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t eanc 0 VOL. 29, NO. 49
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The scene at St. Mary's Cathedral as over 100 persons ,were awarded the Marian Medal by Bishop Daniel A. Cronin
Synod calls Vatican II a gift of God
VATICAN CITY (NC) - There was far more emphasis on the successes of the Second Vatican Council in the reports of dele gates to the Nov. 24-Dec. 8 extraordinary synod than. on disappointments following in the council's wake. At the end of ,the two-week event. the delegates gave the council a clear and forceful en· dorsement, unanimously express I ing full adherence to it and describing it as a "wellspring" for the future of the church. "We do not fix upon the er rors, confusions and defects which, because of sin and hu man weakness, have been the occasion of suffering in the midst of the people of God," the bish ops said. That was the tone of the more than 120 individual statements and group reports .coming out of the meeting. Pope John Paul II, who caBed the SYllod to assess the council's results 20 years after its close, said the experience was one of "variety in unity." After listen ing to' nearly all the synod par ticipants, he noted that the dele gates "were able to express their
thoughts freely," and said that meeting was an example of real collegia-lity. As always, 'he accepted the bishops' advispry report' at the synod's conclusion. But this time, the pope agreed that the report be made P!J~lic - an apparent response to the in tense interest the synod has aroused worldwide. Beyond the overall conclusion that the council was a "gift of God," the meeting of approxi mately 160 participants focused on a few key issues: - The authority of local churches; bishops' conferences and the Roman Curia. - The need to emphasize spirituaHty among individual Catholics and in the under standing of the church itself. - The idea of a worldwide catechism or compendium of church teaching, both to promote the council and clear up ambigui- . ties on moral questions. On two of the issues, U.S. participants were major protag· onists in the synod debate. Bish· op James W. Malone of Youngs town, Ohio, president of the
National Conference of Catholic Bishops, 'asked for recognition of the value of bishops' confer ences and fora study of their teaching authority. Cardinal Bernard F. Law of Boston pro-
ADVENT
INCUNE THINE ear to our prayers, we beseech thee, 0 Lord, and enligh ten the darkness of our minds by the grace of thy visitation, who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.
posed drawing up a catechism based on the council. The synod endorsed both ideas. Archbishop. Denis Hurley, head of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, called for a "clearer recognition of the principle of subsidiarity" - the respect for the competence of each church jurisdiction. In even minor matters, he said, trust in 'local churches "is not always in evidence." A number' of African and Asian bishops, praising the adap tions their young churches have made to local cultures, asked the Vatican to encourage such inculturation. .. Most of the bishops called for a better functioning of collegial ity, the shared authority of bishops which was strongly af firmed by Vatican II. Archbishop Maxim Hermaniuk of Winnipeg, Manitoba, head of Canada's Ukrainian Catholics, ;proposed a per~anent synod with legislative powers. The idea was dropped during group dis cussions in the synod's second week. A theme that drew major at
tention was the need to accen tuate spiritual life. Several sy nod discussion groups called for reemphasis of the sacred in the Hves of individual Catholics' and of the institutional church. East German Cardinal Joa chim Meisner, bishop of Berlin, told the synod that "the church as a mystery and not as an in stitution is yearned for by many people who feel oppressed" in today's "mass society." Theologians were at the center of several synod statements. Cardinal Law, in proposing a catechism, criticized dissent from the magisterium (church teaching authority) in Catholic university faculties. U.S. Cardinal William Baum, head of the Congregation for Catholic Education, said th~t be cause of historica-l criticism of Scripture major church teach ings have been put in doubt, and confusion has spread in semin aries. The strongest criticism of theologians came from Brazilian Cardinal' Eugenio de Araujo Sales, who said in a written re port: "There are seminaries and Turn to Page Seven