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Collegiality |
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While Our Lord conferred his own authority fully on Peter (Mt 16:16), he also gave authority to the Apostles together, as a group or college (Mt 18:16; cf. CCC 880). In its proper ecclesial sense, collegiality is referred to the whole body of bishops, as successors of the Apostles. Each bishop has the main mission of governing his own diocese. But also like the Apostles, as Vatican Council II points out, each bishop and all together must participate, under Peter, in the concerns of the universal Church (cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, 23). Collegiality has its most formal exercise in an ecumenical council. While the Synod of Bishops is not a parallel expression of collegiality, it does tend to keep the spirit and practice of collegial collaboration strong, in service of the universal Church and the particular churches. From a theological viewpoint, the term “collegiality” applies only among the bishops, as successors of the Apostles. It is not properly applied to the various form of participation, encouraged by Vatican II, by which the faithful can take part in the Church’s life and mission, each according to his or her ecclesial role. In this sense, all the faithful are co-responsible for carrying on Christ’s redemptive work. A special spirit of participation and service should animate diocesan councils of priests (Canon 495) and parish councils (Canons 228, 536). These councils are not organs of government, any more than is the Synod of Bishops; their function is to offer advice and practical help to the persons canonically charged with the mission of being pastors of parishes or dioceses. As chapter 3 of Lumen Gentium makes clear, the Church has a hierarchical constitution given by Christ. In fostering service and participation, Vatican II did not seek to introduce principles of majority rule into Church decisions. The local bishop is responsible for government within each diocese. Nevertheless, in some concrete cases, the 1983 Code of Canon Law requires him to consult the opinion of certain bodies, without necessarily being bound by their advice (e.g., Canons 494, 515.2, 531, 1215.2, 1222.2, 1277); and in a few especially important cases, he is bound by the decision of the College of Consultors (Canons 1277, 1292.1). A wise bishop will always want and seek the advice of wise consultors.
See: Bishop; Church, Nature, Origin, and Structure of; Ecumenical Council; Episcopal Conference; Magisterium; Synod of Bishops. |
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