Posted on 02/09/2016 7:11:45 AM PST by marshmallow
NEWS ANALYSIS: An assessment of the positives and negatives of giving more power to bishops and their flocks
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis' landmark address last October - in which he outlined his vision for a more collegial, decentralized and "listening" Church - was "one of the most powerful" of Francis' pontificate, Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, said last month.
So much so that the cardinal and the synod secretariat will be hosting a symposium Saturday through Tuesday to "build a discussion" on the topic, with doctrine as its "starting point," and the goal of encouraging scholars to look into the possibilities more closely.
But the nature of the Pope's speech - one that aims to pay more attention to the concerns of bishops and their faithful and offer them greater autonomy - has caused some concern. If inappropriately devised and executed, critics say, it could threaten unity and possibly even lead to schism. If handled well, it could foster unity and enhance bishops' authority, enabling them to more effectively lead their flocks in accordance with the magisterium.
Addressing the 50th anniversary of Paul VI's institution of the Synod of Bishops last October, the Holy Father set out to present his hopes for a synodal Church - a key tenet in his reform of Church governance.
He spoke of "journeying together" and of "mutual listening," in which "everyone has something to learn." He stressed the importance of listening to the sensus fidei - the sense of the faith, or faithful - in order to prevent a "rigid separation" between the Church and the Church's teaching. And he promoted a vision of a papacy and hierarchy as an "inverted pyramid," in which all are at the service of others, beginning with the successor of Peter. The.......
(Excerpt) Read more at ncregister.com ...
Let’s see....thousands of self-declared “popes”, each with their own Heresy.
Peter decided Christians didnt need to be circumcised, not Paul. The dissolution of the Church of England says it all.
So glad Obama was honored with a degree from Notre Dame Indiana....collegiality.
A church decentralized is no church. The body of Christ must hold Christ central. He is the head of the church.
Baptists are totally decentralized. Have always been.
What could possibly go wrong? The world is full of examples of that. It is our duty, yours and mine to try to not contribute to those things.
At times some of this is hard to understand, Satan is an artist at twisting the truth.
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The Orthodox pull this off and they are pretty harmonious in terms of doctrine.
We seem to be having trouble pulling off “harmonious” with our current centralized arrangement.
Just ask the Anglicans, right?
Who is “we” in this case?
The Orthodox present a great deal of cultural unity due to the nature of their Churches, but scratch the surface and you'll problems, like anywhere else.
we already have it.
American Bishops declared themselves independent decades ago.
Conservative Roman Catholics
I’m sure there was some kind of “statement” that the USCCB put out, but what particular declaration are you referring to?
The Orthodox present a great deal of cultural unity due to the nature of their Churches, but scratch the surface and you'll problems, like anywhere else.
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The abortion thing has zero to do with my comment. You did not pay attention and did not read it correctly.
G Larry wrote: Let’s see....thousands of self-declared “popesâ€, each with their own Heresy.
I wrote the Orthodox seem to have a decentralized church - some of it base don ethnic lines some on geographic - and their various patriarchs (sort of like popes) don't veer that much apart in terms of what is doctrine - and hence we don't have thousands of Orthodox popes with their own heresies.
I know there is a schism here or there in the Orthodox world but a schism is not technically an heresy. So the Orthodox seem to be pulling it off.
I don't know why you brought up the abortion thing - I am pretty sure the Russian Orthodox church does not support abortion.
Vatican III building on Vatican II, piling on heresy upon heresy.
No way! The Pope will want us all to convert as a group!
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=8962
I will look when I get to chance ...
A decentralized Church. Like the Muslims have?
The Pope is NOT asking Catholics to “convert” to anything!
Our "journey" is with Christ, and the Church's job is to facilitate that. Somehow, I don't think Jesus has "something to learn" from us.
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