Roman Holiday

Of the many innovations stemming from the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) the Synod of Bishops is potentially one of the most important. Instead of a worldwide church governed totally from the top, the Synod provides a vehicle for Roman Catholic bishops from around the world to meet periodically and advise the Pope and the Vatican Curia. It lacks the sort of collegial clout that church progressives might want, but then the power of the Synod, like that of Rome, will not be built in a day.

Liberal lobbies hovered around the first three Synods (1967,1969,1971), holding their own press briefings and counter-synods. By the placid fifth Synod, which concluded at Vatican City last week, the only interest group in evidence was a prayer band of 25 Catholic Pentecostalists. Hardly a harsh word was uttered during the month-long deliberations in the functional, modern auditorium beside the Pope's Audience Hall. The Vatican's Sebastiano Cardinal Baggio, Synod cochairman, protested to newsmen that he found himself having to defend the sessions' harmony--an "almost ridiculous task." One seasoned bishop saw in this serenity a sign of a period of consolidation in the church following the "tremors" set off by Vatican II: "The postconciliar polarization and infighting have passed."

There remains enough conflict, however, to have made the fifth Synod something of an eye in the Catholic storm. For instance, in catechesis (religious education), which Pope Paul fixed as the topic for the Synod, bishops are caught between priests who continually test how far they can go and parents who fret that the old faith is dribbling away. The Synod's final document of advice to the Pope, in the form of 34 propositions under six headings, grants that there is considerable "confusion" surrounding doctrine and moral teachings. It goes on to state that parents must not equate the legitimate speculations of scholars with the unchanging official views of the magisterium (the teaching authority presiding in the Catholic hierarchy).

The 1977 Synod took one innovative step. Besides the in-house document that the Pope will use to prepare a decree on education, the bishops also issued an unprecedented, impassioned "message" of their own to the world at large. The message developed during the Lufthansa airliner hijacking, when Pope Paul offered himself in exchange for the terrorists' hostages. Declared the bishops: "Old value systems are crumbling, oppression and disregard for the human person are leading human security into crisis." The bishops were also distressed by reports of religious and political persecution from many parts of the world, which turned some discussions into mini-Belgrade conferences. Declared their message: "No power on earth has the right to prevent people from searching for truth, from receiving it freely and from knowing it fully."

In its final days, the Synod elected twelve members to the council that will prepare its next meeting. In a church whose central government is still dominated by Europeans, it was significant that the top vote getter was Aloisio Cardinal Lorscheider, 53, of Brazil, an energetic leader in preparation of Synod papers despite his undergoing open-heart surgery a year ago. Right behind him came Archbishop Joseph Bernardin of Cincinnati, 49, outgoing president of the U.S. bishops. As in 1974, not one Italian bishop was elected to the three slots reserved for Europeans.

During the Synod, backroom talk about who should succeed Pope Paul appeared to be virtually nonexistent, perhaps because the Pontiff, who turned 80 in September, looked so vigorous while celebrating a mid-Synod Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. Still, the 1977 Synod may play a role in papal politics. Of the 117 voting members of the College of Cardinals--which only meets to elect a new pope--51 were Synod delegates. Thus the Synod provided an opportunity for nearly half of the papal electors to observe one another in action for weeks. Given Paul's age, the 1977 meeting could well be the last Synod before the next papal election is called.

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