October 20, 2014
The Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops recently concluded with the Solemn Beatification of Pope Paul VI, who first instituted the Synod of Bishops. Representing bishops from all over the world, the Synod of Bishops is a consultative body convoked periodically to advise the pope. It is one of the many consultative structures developed in the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965).
Although its membership may change from session to session (since many of the delegates are elected as representatives of their national episcopal conferences), the synod is in theory an ongoing body which meets on a regular basis at fixed intervals in what is called an ordinary general assembly.” An ordinary general assembly addresses some topic of concern to the universal church. In contrast, a special assembly is called to address some more specifically local concern, for example the 1997 Special Assembly on the Church in America. The first ordinary general assembly met in 1967. The most recent one met in 2012, and the next one – the 14th – is scheduled to meet in 2015.
In addition to these ordinary assemblies, there have also been occasional extraordinary general assemblies. Smaller in size than an ordinary assembly, the synod which is taking place in Rome right now is the third such extraordinary general assembly in the history of the Synod of Bishops. It has some 250 participants, among them the presidents of national bishops conferences from around the world. (The current president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, who served as Bishop of Knoxville from 1999 to 2007, when he was appointed Archbishop of Louisville.)
The topic of the current synod is “The Pastoral Challenges for the Family in the Context of Evangelization,” and its deliberations are intended to prepare for next year’s larger ordinary general assembly,” the theme of which will be “Jesus Christ reveals the mystery and vocation of the family.” The idea is that at this year’s meeting the assembled bishops will examine the current state of the family in terms of and in relation to the various challenges which the family faces. Then, based on this year’s deliberations, the bishops assembled at next year’s meeting will attempt to formulate appropriate pastoral guidelines to respond to those challenges.
Preparations for this synod began in earnest in late 2013 with a widely distributed questionnaire sent to each of the various bishops’ conferences. The many responses were then compiled and organized into a preliminary working document to structure the deliberations of the synod itself. Those deliberations formally began this past week, after the synod’s solemn opening last Sunday, and have included presentations on family life from a married couple. It is expected that during this coming second week of meetings, the synod will produce a final document, which will then be given to the pope as part of the preparation for next year’s ordinary synod.