Word: vatican
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...calling together the second Synod of Bishops, Pope Paul VI had hoped to gauge-and to control-the growing resentment against his absolute rule. Instead, after last week's discussions in the Vatican's Hall of Broken Heads, reformists out to curb the Pontiff's power were clearly in command. The 144 assembled prelates, in fact, had taken a groping first step toward something resembling parliamentary government in the Roman Catholic Church...
...permanent committee should represent the bishops in Rome so that they can more directly express their views to the Vatican...
Curbing the Curia. One committee of English-speaking prelates that included Detroit's John Cardinal Dearden suggested that papal nuncios be bypassed in most communications between national episcopates and the Vatican. Another English-speaking group asked that the Roman Curia stop using the expression "the Holy Father says" and giving the impression that it speaks in the name of the Pope when, in fact, it is speaking for itself. Nor, it said, should the Curia issue decrees or make major press statements without informing the concerned bishops beforehand...
...since Vatican I in 1870 had there been such a direct challenge to papal absolutism within the church hierarchy. As expected, that challenge was epitomized by Leo-Jozef Cardinal Suenens of Belgium (TIME, Aug. 1). Although a personal friend of Pope Paul's, Suenens became the de facto leader of the progressive wing of the Catholic hierarchy earlier this year with a widely publicized attack on extreme papalism. He continued his campaign last week. In a bold speech, Suenens criticized those conservatives who cling to the concept of an absolute papacy, resembling the French monarchy before the 1789 revolution...
...majority of the others had been considered supporters of a conservative viewpoint. Yet speaker after speaker amplified Cardinal Suenens' concern. A surprisingly large number of those who spoke urged a quick and broad implementation of collegiality, or shared authority-a principle that had been enunciated by Vatican II, but never clearly spelled out. Yet Pope Paul ignored it altogether last year when he failed to consult his bishops throughout the world before issuing his controversial Humanae Vitae encyclical opposing artificial birth control. Perhaps more than anything else, the resulting uproar precipitated a crisis of authority...