In some Latin dioceses, the situation may be similar in terms of Bishop approachability—I am in a diocese of under 70,000 and many of the faithful are acquainted with the Bishop, but the diocese is relatively small and unimportant in a country with 13 million Catholics. Including retired Bishops, there are slightly less than 130 Latin rite Bishops for the country—so the overall ratio is about the same as the Eastern average, but the conference would be much larger than any Eastern synod. Moreover, the few Bishops with really large sees tend to carry a larger weight. It just isn’t and can’t be the same.
Father,
I’d be interested to hear your comments on this thread.