Pope Leo XIV has issued a motu proprio that gives the synods of Eastern Catholic Churches a formal legal route to remove a patriarch when relations with the synod are judged irreparably damaged for serious reasons.
The Apostolic Letter, titled *Mutua concordia* and published on the event date, amends canons 106 and 126 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. Vatican News said the change creates an orderly procedure that preserves the patriarch’s right to defend himself while also requiring the pope’s assent before a removal takes effect.
The move matters because the Eastern Catholic Churches are governed by their own canon law and their synods play a central role in church life. Under the new rules, a patriarchal synod can be convened by the most senior bishop entitled to vote if the patriarch does not fulfill the obligations required to summon it. If that bishop is unable to act, the responsibility passes to the next most senior bishops available to do so.
The revised canon 126 also allows the synod, for a grave cause recognized by the bishops, to ask a patriarch to resign. If the patriarch refuses, the most senior voting bishop must arrange the election of a new president for the synod and then submit the question of removal to a secret ballot. At least two-thirds of the voting members must support the decision before it is sent to the pope for assent.
Vatican News said the procedure is designed to restore “wounded communion” in cases where the bond between a patriarch and the synod has become irreparably compromised. The outlet added that the new norms apply not only to patriarchal churches but also, by their nature, to major archiepiscopal churches.
The Vatican framed the reform as an expansion of the prerogatives of Eastern Catholic synods, while still reserving a guarantor role for the Roman pontiff. The new framework is meant to address a gap in the existing code, which did not provide a mechanism for what happens if the relationship between a patriarch and the bishops breaks down beyond repair.
The text also spells out procedural safeguards. Any decision would have to respect the patriarch’s right to a full defense before the synod, and the pope’s assent is presented as a safeguard against pressure that could distort the synodal process.
The reform is significant because it does not hand removal power to a single official. Instead, it builds a layered process around the synod itself, requiring both an internal supermajority and papal approval. That makes the Vatican’s change less a direct intervention than a structured legal path for resolving conflict inside the Eastern churches’ own governing bodies.
For the churches affected, the practical effect is clear: if a patriarchal leadership crisis becomes severe enough, the code now sets out who can convene the synod, how the case can be examined, what vote is needed, and how the final decision reaches Rome. The pope’s motu proprio turns an undefined deadlock into a formal procedure.
