Assessment

Essay 20% + Case Study 10% + Exam 70%

Module Aims

Since the beginning of his ministry, Pope Francis has enhanced synodality, that is, the involvement and participation of the whole People of God in the life and mission of the Church, as the specific modus vivendi et operandi of the Church, the People of God, and which reveals and gives substance to her being as communion. Synodality is the interpretive framework for understanding the exercise of hierarchical ministry, firstly, in the service of the local Church entrusted to the care of each of them, and secondly, in the communion between local Churches at the heart of the one universal Church of Christ, brought about by means of the hierarchical communion of the College of Bishops with the Bishop of Rome. The aim of this module is to trace the development of Synodality since Vatican II and how this transforms the exercise of primacy and collegiality at a universal level and the governance and decision making in particular churches and at a regional / national level.

Indicative Syllabus

• Historical, theological and juridical evolution of papal primacy culminating in the doctrine of infallibility in Vatican I
• Exercise of papal primacy in the context of the ecclesiology of Vatican II
• Synodality: from Vatican II to Pope Francis and its influence on the exercise of the power of governance
• Reform of the Roman Curia
• Ecclesiastical circumscriptions
• Collegiality and synodality in ecclesiastical regions and provinces, Episcopal Conferences
• Governance of a Diocese: Bishop, Curia, Diocesan Synod, Diocesan Pastoral Council, Presbyteral Council, College of Consultors
• Synodality in parish community
• Current and future models of parish

Learning Outcomes

• — Compare the exercise of the primacy of the Bishop of Rome and the doctrine of papal infallibility as understood Pastor Aeternus in the First Vatican Council with the ecclesiology of communion and collegiality in Lumen Gentium in the Second Vatican Council
• — Trace the evolution of ‘synodality’ in the magisterium and practice since Vatican and evaluate how it transforms the exercise of primacy, collegiality and the function of the institutions and organisation of the Church at the universal level (Curia) and intermediary level (ecclesiastical provinces and regions, particular councils, episcopal conferences)
• — Assess the impact of synodality on the structures of participation in the particular church: the Diocesan Synod, the Council of Priests, the College of Consultors, the Diocesan Pastoral Council, the Diocesan Curia.
• — Examine how synodality is lived in the contemporary parish community and explore different parish models in an evangelising and missionary Church.

Bibliography

• — The Code of Canon Law (1983)
• — The New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law (New York 2000)
• — The Canon Law: Letter and Spirit (London 1995)
• — J.T. Martín de Agar, A Handbook on Canon Law (Montréal 2007) J. Coriden, Introduction to Canon Law (New York 2004)
• — J.I. Arrieta, Governance Structures with the Church (Montréal 2000)
• — J. Coriden, The Parish in Catholic Tradition (New York 1997)