Catholic faithful who live in the territory of the Latin Church and attends to their spiritual needs by providing visitators and even their own hierarchs, so far as possible and where numbers and circumstances require, in consultation with the Congregation competent to establish Particular Churches in the region.

In regions where the Eastern Churches have been dominant from ancient times, apostolic and missionary activity is solely the responsibility of this Congregation, even if the above is carried out by Latin Rite missionaries.

The congregation collaborates with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in matters that concern relations with non-Catholic Eastern Churches and with the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in matters within the scope of the latter.