Word: synodical
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Through much of 1985, Roman Catholic analysts have been speculating avidly and almost ceaselessly about what will happen at the forthcoming international synod of bishops. Pope John Paul II has called for the extraordinary session to commence in Rome on Nov. 25 to examine the implementation of the decrees of the Second Vatican Council, which concluded 20 years ago. The synod will follow a rare, three-day meeting in Rome of the full College of Cardinals. Some alarmists fear that a rollback of the accomplishments of the reformist council is in the works. That is an extreme view...
Meeting in Collegeville, Minn., last June, the bishops of the U.S. discussed the status of the American church, in preparation for the synod, and last week their president, Bishop James W. Malone of Youngstown, Ohio, sent the Vatican an official report, requested from all bishops' conferences, on behalf of the Americans. Malone, 65, attended Vatican II and is the U.S. hierarchy's delegate to the November meeting in Rome. His 14-page statement reflected not only Collegeville comments but proposals from two dozen Catholic scholars. The report, strongly endorsing the effects of Vatican II in the U.S., said that...
Sister Rita Hofbauer of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in Silver Spring, Md., said that Malone's statement was "stronger than a lot we've been hearing," but doubted the role of women in the church would be a serious concern at the synod, since it is not a significant issue outside the West. Malone's document complained about poor communication between Rome and religious orders. It did not refer specifically, however, to the unsettled dispute between the Vatican and 24 U.S. sisters who last year signed a pro- choice newspaper advertisement on abortion. The Vatican has threatened...
Attending a retreat with a group of priests in Youngstown last week, Malone told TIME, "What we need now is not to turn aside from Vatican II teaching but to grasp it with new enthusiasm and to pursue its implementation with new vigor." Since the synod will provide only two weeks to do that, Malone's report also asserted, it might be time for a special U.S. synod to deal with Vatican II. Though the U.S. bishops meet briefly once or twice a year, their last extended national council was in 1884. The U.S. bishops' conference and the Vatican have...
Nevertheless, the Church of England's policymaking General Synod last week overwhelmingly endorsed the ordination of women as deacons, the clergy's lowest rank, which is beneath priests and bishops. If Parliament agrees, as seems likely, the church's 350 deaconesses, who are not ordained, can take their place alongside male deacons, performing marriages and assisting priests in other ways. Priests will continue to be the only celebrants of Holy Communion and dispensers of absolution. The pressure will be great, however, to allow the women deacons to advance to the next step, priesthood...