Papal synodality: Why Pope Leo gave Eastern Churches the power to remove Patriarchs
Pope Leo XIV issued the motu proprio "Mutua concordia" on 29 August 2026, amending the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches to let synods of bishops remove their own patriarchs or major archbishops. The reform closes a legal gap that had left only the Pope with the power to judge a patriarch, preventing synods from acting when a relationship with its head broke down. The decree applies by analogy to the six patriarchal Eastern Catholic Churches and the four major archiepiscopal Churches, granting them equal authority over their leaders. The change aims to protect the autonomy of Eastern Churches while ensuring effective governance and preventing prolonged internal conflict.
22 days ago
Pope Leo XIV’s motu proprio Mutua concordia, issued on August 29, 2026, gives synods of bishops in Eastern Catholic patriarchal and major archiepiscopal Churches a formal process for removing their own leaders. The reform preserves papal assent as the final legal step while shifting responsibility for addressing leadership crises toward the Churches’ own synodal structures.
The Catholic Church recognizes 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, six of which are headed by patriarchs: the Coptic, Syriac, Melkite Greek, Maronite, Chaldean and Armenian Catholic Churches. Four others—the Syro-Malabar, Syro-Malankara, Ukrainian Greek Catholic and Romanian Greek Catholic Churches—are headed by major archbishops whose powers are substantially similar to those of patriarchs.
These Churches govern themselves through their own bishops’ synods, elect their heads and legislate particular law under the 1990 Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. Their autonomy is described in the code as a right rather than as a concession from Rome.
Before the reform, however, Canon 1060 reserved the judgment of a patriarch exclusively to the pope. A synod could oppose its patriarch but lacked the authority to remove him, leaving Rome as the only institution able to resolve a breakdown between a patriarch and his bishops.
The new legislation amends Canons 106 and 126 to allow the synod of a patriarchal Church to remove its own patriarch through a defined procedure. By legal analogy, the same authority applies to the four major archiepiscopal Churches and their major archbishops.
The reform took immediate legal effect after its promulgation in L’Osservatore Romano. It was issued as a motu proprio, meaning legislation promulgated by the pope on his own initiative.
The change follows recent crises in two Eastern Catholic Churches. In the Syro-Malabar Church, a prolonged liturgical dispute and allegations involving real estate contributed to the paralysis of Cardinal George Alencherry’s governance before his resignation in 2024. In the Chaldean Church, divisions among bishops led some to boycott a 2024 synodal meeting, while Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako sought Roman backing before resigning in 2026.
Normally, the patriarch convokes the synod. Under the amended rule, a patriarch who fails to fulfill that duty cannot block proceedings concerning his own removal.
The bishop senior in episcopal ordination among those entitled to a deliberative vote may convene the synod. If that bishop does not act, the authority passes to the next eligible bishop in seniority.
The synod must first identify a grave cause and ask the patriarch to resign. If he refuses, the senior eligible bishop arranges for the election of a new president to lead the proceedings, preventing the patriarch from presiding over deliberations about his own case.
The removal vote is conducted by secret ballot and requires the support of at least two-thirds of the members entitled to deliberate. The patriarch retains the right to defend himself before the synod.
If the two-thirds threshold is reached, the synod’s president informs the pope. The patriarchal see becomes vacant only after the pope grants assent, after which the synod may elect a successor.
The legislation presents papal assent as a safeguard for the synod’s freedom rather than as a substitute for its decision. Its stated purpose is to protect the bishops from internal or external pressure and to ensure that any removal reflects the synod acting freely.
Some Eastern clergy and canonists have questioned whether the new system could give Rome an indirect means of achieving removals that previously required overt papal intervention. They have also raised concerns that the undefined standard of a “grave cause,” combined with a two-thirds vote, could function like a vote of no confidence.
The provisions require the cause to be grave, guarantee the patriarch an opportunity to defend himself and set a threshold that cannot be reached by a small faction acting alone. The practical adequacy of those protections will depend on how the procedure is used in an actual case.
The legislation leaves the consequences of removal—including the former patriarch’s title, residence and material support—to the synod under Canon 62.
Overall, the reform combines papal responsibility for the welfare of Eastern Catholic Churches with recognition of their authority to resolve internal governance disputes. It gives the synods the principal role in removing their leaders while reserving to the pope the task of confirming that the decision was genuinely made by the Church concerned.
Synodality empowers Eastern Catholic Churches to depose patriarchs
The statement is too broad and not supported by the supplied evidence. Synodality gives the synod of bishops of a patriarchal Eastern Catholic Church genuine governing authority, but it does not mean that a patriarch may be deposed simply whenever the synod decides.
The Eastern synod is exclusively competent to enact laws for the patriarchal Church, serves as its superior tribunal, and conducts the election of the patriarch and bishops. The patriarch, however, remains the synod’s primus—its recognized first member and president—and synodality is understood as cooperation between the patriarch and the bishops, not as the patriarch’s disappearance from the governing structure.
The supplied texts do not identify a canon granting the patriarchal synod an autonomous power to depose a sitting patriarch. They emphasize instead that patriarchal authority is exercised according to law and remains subject to the supreme authority of the Roman Pontiff and the ecumenical council. Therefore, whether and how a patriarch can be removed requires reference to the specific provisions of the current Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches and any applicable papal or particular law; “synodality” alone is not sufficient legal authorization.
A more accurate formulation would be:
Synodality gives Eastern Catholic patriarchal synods substantial collegial authority, including the election of the patriarch, but it does not by itself establish an unrestricted synodal power to depose him.