Dicastery for the Eastern Churches
Patriarchs and major archbishops of the Oriental churches, and the president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, are members of this dicastery by virtue of the law itself.[10] On 6 January 1862, Pope Pius IX established the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide pro negotiis ritus orientalis, a section of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith "for the affairs of the Oriental Rite", with the apostolic constitution Romani Pontifici.[11] Pope Benedict XV declared it independent on 1 May 1917 with the motu proprio Dei providentis and named it the Congregatio pro Ecclesia Orientali (Congregation for the Eastern Church).[13] Pope Paul VI changed its name by adopting the plural Congregatio pro Ecclesiis Orientalibus (Congregation for Eastern Churches) with the apostolic constitution Regimini Ecclesiae Universae of 15 August 1967, reflecting the major decree Orientalium Ecclesiarum of the Second Vatican Council.[1] Pope Francis, with his apostolic constitution Praedicate evangelium, which took effect on 5 June 2022, changed its name to the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.