Nobilis Hispaniae Natio. The Ordinariate for the faithful of Eastern Rites living in Spain. Presentation and Commentary

Abstract

The recent establishment of an Ordinariate for the faithful living in Spain who follow Eastern Rites serves as a motivation for the analysis of some questions related to the life of the Eastern faithful in territories which used to be Latin, as well as related to the Ordinariate itself. First of all, the author analyzes the situation of the migrants inside the Church, and specifically, the Eastern Catholics who moved outside their territory of the sui iuris Church. Special attention is paid to the nature of an Ordinariate inside the Law of the Catholic Church, with a specific reference to the question of whether or not these ecclesiastical circumscriptions constitute a particular Church itself. The question regarding the concrete typology of the Ordinariate is given special attention based on a detailed presentation of the establishment decree. Finally, some tasks are suggested as well as future goals for the recently created Ordinariate.