Sui iuris

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Sui iuris, usually spelled "sui juris" in civil law, is a Latin phrase that literally means “of one’s own right” but is now usually understood as 'of a peculiar nature'.

Secular law

In civil law the phrase sui juris indicates legal competence, the capacity to manage one’s own affairs (Black's Law Dictionary, Oxford English Dictionary).

Thus in Roman law the caretaker or guardian of a spendthrift (prodigus) or of a person of unsound mind (furiosus), and, particularly, one who takes charge of the estate of an adolescens, i.e. of a person sui juris, above the age of a pupillus, fourteen or twelve years (boys viz. girls), and below the full age of twenty-five. Such persons were known as minors, i.e. minores viginti quinque annis. While the tutor, the guardian of the pupillus, was said to be appointed for the care Of the person, the curator took charge of the property.

The English word “autonomous” is derived from the Greek words that correspond to Latin "sui iuris".

Examples of Roman Catholic ecclesiastical use

Mission sui iuris
"The Eastern Catholic Churches are not 'experimental' or 'provisional' communities; these are sui iuris Churches, fully recognized by the universal Catholic Church, with the firm canonical base of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches promulgated by Pope John Paul II." [link]
"The hierarchs of the Byzantine Metropolitan Church sui iuris of Pittsburgh, in tile United States of America, gathered in assembly as the Council of Hierarchs of said Church, in conformity with the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, ..." [link]
"It would likewise be helpful to prepare a Catechetical Directory that would 'take into account the special character of the Eastern Churches, so that the biblical and liturgical emphasis as well as the traditions of each Church sui iuris in patrology, hagiography and even iconography are highlighted in conveying the catechesis' (CCEO, can. 621, §2)" John Paul II [link]
"On behalf of the Kyrgyzstan Catholics I would like to express our gratitude to the Holy Father for his prayers and for all that he has done for us: ... and for the creation of the new 'missioni sui iuris' in Central Asia, in a special way — for the trust placed on the 'Minima Societas Jesu', to which he entrusted the mission in Kyrgyzstan." [link]
"...[T]he rays originating in the one Lord, the sun of justice which illumines every man (cf. Jn [1:9]), ... received by each individual Church sui iuris, has value and infinite dynamism and constitutes a part of the universal heritage of the Church." "Instruction for Applying the Liturgical Prescriptions of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches", issued January 6, 1996 by the Congregation for the Eastern Churches [link].

Sources and External links

[GigaCatholic]
[Papal Address to Bishops of Central Asia - 23 September 2001]
[Roman Catholic Mission]Roman Catholic Churches in Turks and Caicos Islands
[An overview of the sui iuris status according to the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church]
[Article distinguishing between unity and uniformity, from Kottayam Catholic Diocese]
[Eastern Churches] in the [Catholic Encyclopedia]

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