Academic literature on the topic 'Synod of Bern'

In the first centuries of Christianity a meeting of small communities was considered as the way of resolving conflicts, making important decisions, and seeking God’s will for the community. With the increasing number of believers followed necessary decentralization of ecclesiastical structures so that dioceses could decide on administrative and organizational matters. Clergy assemblies have served these issues and we can consider them today as prefiguration of diocesan synods. Most authors believe that the first diocesan synod assembly took place in France in Auxerre in A.D 578. Over the centuries, the institution of diocesan synod experienced both the flourish moments, as well as the crises. For its definitive fixation in the canonical doctrine should be considered the treaty of Pope Benedict XIV De Synodo Dioecesana published in 1748. The value of the diocesan synod as a legal institution has been confirmed by the Second Vatican Council, which in the Decree Christus Dominus has expressed the wish of synodal fathers that the institution will take on a new life and serve the Church in modern times. The current legislation concerning the diocesan synod is contained in the Code of Canon Law (c. 460-468), as well as in the Instruction of the diocesan synods issued in 1997 by two Vatican congregations. In Poland since the promulgation of the Code in 1983, until the year 2012 31 diocesan synods were held. Some of them took place in the days of communism, the other in a free Poland, which also had an impact on their course. In addition to many historical, ecclesial and pastoral circumstances particularly important was the influence of St. John Paul II,who personally participated in the opening or closing of some diocesan synods.

Instytucja Synodu Biskupów została powołana do życia przez papieża Pawła VI w jego motu proprio Apostolica sollicitudo z 15 września 1965 roku. Sukcesywny obraz prawny instytucji został określony przez posoborowy Kodeks prawa kanonicznego z 1983 roku w kan. 342-348; opublikowane zostały także regulaminy Synodu Biskupów w latach 1966, 1969, 1971 oraz 2006. Można zatem powiedzieć, że wszyscy soborowi papieże, tj. św. Paweł VI, św. Jan Paweł II oraz Benedykt XVI, kształtowali obraz prawny oraz praktyczne funkcjonowanie instytucji Synodu Biskupów. Nie należy także pomijać bardzo ważnego faktu, że obecny papież Franciszek opublikował 15 września 2018 roku Konstytucję apostolską Episcopalis communio o Synodzie Biskupów. Do chwili obecnej odbyło się 28 zgromadzeń różnych zebrań instytucji Synodu Biskupów; przy czym należałoby do wskazanej grupy dodać jeszcze tzw. synod holenderski. Instytucja Synodu Biskupów jest szczególną oraz wyróżniającą się instytucją w Kościele posoborowym. Składa się na to wiele elementów, nie tylko regularność zwoływania zebrań Synodu Biskupów, ale także podejmowana oraz 34 ks. Tomasz Rozkrut analizowana problematyka synodalna, która dotyczyła różnych i ważnych zagadnień życia i funkcjonowania współczesnego Kościoła. W tym kontekście szczególnego podkreślenia wymaga wskazanie na naturę teologiczno- prawną instytucji, która sprawia, że mamy do czynienia z instytucją dynamiczną, kształtującą życie Kościoła posoborowego oraz swoją strukturą zachęcającą do zainteresowania się Synodem Biskupów zarówno na płaszczyźnie doktrynalnej, jak i tej faktycznej. Już samo zwołanie każdego zebrania Synodu Biskupów jest dużym wydarzeniem eklezjalnym, które angażuje nie tylko osobę biskupa rzymskiego, od którego zebranie Synodu Biskupów w sposób totalny zależy, oraz jednocześnie uczestników zgromadzonej instytucji, ale także w mniejszym lub większym wymiarze praktycznie cały Kościół – w szczególności episkopat – równolegle do wyodrębnionych etapów Synodu, tj. jego przygotowania, samych obrad zwołanego zgromadzenia oraz etapu posynodalnego, który związany jest z realizacją postanowień synodalnych. W tym nurcie należy także wymienić przesłania doktrynalne Synodów Biskupów wraz z ich propozycjami, które ukierunkowywały Magisterium biskupów rzymskich na obszary uznawane za konieczne jako przedmiot jego wypowiedzi, przede wszystkim przez publikowanie posynodalnych adhortacji apostolskich, które z kolei – mówiąc bardzo ogólnie – w wielu jego obszarach miały sukcesywny wpływ na codzienne życie Kościoła po II Soborze Watykańskim. Significance of Synod of Bishops for the present Church Institution of the Synod of Bishops was established by Pope Paul VI in his motu proprio Apostolica sollicitudo dated 15 September 1965. Successive legal image of the institution was defined by the Post-Conciliar Code of Canon Law of 1983, in can. 342-348. Also, in the years 1966, 1969, 1971, and 2006 there were published rules of the Synod of Bishops. Therefore, one may say that all Popes who ruled during councils, i.e. Paul VI, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI shaped the legal image and practical operation of the institution of the Synod of Bishops. One cannot also ignore a very important fact that on 15 September 2018 the present pope, Francis, pub35 Znaczenie instytucji Synodu Biskupów dla współczesnego Kościoła lished the Episcopalis communio apostolic constitution about the Synod of Bishops. Until now, there have been twenty-eight congregations of various meetings of the institution of the Synod of Bishops. However, the mentioned group should also be enlarged by so-called Dutch Synod. The institution of Synod of Bishops is a special and standing out institution in the Post-Conciliar Church. This is due to several elements, namely, not only the regular character of having meetings of the Synod of Bishops, but also the undertaken and analysed synodal problematic aspects that concerned various and important issues of life and functioning of the current Church. In this context, a special accent must be drawn to the indication of the theological and legal character of the institution that causes that we deal with a dynamic institution that shapes the life of the Post-Conciliar Church and by its structure encourages to have interest in the Synod of Bishops both on the doctrinal and factual level. Convening the Synod of Bishops is itself a major ecclesiastical event that engages not only the person of the Bishop of Rome, who is utterly responsible for its convention, but also the entire Church to a greater or lesser extent, and specifically the episcopate that is engaged in parallel in relation to the distincted stages of the Synod, i.e. its preparation, deliberations during the convened assembly, and the post-synodal stage that relates to fulfilment of synodal decisions. Considering this mainstream, one should also mention doctrinal messages of Synods of Bishops together with their propositions that directed the Magisterium of Bishops of Rome towards these areas that were considered a necessary aspect of their deliverance, essentially by publishing post-synodal apostolic exhortations which, in turn, very generally speaking had a successive influence on everyday life of the Church after the Second Vatican Council in many areas of the Church.

It was relatively early that the archbishops of Gniezno began to convoke provincial synods - the oldest dated assembly which is marked in the sources as a provincial synod took place as early as in 1210. But even before this synod another provincial synod took place in 1206 (?). In the beginning, i. e. in the thirteenth century, it is important to distinguish clearly between bishops' conventions, or colloquia, and provincial synods. The first statutes backed up with evidence are the statutes issued by Archbishop Henryk Kietlicz around 1217 in Kamień. Another important archbishop was Pełka (Fulko, 1232 - 1258). Two statutes issued by this metropolitan are still preserved. An important role in the system of provincial legislation was played by legates' synods and the legates' statutes which were proclaimed at them. A number of provincial synods was summoned by the archbishop of Gniezno Jakub Świnka (1285, 1287,1290,1298, 1306, 1309). Several not dated fragments of statutes originate from his time. In the fourteenth century the situation changes - the only two provincial synods that we know of are the synods of Janisław (1326) and Jarosław Bogoria Skotnicki (1357). „Synodyk“, the first attempt at codification of the legislation of Gniezno church province, comes from Skotnicki's synod. We cannot agree with referring to the assembly at Krakow from 1356 as to a provincial synod. Similarly, the „convencio generalis“ in Łęczyca in 1402 could not have been a provincial synod. Thus the first reliably proved provincial synod of the fifteenth century is the synod of Mikołaj.

In this article the specific focus is on the position of the General Assembly in the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) in Malawi. Though the General Assembly was meant to foster a closer unity of the constituent synods, it still remains an unstable entity, and has been so over the years due to the autonomy of the synods; much more so in recent years because of disputes among the synods. This especially applies to the border disputes between the Synod of Livingstonia and the Nkhoma Synod. Though the 2013 General Assembly has somewhat healed the tension, the future of the General Assembly is likely not to be a vibrant one as long as the synods do not fully surrender their autonomy to a body that is supposed to be above them administratively. However, this appears not to be the synods’ option in the nearest future, thereby perpetuating the loftiness of the General Assembly without its accompanying powers.

Quod omnes tangit, ab omnibus tractari et approbari debent. (Cardinal Congar) The canonists have been developing the rule of law of Western Europe. After there had been much debate (Acts 15:7), they decided together with the Holy Spirit. The Apostolic Nuncio gave the permission for lay persons (including women) to participate at the Synod. Synod ’72 is a process involving seven synods of local Churches in Switzerland. As an instrument of “processing” Vatican II, Synod ’72 discussed implementation options like Ecclesiastical Offices of the local Church. (LG 33; Paul VI’s Ministeria quaedam; John Paul II’s Christifedles laici; c. 228 CIC 1983). The tradition of shared decision-making of the baptised was been activated.

Synod legislators from Wloclawek, while determining in detail the rights and duties of the deans, wanted them to guarantee increase of discipline, morality and Ethics amongst the priesthood as well as to contribute to revival of priesthood and were the tool of introduction into parish life the common, provincial and diocesan law. First of all, the following synods: bishop’s Stanislaw Kamkowski (1568) and bishops’s Hieronim Rozrażewski (1585,1586,1589 and 1598) as well as synods of bishop’s: Pawel Wolucki’s (1617, 1620 and 1622), Andrzej Lipski; s (1628) and Maciej Lubienski’s (1634) had decisive influence on from of dean’s office in Wloclawek diocese, its functioning and tasks. Amongst the tasks and duties of the deans, decanal congregations had very important role and greatness. They were considered as important tool of forming church discipline amongst the priesthood by oil Wloclawek’s synods post-trident period undertaking this subject. Synod legislators, referring to regulations of Trident Council, to Pastoral of cardinal Maciejowski and to resolutions of provincial synods, had obliged the deans to regular conventions of decanate priesthood as assemblies two times a year and they determined in detail the course, role and tasks of these decanal assemblies. By paying big attention to them in synod’s resolutions, they realized, how significant they role can be in revival of priesthood and increase of priesthood church discipline. Analyze of Wloclawek synod legislation allows to native in it certain continuity, when we are talking abut the contents of statutes dispositions. Bishop Stanislaw Kamkowski, a big protagonist of introduction of Trident reform into Wloclawek Church life, on his first synod in 1568 had initiated decanal congregations as meetings that gather priesthood, on which the dean was entitled to examine the decanate priesthood from education and existence and he had a duty to devolve necessary knowledge from theology and law. Merit of bishop Hieronim Rozrażewski was reactivation of decanal structures, revival and increase of the range of dean’s office as well as detailed determination of tasks and duties of deans, including those which are referring to congregations. On the base of legal norms of these two bishops, the following bishops: Pawel Wolucki and Andrzej Lipski had built legal regulations referring to dean’s office, structures and decanal congregations and also they had made more detailed. Bishop Maciej Lubieński, on synod in 1634, took care of decanal congregations to the highest extent. His directives included in synod’s resolutions can be called instruction for these meetings, however those directives were never called that way. In should be admitted that Trident reform within the range of revival and stimulation of decanal structures, amongst the others, thanks to reinforcement of dean’s office, determination of its duties and tasks and thanks to decanal congregations, found the appropriate understanding in synod legislation in Włocławek. It should be also supposed that in the second half of XVII century and later, after cessation of synod activity in Wloclawek diocese, dean’s office has been still developing and it played important role in priesthood and decanal congregations along with it.

It is usually thought that during the seventh century, a formal split in the Irish Church had resulted in the creation of two rival factions: a “Roman party” of reform-minded ecclesiastics, and an “Irish party” intent instead on maintaining current practices. A partial record of their decades-long schism has been thought to be preserved in the Irish canonical compilation, the Collectio canonum Hibernensis, which attributes a substantial number of canons either to “Roman synods” or to “Irish synods,” and we have understood this to reflect a period in which the two groups had sought to advance their cause by holding separate synods from which their opponents were excluded. The foundations for this interpretation of the “Roman” and “Irish” canons of the Hibernensis were laid more than a century ago, but more recent scholarship provides reasons for rethinking the hypothesis. The article focuses especially on one of the texts which the compilers of the Hibernensis understood to be the work of the “Romans” — a short text which has come to be known as the “Second Synod of St. Patrick” — and argues that certain details within the text suggest an association with documents produced on the Continent, in the network of monasteries founded by the Irish peregrinus Columbanus. I suggest a new context for the creation of the “Second Synod of St. Patrick,” and argue that this in turn offers a new way of thinking about the meaning of the “Roman synods” and “Irish synods” attested in the Hibernensis.

Perceptions regarding synod decisions and the nature of psalms in the RCSA. Since its inception in 1859, the Reformed Church in South Africa has been singing only psalms, scriptural hymns and Biblical songs. Currently, there are two official versifications of the psalms in use within the Reformed Church, namely the so-called Totius versification of 1936 and the 2001 rhymed version of psalm texts, mainly by T.T. Cloete. A study of members’ perceptions of synod decisions and the nature of the psalms in the Reformed Church shows that the psalms are not fully utilised. Synods decide what type of songs, type of songs, including psalms, are approved, are approved for use. Members believe that many psalms are no longer suitable for the 21st-century churchgoer, that synod decisions appear to be out of touch with members’ musical needs and that synods oppose musical innovation. The purpose of this article is to give an overview of ministers, organists/music leaders and parishioners’ perceptions regarding the nature and use of psalms during worship in the Reformed Church of South Africa as well as synod decisions pertaining to the psalms. Die Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika sing vanaf die kerk se ontstaan in 1859 slegs psalms, Skrifberymings en Skrifgetroue liedere. Tans is daar twee amptelike psalmberymings in gebruik binne die Gereformeerde Kerk, naamlik die sogenaamde Totius-beryming van 1936, asook die 2001-omdigting met psalmtekste deur hoofsaaklik T.T. Cloete. ’n Studie van lidmate se persepsies oor sinodebesluite en die aard van die psalms binne die Gereformeerde Kerk toon aan dat die psalms nie optimaal benut word nie. Sinodes besluit watter tipe liedere, insluitend psalms, vir gebruik goedgekeur word. Lidmate glo dat talle psalms nie meer geskik is vir die 21ste-eeuse lidmaat nie, dat sinodebesluite uit voeling is met lidmate se musikale behoeftes en dat sinodes musikale vernuwing teenwerk. Die doel van hierdie artikel is om ’n oorsig te gee van die persepsies van predikante, orreliste/musiekleiers en gemeentelede met betrekking tot die aard en gebruik van die psalms binne die erediens van die Gereformeerde Kerke van Suid-Afrika, asook sinodebesluite wat hiermee verband hou.

Abstract The threefold summons of an absent defendant in the context of synodal proceedings – which had been admittedly formed by influence from the respective process in Roman law – is an important component of the ecclesiastical judicial procedure. In this paper I examine in detail all the extensive narratives of threefold summonses preserved in conciliar acts of the fifth and sixth centuries, that is, the cases of Nestorius of Constantinople and John of Antioch at the council of Ephesus (431), the case of the archimandrite Eutyches at the Resident Synod of Constantinople (448), the case of Athanasius of Perrhe at the local synods of Hierapolis (early 440s) and Antioch (445) as well as at the Council of Chalcedon (451), the case of Dioscorus of Alexandria at the Council of Chalcedon, and the case of Anthimus of Constantinople at the Resident Synod of Constantinople (536). In the final part I proceed to an assessment of this process’ evolution over the period in question. The principal conclusion is that by the time of Justinian the ecclesiastical threefold summons procedure had become consolidated and systematised.

When the new English bishops met at the first Provincial Council in 1852 they decided that they should each hold a diocesan synod before 1854 to promulgate the decrees of the Council, and thereafter annually. These diocesan synods have usually been written off by historians as being of little interest, merely reaffirming and applying Provincial decrees. While this may be true of much of synodal legislation, the importance of the synods went beyond their strictly legal function: they played a part in establishing episcopal authority and in impressing on the clergy that the restoration of the hierarchy had not been merely a palace revolution. Many of the English missionary clergy had felt let down by the Restoration of 1850: they had petitioned Rome for a canonical hierarchy to replace the vicars apostolic in the hope that the new bishops would be less arbitrary in their rule and that they themselves would have their rights confirmed; in this context they were particularly keen on their supposed right to be consulted by the bishops in a range of matters. The events described in this article, which occurred in the new diocese of Liverpool, were perhaps the last organised attempt to get some of those rights recognised.

In celebrating a quarter of a century of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URSCA) (1994 2019), quite a few well-organised activities and events took place. These activities reflect a mix of serious academic seminars and liturgical celebrations of which the ones in the Cape, both in Belhar and at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) warrant special mention. In his sermon based on John 17 at the closing liturgical celebration at UWC, Prof Daan Cloete raised several pertinent issues pertaining to unity and justice as a challenge to the leadership of URCSA. Despite all the significant events taking place throughout the year (2019), there has been a major deficit. Attempts at serious historiography are few and far between. This book is an attempt at starting such a study process. However, to put it modestly to contribute to the writing of the history of the URCSA. It has been resolved to start right at the beginning: the founding synod of URCSA with a specific focus on the constituting moderature. The book discusses the issues that were looming large at the founding Synod in 1994 which captures the ‘miracle’ and the euphoria that emerged amidst some delicate matters and issues that would have posed some serious impediments that would have jeopardise the unification before it even started. In calling into service the pastoral or praxis cycle the contributions of the first moderature of URCSA: Rev Nick Apollis (moderator), Rev Leonardo Appies (Scriba Synodii) Rev Dr Sam Buti (Assessor) and Rev JD Buys (Actuaris), of the 1994 General Synod elections are presented in this book. The authors were interested in answering the question: In what way did the moderature members of URCSA assist in the transformation of church and society? The book showcases, how not only systems and structures are essential in transformation processes, but people - who take up the task in obedience and servitude.

AAaJohn Davenant’s hypothetical universalism has consistently been misinterpreted and misrepresented as a via media between Arminianism and Reformed theology. This study examines Bishop Davenant’s hypothetical universalism in the context of early modern Reformed orthodoxy. In light of the various misunderstandings of early modern hypothetical universalism, including English hypothetical universalism, as well as the paucity of studies touching on the theology of Davenant in particular, this book gives a detailed exposition of Davenant’s doctrine of universal redemption in dialogue with his understanding of closely related doctrines such as God’s will, predestination, providence, and covenant theology and (2) defends the thesis that Davenant’s version of hypothetical universalism represents a significant strand of the Augustinian tradition, including the early modern Reformed tradition. In service of these two aims, this book examines the patristic and medieval periods as they provide the background for the Lutheran, Remonstrant, and Reformed reactions to the so-called Lombardian formula (“Christ died sufficiently for all; effectually for the elect”). Moreover, it traces how Davenant and his fellow British delegates at the Synod of Dordt shaped the Canons of Dordt in such a way as to allow for their English hypothetical universalism. A careful exposition of the various theses found in Davenant’s De Morte Christi makes up the central core of this book. Finally, this study explores Davenant’s covenant theology and doctrine of the divine will.

TOWARDS THE NEW LIFE Theology and Importance of Christian Initiation for the Life of Faith The book is in equal parts a presentation and an invitation. The subject matter of both is the mystagogical initiation leading to the personal encounter with God and eventually to the union within the Church in Christ, which happens initially and particualry in the sacramental liturgy. Mystagogy was the essential experience of life in the early Church and now is being so intensely discussed and postulated by the ecclesial Magisterium and through the teaching of the recent popes and synods. Within the ten chapters of this book the reader proceeds through the aspects strictly associated with Christian initiation, noticeable in catechumenate and suggestive for further Christian life. It is not surprising then, that the study begins with answering the question about the sense of dealing with catechumenate at all. The response developed in the first chapter covers four key points: the contemporary state of our faith, the need for dialogue in evangelization, the importance of liturgy in the renewal of faith and the obvious requirement of follo- wing the Church’s Magisterium, quite explicit in the subject undertaken within this book. The introductory chapter is meant to evoke interest in catechumenate as such and encourage comprehension of its essence, in order to keep it in mind while planning contemporary evangelization. For doing this with success and avoiding pastoral archeology, we need a competent insight into the main message and goal of Christian initiation. Catechumenate is the first and most venerable model of formation and growth in faith and therefore worth knowing. The second chapter tries to cope with the reasons and ways of the present return to the sources of catechumenate with respect to Christian initiation understood to be the building of the relationship with God. The example of catechumenate helps us to discover, how to learn wisely from the history. This would definitely mean to keep the structure and liturgy of catechumenate as a vehicle of God’s message, which must be interpreted and adapted always anew and with careful and intelligent consideration of the historical flavour on particular stages within the history of salvation and cultural conditions of the recipients. For that reason we refer to the Biblical resources and to the historical examples of catechumenate including its flourishing and declining periods, after which we are slowly approaching the present reinterpretation of the catechumenal process enhanced by the official teaching of the Church. As the result of the latter, particularly owing to the Vatican Council II, we are now dealing with the renewed liturgy of baptism displayed in two liturgical books: The Rite of Baptism for Children and the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). This version for adults is the subjectmatter of the whole chapter, in which a reader can find theological analyses of the particular rites as well as numerous indications for improving one’s life with Christ in the Church. You can find interesting associations among the rites of initiation themselves and astounding coherence between those rites and the sacraments of the Eucharist, penance and other sacraments, which simply means the ordinary life of faith. Deep and convincing theology of the process of initiation proves the inspiring spiritual power of the initial and constitutive sacraments of baptism and confirmation, which may seem attractive not only for catechumens but also for the faithful baptized in their infancy, and even more, since they might have not yet had a chance to see what a plausible treasure they have been conveying in their baptismal personality. How much challenge for further and constant realization in life may offer these introductory events of Christian initiation, yet not sufficiently appreciated by those who have already been baptized and confirmed! We all should submit to permanent re-evangelization according to this primary pattern, which always remains essential and fundamental. Very typical and very post-conciliar approach to Christian formation appears in the communal dimension, which guards and guarantees the ecclesial profile of initiation and prepares a person to be a living member of the Church. The sixth chapter of the book is dealing with ecclesial issues in liturgy. They refer to comprehending the word of God, especially in the context of liturgy, which brings about a peculiar theological sense to it and giving a special character to proclaiming the Gospel, which the Pope Francis calls “liturgical proclamation”. The ecclesial premises influence the responsibility for the fact of accompanying the candidates, who aim at becoming Christ’s disciples. As the Church is teaching also in the theological and pastoral introduction to the RCIA, this is the duty of all Christians, which means: priests, religious and the lay, because the Church is one organism in whose womb the new members are conceived and raised. As this fact is strongly claimed by the Church the method of initiation arises to great importance. The seventh chapter is dedicated to the analysis of the catechumenal method stemming from Christ’s pedagogy and His mystery of Incarnation introducing a very important issue of implementing the Divine into the human. The chapter concerning this method opens a more practical part of the book. The crucial message of it is to make mystagogy a natural and obvious method which is the way of building bonds with Christ in the community of the people who already have these bonds and who are eager to tighten them and are aware of the beauty and necessity of closeness with Christ. Christian initiation is the process of entering the Kingdom of God and meeting Christ up to the union with Him – not so much learning dogmas and moral requirements. This is a special time when candidates-catechumens-elected mature in love and in their attitude to Christ and people, which results in prayer and new way of life. As in the past catechumenate nowadays inspires the faithful in their imagination of love and mercy as well as reminds us about various important details of the paschal way of life, which constitute our baptismal vocation, but may be forgotten and now with the help of catechumenate can be recognized anew, while accompanying adults on their catechumenal way. The book is meant for those who are already involved in catechumenal process and are responsible for the rites and formation as well as for those who are interested in what the Church is offering to all who consciously decide to know and follow Christ. You can learn from this book, what is the nature and specificity of the method suggested by the Rite itself for guiding people to God the Saviour and to the community of His people. The aim of the study is to present the universal way of evangelization, which was suggested and revealed by God in His pedagogy, particularly through Jesus Christ and smoothly adopted by the early Church. This way, which can be called a method, is so complete, substantial and clear that it deserves rediscovery, description and promotion, which has already started in the Church’s teaching by making direct references to such categories as: initiation, catechumenate, liturgical formation, the rereading the Mystery of Christ, the living participation in the Mystery and faith nourished by the Mystery. The most engaging point with Christian initiation is the fact, that this seems to be the most effective way of reviving the parish, taking place on the solid and safe ground of liturgy with the most convincing and objective fact that is our baptism and our new identity born in baptismal regenerating bath. On the grounds of our personal relationship with God and our Christian vocation we can become active apostles of Christ. Evangelization begins with ourselves and in our hearts. Thinking about the Church’s mission, we should have in mind our personal mission within the Church and we should refer to it’s roots – first to our immersion into Christ’s death and resurrection and to the anointment with the Holy Spirit. In this Spirit we have all been sent to follow Christ wherever He goes, not necessarily where we would like to direct our steps, but He would. Let us cling to Him and follow Him! Together with the constantly transforming and growing Church! Towards the new life!

This chapter turns to Wise’s attempts to set up a synod. Early in 1855, Wise had begun to renew his agitation for a conference. Wise wanted a general ‘get-together’ without regard to theology. He enumerates some of the questions which lay before American Jewry: Zion College, which had been started in Cincinnati; the orphan asylum which had been started in New Orleans; whether or not to have Jewish parochial schools; ‘our standing complaint about the serious want of textbooks for Hebrew schools’. ‘The grand problem-to be solved at present is this’, said Wise, ‘how to unite all these endeavours into one focus’. Here, indeed, the chapter reveals a mind working on a grand design for American Jewry. It is a conference on practical issues, not on ideologies, that Wise is advocating. The note is definitely union, not reform.

This chapter highlights the meeting of the Presbyterian Synod of Geneva in Geneva, New York on February 18, 1819. It clarifies that the meeting at Geneva was meant to draft an annual report on the state of religion in the synod and approve the statement. It also discusses the publication of the events of the meeting at the Geneva Gazette, which celebrates the growth of the church in the area, the installation of standing pastors in new settlements, and the construction of new meetinghouses. The chapter highlights the observation of the Synod of the extensive region which Niagara Presbytery embraces, wherein numerous churches have been collected and considerable missionary labor has been spent. It covers the characterization of the religious aspects of Lewiston, Clarence, Cayuga-Creek, Pembroke, Gainsville, Le Roy, and Fredonia.

The sources of the Second Vatican Council (1962–65), the history of the road to the council, and the nature of theological reform and development have been the object of much scholarly energy since 1965. To this day, the meaning, significance, and interpretation of Vatican II remain contested, and these debates have great importance for the Catholic Church and for Christian ecumenism. While studies exist that link the council to the thought of the Patristic period, as well as to movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, hitherto the connection of Vatican II to the post-Tridentine but pre-nineteenth-century church has been almost completely overlooked....

This chapter begins with a discussion of the well-publicized incident at the beginning of the 2019 Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian region when wooden images that had been used in the ceremony consecrating the Synod to Saint Francis of Assisi were thrown into the Tiber. The chapter maps the implications of a theology of revelation that take the particularity of the Incarnation seriously not only as a singular and defining christological event but in terms not unlike those articulated by Fray Luis de León centuries earlier. As Pope Francis insisted in Querida Amazonia, “For the Church to achieve a renewed inculturation of the Gospel in the Amazon region, she needs to listen to its ancestral wisdom, listen once more to the voice of its elders, recognize the values present in the way of life of the original communities, and recover the rich stories of its peoples” (Querida Amazonia 70).

This book has argued that Vatican II should be understood as a point on an arc of reform that extends all the way back to the eighteenth century. Pushing the roots of the council back beyond the twentieth-century reform movements, modernism, Newman, and the Tübingen School helps us to better understand and interpret Vatican II reforms. Thus, the complexities of a hermeneutic of reform, which interprets the council as having both continuity and discontinuity, on different levels, with past Catholic teaching and theology, become clearer. A hermeneutic of reform should not only return to the “deepest patrimony” of the fathers or the early Church, but must also recognize that the agendas of failed Catholic reformers of the more recent past have sometimes survived, and have even been vindicated in certain ways. John O’Malley’s work has shown that to fully understand Vatican II, we must recognize that “in St. Peter’s, beside the thousands of [Council] Fathers . . . Pius IX and Pius XII, Marx and Freud, Lagrange and Rosmini, and De Maistre and Lamennais were there, listening to the infinite debate that changed the church.”...

Abstract The Synod of Dort had rejected the Arminian Remonstrants in 1619. But a number of English clergymen like John Hales, who “bade John Calvin ‘good night,” welcomed the Arminianism which had been slowly growing ever since Whitgift’s attempt to check loose Calvinism at the Lambeth Conference. In the 1630s, adherents to Arminianism held-besides “all the best bishoprics and deaneries in England”-views about free will and good works that led Puritans to fear a doctrinal return to the Thomistic synthesis of the Catholic Church.

Abstract Theophilus would not have succeeded in mobilizing so formidable an attack on Chrysostom if there had not been a great deal of latent hostility. After so many generations have felt sympathy and admiration for the personality of John Chrysostom, it is difficult to believe that he was disliked by many of his contemporaries, and not only the wicked, jealous, or ambitious. But there is plenty of evidence of hostility among the clergy of Constantinople and neigh bouring provinces. These were the people whom the four dissident bishops could most easily organize into a pressure group against their bishop. The charges brought against Chrysostom at the Synod of the Oak show that his ecclesiastical administration had been extremely contentious.

Abstract Christus Dominus was approved on October 28, 1965, by a vote of 2,139 placet, 2 non placet, and 1 invalid vote and was approved immediately by Paul VI. The decree was the result of the integration of two schema: De cura animarum and De episcoporum munere pastorali and reflected the work of the commission De episcopis. Unlike the other documents of Vatican II, Christus Dominus 44 concludes with a specific reference to the proposed revision of the Code of Canon Law: ‘‘This most sacred synod prescribes that in the revision of the Code of Canon Law suitable laws be drawn up in keeping with the principles stated in this decree.’’ This general directive underscores not only the particularly practical nature of Christus Dominus but also its essential link with the revision of the Church’s canon law. On January 25, 1959, John XXIII, after a solemn celebration in the Patriarchal Basilica of Saint Paul outside the walls, announced his intention of holding a synod for the diocese of Rome, of celebrating an ecumenical council, and of revising the (1917) Code of Canon Law. It is thus not without some historical relevance that the present Code of Canon Law was promulgated on January 25, 1983. In the apostolic constitution Sacrae disciplinae leges, with which John Paul II promulgated the code, the pontiff stated that ‘‘In so doing, my thoughts go back to the same day of the year 1959 when my predecessor of happy memory, John XXIII, announced for the first time his decision to reform the existing corpus of canonical legislation which had been promulgated on the feast of Pentecost in the year 1917.’’

The assassination of Alexander II brought a predictable crackdown on Russia’s public sphere, though not before the trial of the terrorists had been given prominent coverage in the press. The ensuing period brought the defeat of government reform projects and the heyday of Konstantin Pobedonostsev, the arch-conservative Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod. Pobednostsev had no time for liberal ‘talking-shops’, but he aimed to revitalize the Orthodox Church by increasing the quantity of priests and the quality of their preaching. In this era of counter-reform, the theatre and the university became the most lively secular venues for the spoken word. Nonetheless, local government—whether the municipal duma or the zemstvo—was not quiescent and began to mobilize once again with the famine of 1891–2.

After the end of the Second World War, the Serbian Orthodox Church found itself in new social and political circumstances, but also in the legal system of socialist Yugoslavia, which was significantly different from the legal system of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In 1946, the new communist government adopted the Constitution of the Federative People's Republic of Yugoslavia, which, among other things, standardized the relationship between the Church and the state. On the territory of the newly formed socialist Yugoslavia, which had just come out of the war, the war against the Serbian Orthodox Church was still raging. From the positions of the new state authorities, liquidations and persecution of bishops, priests and believers of the Serbian Orthodox Church were carried out. Several laws were adopted that were directly directed against the Serbian Orthodox Church and other traditional churches and religious communities. The Law on the Serbian Orthodox Church from 1931 was repealed by the decision of the new communist government, as well as all other regulations that were passed until April 6, 1941. The Holy Council of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church could not be convened in a regular or extraordinary session in wartime conditions and due to the imprisonment of Serbian Patriarch Gavrilo (Dožić). On November 14, 1946, Patriarch Gavrilo returned to the country and assumed his patriarchal duties. The Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, under the presidency of Patriarch Gavrilo, convened the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church for the first regular session after six years of being prevented from convening the highest church body. The session of the Holy Council of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church was held from April 24 to May 21, 1947 in Belgrade. Although there is a belief that amendments to the Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church from 1931 were adopted at that session or that the "Constitution was changed", based on the relevant archival material and on the basis of the formal-legal element of this general ecclesiastical-legal act, it is established that The Holy Synod of Bishops, regardless of the numerous norms that have been retained from the Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church since 1931, actually adopted the new Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The subject of this work is the Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church from 1947, which is still in force in the Serbian Orthodox Church today.

The Cypriot Orthodox Church has been recognized as an independent and autocephalous church since 431, by the decision of the Third Ecumenical Council with the 8th canon. The current 76s. the archbishop bears the title: New Justiniana and all of Cyprus. The Holy Synod is the supreme body of the Church of Cyprus and acts according to the Church Constitution. According to Article 138 of the Church Constitution from 1914, it entered into force on the day of publication. Archbishop Macarius the Third proposed a new revision of the Constitution, but from 1955 to 1961 and 1974, this period was characterized by armed struggles for the liberation of Cyprus, so the final drafting of the new Constitution became a priority from 1980. The new Constitution entered into force in 2010, with the consent and presence of the island's political leadership. According to Article 110, Paragraph 1 of the Cyprus State Constitution, the organization and management of the internal affairs of the church and its property is carried out in accordance with the holy canons and the Constitution of the Church of Cyprus since 1914. Legislative authority is recognized to the Church of Cyprus in Article 111, Paragraph 1 of the State Constitution of Cyprus. The establishment of criminal procedure regulations of church law, which actually refer to the proportional application of state criminal procedure legislation, is evaluated as positive and more modern. For the first time in the history of the Constitution of the Church of Cyprus, issues of criminal church law are regulated. As for family law, for the first time since the Byzantine Empire, it is fully aligned with Article 111 of the Cyprus State Constitution. The Church has reserved its right to grant spiritual dissolution of marriage.