The Canon of Scripture
Question from John R. on 2/19/2008:

If union between Rome and Eastern Orthodoxy were to happen, agreement would need to be reached on the canonicity of 3 Maccabees, 3rd and 4th Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh.

Considering that the magisterium has neither explicitly affirmed, nor rejected, their scriptural value, could the Catholic Church theoretically formally add them to the Catholic canon?

The lectionary of the Byzantine rite of the Catholic Church includes them.

Answer by Fr. John Echert on 3/7/2008:
No, for the fact that the Bible is public revelation and it is unthinkable that the Church would be deprived of what was intended to be universal for the first two-thousand years (including the most critical years of the Apostolic Period).

Thanks, John

Father Echert