With the Apostolic Letter issued Motu Proprio "Mutua Concordia", published on 29 August and effective upon its publication in L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Leo XIV amends canons 106 and 126 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches in order to strengthen communion between the Patriarch — "Pater et Caput" — and the Synod of Bishops of the Eastern Catholic patriarchal and major archiepiscopal Churches. The new paragraph of canon 106 governs cases in which the Patriarch fails to convene the Synod, assigning to the bishop most senior by episcopal ordination the power to convene it, so as to avoid the paralysis of the governing body. Canon 126, extensively revised, introduces for the first time an orderly procedure for the removal of the Patriarch for grave cause: if, when asked by the Synod, he refuses to resign, the bishop most senior by ordination presides over the election of a new president and submits the removal to a secret ballot requiring at least two thirds of the votes; the Patriarch is guaranteed the full right of defence before the assembly, and the final decision to declare the see vacant is subject to the assent of the Roman Pontiff, which — the Pope explains — safeguards "the full freedom of the Fathers in expressing their choice, protected from any possible undue internal or external pressure". The reform draws on the practice and theological sensibility of the Orthodox Churches regarding synodality.