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PART ONE
AN HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRADITIONS

3.1 The Rich Heritage of the Oriental Churches
The existence of an Eastern Tradition in the Church has been
acknowledged by the Second Vatican Council. While speaking of the
eastern Churches, the Council said: “The Sacred Council, therefore, not only
accords to this ecclesiastical and spiritual heritage the high regard which is
its due and rightful praise, but also unhesitatingly looks on it as the heritage
of the universal Church. For this reason it solemnly declares that the
Churches of the East, as much as those of the West, have a full right and are
in duty bound to rule themselves, each in accordance with its own
established disciplines, since all these are praiseworthy by reason of their
venerable antiquity, more harmonious with the character of their faithful and
1
more suited to the promotion of the good of souls”.

The Council did not merely recognize the existence of an Eastern
Tradition in the Church, but it acknowledges the authenticity of the Eastern
discipline. The Council documents are replete with texts that speak in clear
terms, of the dignity and the authenticity of the Eastern Tradition, and, more
2
importantly, they highly recommend their preservation. “All members of
the Eastern Rite should know and be convinced that they can and should
always preserve their legitimate liturgical rite and their established way of
life, and that these may not be altered except to obtain for themselves an
organic improvement. All these, then, must be observed by the members of
the Eastern rites themselves. Besides, they should attain to an ever greater
knowledge and a more exact use of them, and, if in their regard they have
fallen short owing to contingencies of times and persons, they should take
3
steps to return to their ancestral traditions”.
Traditions of the East differ significantly from those of the West.
This difference between the East and the West is not only confined to the
liturgical traditions, but also extends to other aspects of the Church’s life as
well. The Eastern Churches, founded by the Apostles and their immediate

1 SACROSANCTUM CONCILIUM OECUMENICUM VATICANUM II, Decretum De
Ecclesiis Orientalibus Catholicis, Orientalium Ecclesiarum, no. 5, 21 November, 1964, in
AAS 57, 1965, pp. 76-89.
2
Cf. ZOGHBY, E., Eastern and Western Tradition in the One Church, in HANS KÙNG &
CO. (ed.), Council Speeches of Vatican II, Deus Books, New Jersey, 1964, p. 51.
3
Orientalium Ecclesiarum, no. 6.

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