How does the Eastern (Oriental) Church code relate to the Latin Code?

• A. Eastern Catholic Churches have their own code of canon law, in communion with the Holy See, with distinct canons.
• B. The Eastern Churches follow the same Latin Code without modifications.
• C. The Eastern Church uses no canon law.
• D. The Eastern Churches fall outside canonical governance.

Answer: (A)

In the Catholic Church, different rites have their own systems of canon law that reflect their distinct liturgical and disciplinary traditions. The Eastern Catholic Churches do have their own code of canon law, in communion with the Holy See, with distinct canons. This means there is a Code of Canons for the Eastern Churches (the CCEO) that governs matters specific to these rites—such as Eastern marriage provisions, the governance structures of patriarchs, metropolitans, and eparchs, and other discipline particular to their traditions—while still sharing the overarching authority and unity of the universal Church under the Pope. The Latin Church, by contrast, follows its own Code of Canon Law, and the two codes are separate but harmonized within the same ecclesial communion. This is why the Eastern Churches are not governed by the Latin Code and are not without canon law; they preserve their own distinctive norms alongside the universal framework of Catholic law.