Major archbishop seat is vacant: procedure of election explained by canon lawyer

RISU asked a canonist of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), Fr. Rostyslav Bubniak, for details about the procedure of electing a new head of the UGCC when the patriarchal seat is vacant.

The major archbishop seat becomes vacant when the current head of the church abdicates the seat or in the event of his death. Then, an administrator of the Patriarchal Church is appointed for the period before the head is elected.

If the seat is vacant, the administrator is to inform Rome that the seat is vacant and convene an extraordinary Synod of Bishops of the Church for the election of the head. It is the administrator who informs all the bishops of the church about the place and time of holding of the extraordinary synod.

Canon 65 of the Canon Law says that the synod should be held for a month, but the Particular Law allows for the period to be extended to two months.

Джерело публікації: risu.org.ua

According to the procedure, after the election of the candidacy of supreme archbishop, the synod informs the pope in a synodal letter about the election of the new supreme archbishop of the church. The newly elected supreme archbishop personally is to sign the letter and ask the pope to approve the election. The newly elected supreme archbishop shall not begin to fulfill his responsibilities until he receives a positive response from the pope.  The newly elected head of the church confesses the faith before the synod and gives an oath to zealously fulfill his responsibility only after the approval of the Vatican. After that, the Synod of Bishops officially declares him new supreme archbishop of the church and appoints the date of enthronement.

Even a layman can become the head of the church. He must be a man and must be baptized for the consecration to be valid. However, after the election, he must be consecrated bishop.

As for the age range, in the Roman Catholic Church, the cardinals who reach the age of 80 are to write a statement of abdication of the position (bishops at 75). There are no such age limits in the UGCC. Bishops of the UGCC who reach the age of 75 have a right to ask for abdication, but it is not obligatory.

A canonist, Lesia Kovalenko, gave RISU a few interesting comments regarding the resignation and election of the head of the church:

Despite the clear regulation by the Code of Canons of Eastern Churches (Canon 126-132), resignation (or "abdication of the office") of the head of the church is a subject of discussion among the canonists. For the head of the church (patriarch, archbishop, etc.) is not just a position. It is a lifetime occupation. The "request for abdication of the office," which in the new law (both the Catholic and Orthodox ones) applies to all bishops of 75, does not apply to the head of the church. This means that he remains the "Father and Head" of the church to the end of his life. For instance, this was the motivation of the Serbian bishops when they refused to accept the request for resignation of the sick Patriarch Pavel in 2008.

Interestingly, in the same year, the Maronite Catholic Church was in the same situation: its patriarch, 90-year-old Nasrallah Boutros Cardinal Sfeir, approached Pope Benedict XVI with a request to release him from the responsibilities of the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch. That church consists of Lebanese Christians and totals about half a million people. After several months of hesitation, the pope honoured the request of the patriarch and the elections are to be held on March 8.

It should be noted that prior to the election of the new head of the church and approval thereof by the pope, the patriarchal administrator, in the case of the UGCC – Archbishop Ihor Vozniak, cannot make any important changes in the church. For instance, in the case of Maronites, Patriarch Sfeir himself, without the administrator, will fulfill his responsibilities before the election of the new patriarch.

There are doubts also as to the possibility of resignation of the Roman Pope. The most well-known historical example is the voluntary abdication of Pope Celestine V in 1294 after five months of pontificate. He spent the rest of his life as a recluse and was beatified at the end of his life.