Word: vaticans
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...sees his bishops only in groups; many would prefer individual meetings on some topics and consider this a serious handicap. Decision-making processes within the Vatican show signs of Paul's flagging energy. Says one secretariat official: "Papers that we urgently require are delayed. Often we have to phone the Pope's secretary for instructions right on the eve of an important meeting-instructions we have requested weeks before." It is nine years since Paul has issued an encyclical (the last was his controversial birth control decree...
...them elected by their fellow bishops from nations around the world, converged for a month-long discussion of catechesis, particularly the religious education of youth. Though that may sound like a housekeeping matter, the church faces confusion over basic pedagogical methods, even the content of Catholicism. One leading Vatican prelate speaks for many of his colleagues when he complains: "Much of the teaching going on today does not follow any orthodox principles." Synod progressives will be lobbying for alternatives to traditional approaches. To bring the factions together, Paul has appointed a special "commission on controversies" for the meeting...
...Synod was originally considered one of the major reforms of the Second Vatican Council and of Paul's papacy. It was the chief structural means for collegiality (power sharing between the Pope and the bishops). But its luster dimmed once Paul made it clear that Synod recommendations could be accepted, modified or ignored at his will. At the last Synod, in 1974, Paul limited the agenda to evangelization. Bishops struggled for weeks to broaden the meaning of that topic, then finally scrapped most of their final report. In the three years since, the Pope has taken no action...
...current field of candidates is wide and shifting. If the Pope were to die or resign there is a strong possibility that the college would turn to Sebastiano Cardinal Baggio, 64, the conservative, efficient head of the Vatican office for appointment of bishops...
...actively been wooing the Vatican, and since last year all Catholic bishoprics in Hungary have been filled. Next week three top-ranking U.S. Catholic bishops will arrive for a good-will tour. One of Kádár's major goals, it appears, is to acquire a "most favored nation" trade status with...