- Feb 5, 2002
- 166,879
- 56,393
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Catholic
- Marital Status
- Married
- Politics
- US-Others
Lay Catholics and women religious will be voting members of the October 2023 Synod of Bishops, and while synodal officials dismiss talk of a ‘revolution,’ some canonists say it could alter the nature of the assembly.
LOS ANGELES — When the Vatican recently announced that lay Catholic men and women will participate as voting members in the 16th ordinary general assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome Oct. 2-29, the news caused head-scratching among some Catholic experts.
“The Synod of Bishops, as understood by the Second Vatican Council, as understood by Pope St. Paul VI, as understood by Pope St. John Paul II, is an episcopal body, not a meeting of the whole Church,” Dominican Father Joseph Fox, vicar for canonical services for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, told the Register.
The Synod of Bishops is a consultative body established in 1965 by Paul VI to continue the close collaboration of the bishops with the Roman pontiff in the governance of the Church that gained a new dimension during the Second Vatican Council, Father Fox noted. He emphasized that Pope Francis was free to promulgate the new norms that mean laypeople will make up about 20% of the estimated 370 voting members at the upcoming assembly in October, but the canonist wouldn’t budge on one point: “Don’t call it a Synod of Bishops, because it’s not.”
Susan Mulheron, the chancellor for canonical affairs for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, which recently completed its own local synod, was also surprised at the decision to introduce a significant change to the composition of the episcopal body, while retaining its original name.
Continued below.
www.ncregister.com
LOS ANGELES — When the Vatican recently announced that lay Catholic men and women will participate as voting members in the 16th ordinary general assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome Oct. 2-29, the news caused head-scratching among some Catholic experts.
“The Synod of Bishops, as understood by the Second Vatican Council, as understood by Pope St. Paul VI, as understood by Pope St. John Paul II, is an episcopal body, not a meeting of the whole Church,” Dominican Father Joseph Fox, vicar for canonical services for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, told the Register.
The Synod of Bishops is a consultative body established in 1965 by Paul VI to continue the close collaboration of the bishops with the Roman pontiff in the governance of the Church that gained a new dimension during the Second Vatican Council, Father Fox noted. He emphasized that Pope Francis was free to promulgate the new norms that mean laypeople will make up about 20% of the estimated 370 voting members at the upcoming assembly in October, but the canonist wouldn’t budge on one point: “Don’t call it a Synod of Bishops, because it’s not.”
Susan Mulheron, the chancellor for canonical affairs for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, which recently completed its own local synod, was also surprised at the decision to introduce a significant change to the composition of the episcopal body, while retaining its original name.
Continued below.
Laity Voting at the Synod of Bishops — What Would Paul VI Say?
Lay Catholics and women religious will be voting members of the October 2023 Synod of Bishops, and while synodal officials dismiss talk of a ‘revolution,’ some canonists say it could alter the nature of the assembly.
