Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Kevin ClarkeApril 08, 2014

Pope Francis offered more evidence today of his commitment to Vatican II era collegiality. In a letter posted by the Vatican news service, the pope announced today that he was elevating the position of the undersecretary of the synod secretariat to the episcopacy to demonstrate that "we can and must seek ever more profound and authentic exercise of collegiality . . . to better realize the ecclesial communion and to promote its inexhaustible mission." (Quick note: translation via Google with some head-scratching clean up, but I wouldn't want to swear to it.)

Pope Francis wrote that 50 years after the institution of the Synod of Bishops, as John XXIII had before him considered "the signs of the times" and seeking to "even more so revive the close relationship with all the Pastors of the Church, I wish to highlight [this council's] precious heritage. . . . there is no doubt that the Bishop of Rome has need of the presence of his fellow bishops, their advice and their wisdom and experience. The Successor of Peter must proclaim to all who is 'the  Christ, the Son of the living God' but, at the same time, must pay attention to how the Holy Spirit inspires the words of those who . . . participate fully in the Apostolic College."

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

The paradox at the heart of Christianity is that we must die in order to live again. And few movies witness to that truth like “Romero” (1989).
John DoughertyMarch 28, 2024
History has ignored Joanna, as it has most of the other women who followed Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem and provided for him and the Twelve “from their resources” (Lk 8:2-3).
Robert P. MaloneyMarch 28, 2024
For parishioners at Most Holy Trinity Church in Phoenix, Ariz., dramatizing Christ’s Passion on the Via Crucis is a way of passing on the faith.
J.D. Long GarcíaMarch 28, 2024
During my time as the assistant Catholic chaplain at a state prison, I learned how chaplains must model their ministry to those who are vulnerable in the same spirit as St. Veronica.
Jake TheriotMarch 28, 2024