The present volume collects a series of studies on Eastern canon law examined through the lens of two pivotal documents published in 2024: the Final Document of the Synod on Synodality (“For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission”) and the study document by the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity entitled The Bishop of Rome . Many of the articles contained herein were originally presented as conference papers during a study day organized by the Faculty of Eastern Canon Law at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome, on 11 December 2025. The theme of that study day, Diritto canonico orientale alla luce del documento del Sinodo dei Vescovi e del documento “Vescovo di Roma” (Eastern Canon Law in the Light of the Final Document of the Synod of Bishops and the Document “The Bishop of Rome”) , highlights the connection between these two texts. We have brought these two documents together because they demonstrate the interdependency of primacy and synodality in the Church at every level: local, regional, and universal. As noted in The Bishop of Rome , there exists a complementary relationship between primacy and synodality in the service of communion (BR 81). Synodality arises from baptismal communion; the primary role of the bishop of Rome is to nourish this communion with encouragement, pastoral care, and missionary spirit, while establishing new structures and removing obstacles, including legal ones, that hinder the Church’s mission.
