Papal synodality: Why Pope Leo gave Eastern Churches the power to remove patriarchs

The instinctive way to address a crisis in a distant Church is to reach in and settle it. Pope Leo has done something harder and more useful.

The Dicastery for Eastern Churches, Rome.

Twenty-three Eastern Catholic Churches are in full communion with the Bishop of Rome. Six are headed by a patriarch: the Coptic, Syriac, Melkite Greek, Maronite, Chaldean, and Armenian Catholic Churches. Four more are headed by a major archbishop, an office that carries substantially the powers of a patriarch und…