Word: synods
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Ever since the Second Vatican Council ended in 1965, one of the pet words of Catholic liberals has been "collegiality"-the idea that the Pope shares authority with his bishops. The current Synod of Bishops in Rome (TIME, Oct. 11) is a reminder that collegiality can well backfire on the liberals...
...described his church as "tenaciously conservative. It is necessary to say this even if this word is not liked. But precisely because it is conservative, the church is always young. If it had changed all the time, it would have grown old." Meanwhile, a Page One commentary on the Synod in the Vatican paper L'Osservatore Romano was taking a swipe at "theological speculation," insisting that the "decisive word" comes "uniquely from the magisterium of the church...
Although the Pope had not made celibacy of priests a formal topic for the Synod, it was soon informally discussed. In the first working session, John Cardinal Dearden of Detroit suggested that studies of the sociological and psychological aspects of the priesthood should be taken into account. These include a major study by the American bishops that showed that 54% of the clergy surveyed think that priests should be able to marry if they wish...
...Pope has said only that he would be willing, reluctantly, to consider ordaining some "mature" married men in special cases in which priests are scarce. Canada's bishops, among others, strongly support the idea, but it will be a hard fight to get the Synod to ask for even this modest change...
...Synods (literally, "meetings") of churchmen have been a part of the ecclesiastical fabric since the earliest days of Christianity. The world synod, however, a representative international gathering of bishops and religious-order superiors, is a creation of the Second Vatican Council. There have been two previous sessions, in 1967 and 1969. Like its predecessors, the synod of 1971 is expected to be mainly a sounding board of worldwide church opinion-"a communications happening," as one Vatican watcher put it. That in itself may be more than Pope Paul bargained for, as not all the sounds are likely to be polite...