Word: synods
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...each of the 15 days of deliberations, a white-robed Pope John Paul II sat Sphinxlike, jotting down notes but never saying a word. Or so went the official version of the extraordinary synod of Dutch bishops at the Vatican, an account intended to play down the Pope's role. But as the synod ended last week the truth leaked out. John Paul had spoken often and, it was obvious, decisively, to persuade the bishops to enforce Vatican policy in their rebellious land...
...complaints. The handling of priestly celibacy was typical. Though Rome closed the question long ago, two liberal Dutch bishops have permitted open discussion of allowing married priests, and another bishop has said publicly that he would welcome such a change. In one of the more dramatic moments around the synod table, archtraditionalist Silvio Cardinal Oddi of the Vatican pointed a finger at each bishop in turn and demanded: "Do you believe in priestly celibacy?" Each said yes. But when liberals later told the press of this new united front, Bishop Johannes Möller of Groningen admitted, "There will...
...synod is scheduled...
Outside the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, radical Italian protesters last week waved placards declaring SYNOD EQUALS REPRESSION, WOJTYLA GO HOME and WOJTYLA EQUALS KHOMEINI. The gibes at John Paul II were signs of the tension surrounding a meeting beginning inside the palace. In official Vaticanese, it was a "Particular Synod." In reality, it was an unprecedented personal intervention by a Pope to deal with the sorry plight of the Catholic Church in Holland, where the 5.6 million Catholics make up 40% of the population. The bishops are squabbling, attacks on Vatican policy are endemic, and church vitality is ebbing...
...synod met in a frescoed room known as the Hall of Broken Heads (because it was once a storeroom for broken statues). Around the U-shaped table, disputes among bishops quickly surfaced. The key personalities were Johannes Gijsen, 47, militantly conservative bishop of Roermond, and the Primate of The Netherlands, Johannes Cardinal Willebrands, 70, who since 1975 has struggled unsuccessfully to stabilize things...