# Eastern Churches ## Catechism of the Catholic Church Churches of the East in union with Rome (the Western Church), but not of Roman rite, with their own liturgical, theological, and administrative traditions, such as those of the Byzantine, Alexandrian or Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Maronite, and Chaldean rites. The variety of particular churches with distinctive traditions witnesses to the catholicity of the one Church of Christ, which takes root in distinct cultures ([[2.1.2.2.p3c#^ccc-1202|1202]]-[[2.1.2.2.p3c#^ccc-1203|1203]]; cf. [[1.2.3.9.p29#^ccc-835|835]]). ## Vatican II - Eastern Churches — "the Churches of the East, as much as those of the West, have a full right and are in duty bound" — [[orientalium-ecclesiarium#^oe-5|OE ¶5–6]] - Eastern Churches (ecumenical relation) — "there flourish in the East many particular or local Churches, among which the Patriarchal Churches hold first place" — [[unitatis-redintegratio#^ur-14|UR ¶14–18]]