Sui iuris

Sui iuris is a Latin phrase that literally means “of one’s own right”. It is usually spelled "sui juris" in civil law, which uses the phrase to indicate legal competence, the capacity to manage one’s own affairs (Black's Law Dictionary, Oxford English Dictionary). The English word “autonomous” is derived from the Greek words that correspond to Latin "sui iuris".

Roman Catholic ecclesiastical use

Church documents such as the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches apply the Latin term "sui iuris" to the particular Churches or rites that together compose the Roman Catholic Church. By far the largest of these "sui iuris" or autonomous Churches is that known as the Latin Church or the Latin Rite. Over this particular Church the Pope exercises, as well as his papal authority, the authority that in other particular Churches belongs to a Patriarch. He is therefore referred to also as Patriarch of the West[1] (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05230a.htm). The other particular Churches are called Eastern Catholic Churches or Eastern Rites, each of which, if large enough, has its own patriarch or other chief hierarch, with authority over all the bishops of that particular Church or rite.

The same term is applied also to missions that, though lacking enough clergy to be set up as apostolic prefectures, are for various reasons given autonomy, and thus are not part of any diocese, apostolic vicariate or apostolic prefecture. In 2004, there were eleven such missions. Three in the Atlantic: Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos, and Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. Two in the Pacific: Funafuti (Tuvalu), and Tokelau. Six in central Asia: Afghanistan, Baku (Azerbaijan), Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Examples of Roman Catholic ecclesiastical 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." [2] (http://www.ukrweekly.com/Archive/2000/290007.shtml)
• "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, ..." [3] (http://www.byzcath.org/news/1999/AEP19990928-1.html)
• "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 [4] (http://www.byzcath.org/news/LOR19981028.html)
• "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." [5] (http://www.zenit.org/english/asia/cong17.html)
• "...[T]he rays originating in the one Lord, the sun of justice which illumines every man (cf. Jn 1:9 (http://drbo.org/cgi-bin/d?b=drb&bk=50&ch=001&l=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 [6] (http://www.cin.org/docs/eastinst.html).

External links

• Papal Address to Bishops of Central Asia - 23 Sept 2001 (http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/pope0264ur.htm)
• Roman Catholic Mission (http://www.catholic.tc)Roman Catholic Churches in Turks and Caicos Islands
• An overview of the sui iuris status according to the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church (http://www.malankara.net/articles/metropolitan_church_sui_iuris.asp)
• Article distinguishing between unity and uniformity, from Kottayam Catholic Diocese (http://www.kottayamdiocese.com/sui_juris.htm)
• Eastern Churches (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05230a.htm) in the Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/)