Omnem sollicitudinem

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Omnem sollicitudinem is an encyclical (May 13, 1874) written by Pope Pius IX. , he wrote “about the Greco-Ruthenian rite ” and therefore only addressed the Ruthenian archbishop and the Ruthenian bishops .

About the Eastern Churches

In his greeting, Pius IX. together that since the beginning of his pontificate , in agreement with his predecessors, he had maintained good cooperation with the Eastern Churches and had campaigned for the special Catholic liturgy , and he referred to his encyclical " In suprema Petri " of January 6, 1848 down. The words of the popes were also very clear, to which he led Pope Clement VIII ( Constitution “Magnus Dominus” 1595), Paul V (papal letter of December 10, 1615) and Benedict XIV. (Encyclicals “ Demandatam ” 1743 and “ Allatae sunt “1755). But, as the Pope wrote, care had always been taken to ensure that no dangerous and improper deviations crept into the rites of the Oriental Church.

Warning of further schisms

It was therefore, and that was the reason for this letter, to draw attention to creeping changes that there should not be any further schisms . The rites should be viewed in their unity as a whole, Pius IX emphasized, and he saw the peculiar signs as an occasion to raise his voice to ward off the "evil" from the Ruthenian Church. He also saw the controversies in the ecclesiastical province of Lvov ( Ukraine ) and condemned them, the Pope underlined the important merging of the Rutherian-Greek Church, which had been approved by a decree of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches on October 6, 1863. But the disagreements in the neighboring dioceses also worried Pius IX. Here, too, he warned of the danger of a schism and called for order.

Worry about new schisms

The growing conditions in the diocese of Chelm ( Poland ) particularly pained the Pope, since the bishop appointed by Rome had been deposed and a pseudo-administrator had been installed. Although he was deprived of his dignity, he continued to disregard ecclesiastical jurisdiction and changed the canonical liturgy on his own initiative . In his own circular he dared to announce changes in divine veneration and liturgy. There is therefore no doubt that this is a schism in the Diocese of Chelm. Pius IX explicitly stated that all changes announced in this newsletter would be declared invalid.

Faithfulness to the rites

It has always been agreed that the agreed rites, according to the canons of the Catholic Church , must never be changed without the consent of the Holy See . Pius IX but did not rule out changes either, but then they would have to be in accordance with the synods and canon law . He describes the events in Chelm as the beginning of a heresy and calls for apostolic fidelity.

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