Thoughts and Excerpts: Receiving the Council by Ladislas Orsy, Post 3, Collegiality
This post lays out Orsy’s thoughts on collegiality, especially on how the collegial vision of Vatican II has been compromised by John Paul II’s apostolic letter Apostolos suos.
This apostolic letter creates a definition and framework for episcopal conferences (i.e., territorial associations of Bishops like the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops). Since by this letter they are constituted by the papacy, they serve at the pleasure of the papacy, their power flows from the papacy, they are regulated by the papacy and their actions must conform to the intentions of the papacy.
Yet “Vatican Council II was form in asserting that bishops are not the delegates of the pope. But if the Holy See creates their conferences and has the exclusive right to invest them with collegiate power, it surely follows that much of their effective power is given to them by the same See; that is, their effective power originates in the office of the pope.”(p. 17)
However, Apostolos suos does recognize the power of the full episcopal college (i.e., a meeting of all the bishops in an ecumenical council) to speak with an inspired voice, which is consistent with the theologically recognized way in which the Holy Spirit guides the Church. And if the bishops meet in legitimate but partial gatherings, they maintain the power of their collegial voice and the recognized guidance of the Holy Spirit. Yet Apostolos suos declares that if these legitimate, partial gatherings of bishops happen to meet regularly based on territory (e.g., the regular meetings of all the bishops in the US), their collegial power and guidance by the Holy Spirit is not recognized. Apostolos suos treats such regular, territorial meetings of bishops essentially as papal committees whose work is subject to papal review and approval unless one hundred percent of the bishops vote to agree on the matter under question. Even a vast majority of bishops agreeing on a teaching is insufficient to avoid the need for papal review and approval on the work of the bishops in conference.
“The consequences are far reaching. Although within the same cultural region it is a theological necessity for the bishops to deliberate and decide together (otherwise their contribution to the church’s diversity remains ineffective), the moment they wish to work as a collective body, they can do so only as an institution created by the Holy See. While it is Catholic doctrine that individual bishops are not delegates of the Holy See, their conferences exist and operate on the basis of a power granted by the Holy See. (p. 22)
Gotta love it. Here’s a copy of Apostolos suos.
An alternative to Apostolos suos
“… the universal law should acknowledge the fundamental right and duty of the bishops, flowing from their ordination, to assemble for pastoral purposes. This must not be a concession from the Holy See; it can only be an affirmation of what exists by divine institution. … The Holy See can and should retain the ultimate supervisory authority over the conferences but more in the manner of a court of appeal (which is very traditional) than in the way of an ever-present director of all their actions. …On careful analysis, the structures and norms recently imposed by the Holy See on the episcopal conferences do not conceal but rather reveal a deep theological imbalance in the life of the church: the function of the episcopate has been taken over to a great extent by the primacy. This is the truth.” (p. 30)
Tags: canon law, Orsy, structures of governance
