46. The Oriental Greeks were asked to use the newly revised calendar, but this request was in vain. The articles and conditions presented to the Ruthenians in the time of Clement VIII when a union was effected mentioned accepting the calendar. They replied that "we will accept the new calendar if it can be made to accord with the old" (Thomas of Jesus, Operum, p. 329). Although there was some ambiguity in this reply, We learn of no further steps taken in this matter, nor did the theologian appointed to investigate the case pass any judgment on this article (op. cit., p. 335f).

Sometimes, however, Orientals have of their own accord adopted the new calendar, as can be seen from the statement of the provincial synod of the Maronites in 1736 to which We have often referred. "We command that the Roman calendar revised by Pope Gregory XIII, the eminent benefactor of Our people, be strictly observed in all our churches in reckoning both fast days and feast days, whether movable or immovable. And We order that the method of use of this calendar be taught to the boys in every church by their teachers in addition to Church music."

But whenever the Orientals did not accept it and there was good reason to fear riotous protests if the use of the new calendar was imposed on them, the Apostolic See has tolerated the observance of the ancient practice of the Orientals and Greeks in distant places. It has done this by allowing them to follow the old calendar until a more favorable opportunity developed for introducing the use of the newly revised calendar. The decrees of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith of August 22, 1625, and April 30, 1631, and the Holy Inquisition of July 18, 1613, and December 14, 1616, are in harmony with this procedure. Sometimes, indeed, missionaries have even been allowed to follow the old calendar while living in districts where only the old calendar was in use (Decrees of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, April 16, 1703, and December 16, 1704).