Demandatam coelitus humilitati nostrae is an encyclical

Encyclical

An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Catholic Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop...

, promulgated by Pope Benedict XIV

Pope Benedict XIV

Pope Benedict XIV , born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was Pope from 17 August 1740 to 3 May 1758.-Life:...

 on December 24, 1743, about the Melkite Greek Catholic Church

Melkite Greek Catholic Church

The Melkite Greek Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Church. The Melkites, Byzantine Rite Catholics of mixed Eastern Mediterranean and Greek origin, trace their history to the early Christians of Antioch, Syria, of...

. It is addressed to the Patriarch of Antioch

Patriarch of Antioch

Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the Bishop of Antioch. As the traditional "overseer" of the first gentile Christian community, the position has been of prime importance in the church from its earliest period...

 Cyril VI Tanas

Cyril VI Tanas

Patriarch Cyril VI Tanas, also known as Cyril VI of Antioch , became the first leader of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church following the schism of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch in 1724...

 and to all Melkite bishops under his jurisdiction

Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...

, and is generally not considered ex cathedra

Ex Cathedra

Ex Cathedra is a British choir and early music ensemble based in Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. It performs choral music spanning the 15th to 21st centuries, and regularly commissions new works....

. The subject of this encyclical is the full preservation of the Byzantine Rite

Byzantine Rite

The Byzantine Rite, sometimes called the Rite of Constantinople or Constantinopolitan Rite is the liturgical rite used currently by all the Eastern Orthodox Churches, by the Greek Catholic Churches , and by the Protestant Ukrainian Lutheran Church...

 in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church.

Historical context

In the first part of the 18th century, many liturgical latinisation

Liturgical Latinisation

Liturgical Latinisation, also known as Latinisation, is the process by which liturgical and other aspects of the Churches of Eastern Christianity were altered to resemble more closely the practices of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church...

s were introduced in some communities of the Melkite Catholic Church, mainly by Euthymios Saifi

Euthymios Saifi

Euthymios Michael Saifi was the Melkite Catholic bishop of Tyre and Sidon during the early 18th century. A leading proponent of re-establishing communion between the Orthodox Church of Antioch and the Catholic Church, he is often described as the architect of the Melkite Catholic...

 and Cyril VI Tanas, and supported by many Latin missionaries

Catholic missions

As the church normally organizes itself along territorial lines, and because they had the human and material resources, religious orders—some even specializing in it—undertook most missionary work, especially in the early phases...

 (mainly Franciscans) against the wishes of the papacy. These changes led to a division in the Melkite Catholic Church between those who went on following the pure Byzantine Rite (as the Basilian Chouerite monks

Basilian Chouerite Order

The Basilian Chouerite Order of Saint John the Baptist is a religious order of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. The Latin name of this order is Ordo Basilianus Sancti Iohannis Baptistae, the French name is Ordre Basilien Chouerite de St...

) and those who, named Latinizantes in the encyclical, mixed the Byzantine Rite with the Latin Rite. Rome had already taken measures against the uses of the Latinizantes (e.g., the letters to Saifi in 1723 or the decree of July 8, 1729). However these measures did not resolve the issue, and in 1743, before granting the pallium

Pallium

The pallium is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Roman Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the Pope, but for many centuries bestowed by him on metropolitans and primates as a symbol of the jurisdiction delegated to them by the Holy See. In that context it has always remained unambiguously...

 to Cyril VI Tanas, Pope Benedict XIV issued the Demandatam encyclical to put an end to the mixture of liturgical rites.

Content

The main points of the encyclical are:

• it is forbidden to any one, including the patriarch, to change, to add or to remove anything from the Byzantine Rite and uses (para. 3);
• it is forbidden to have any faithful to pass from the Byzantine Rite to the Latin Rite (para. 15);

Concerning the Latinizantes (who mixed the rites), the encyclical orders that all the faithful baptized in the Byzantine Rite shall return to the Byzantine Rite. An exception is made for the area of Damascus

Damascus

Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

 where the Latinizantes were numerous: they had to choose between the Byzantine and the Latin Rites, and follow it without later changes or mixtures (para. 16).
This letter deals also with the disciplinary issues of the Melkite religious orders

Roman Catholic religious order

Catholic religious orders are, historically, a category of Catholic religious institutes.Subcategories are canons regular ; monastics ; mendicants Catholic religious orders are, historically, a category of Catholic religious institutes.Subcategories are canons regular (canons and canonesses regular...

.

External links

• Full text available online