Orientalium Ecclesiarum

Orientalium Ecclesiarum is the Decree on the Catholic Churches of the Eastern Rite from the Second Vatican Council. One of the shorter such documents, it was passed by the assembled bishops by a vote of 2,110 to 39 and promulgated by Pope Paul VI on November 21, 1964. The name means "Eastern Churches" in Latin, and is taken from the first line of the decree, as is customary with Roman Catholic official documents. (The full text in English is available from the Holy See's website.)

Contents

The numbers given correspond to the section numbers within the text.

1. Preamble (1)
2. The Individual Churches or Rites (2-4)
3. Preservation of the Spiritual Heritage of the Eastern Churches (5-6)
4. Eastern Rite Patriarchs (7-11)
5. The Discipline of the Sacraments (12-18)
6. Divine Worship (19-23)
7. Relations with the Brethren of the Separated Churches (24-29)
8. Conclusion (30)