Synod

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Synods :: Synodical :: Synod_of_Wales :: Synod_of_Scotland :: Synodical_Offices

A synod (also known as a council) is a council of a church, usually a Christian church, convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. An ecumenical council is so named because it is a synod of the whole church (or, more accurately, of what those who call it consider to be the whole church.)

The word comes from the Greek συνοδος meaning "assembly" or "meeting", and it is synonymous with the Latin word concilium — "council". Originally synods were meetings of bishops, and the word is still used in that sense in Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

Sometimes the phrase general synod or general council refers to an ecumenical council. The word synod also refers to the standing council of high-ranking bishops governing some of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches.

Uses in different Communions

Orthodox usage

In Orthodox churches, synods are meetings of bishops within each autonomous Church and are the primary vehicle for the election of bishops and the establishment of inter-diocesan ecclesiastical laws.

Roman Catholic usage

In Catholic Church usage, synod and council are theoretically synonymous as they are of Greek and Latin origins, respectively, both meaning an authoritative meeting of Bishops for the purpose of Church administration in the areas of Teaching (faith and morals) or governance (Church discipline or law). However in modern use, synod and council are applied to specific categories of such meetings and so do not really overlap.

Councils

"Council" typically refers to a meeting of the entire episcopate of a nation, region, continent or the world for the purpose of legislation with binding force.

An ecumenical council is an irregular meeting of the entire episcopate in communion with the Pope and is, along with the Pope, the highest legislative authority of the universal Church (can. 336). The Pope alone has the right to convoke, suspend, and dissolve an ecumenical council; he also presides over it or chooses someone else to do so and determines the agenda (can. 338). The vacancy of the Holy See automatically suspends an ecumenical council. Laws or teachings issued by an ecumenical council require the confirmation of the Pope, who alone has the right to promulgate them (can. 341). It should be noted that the role of the Pope in ecumenical council is a distinct feature of the Catholic Church.
Plenary councils, which are meetings of the entire episcopate of a nation, are convoked by a two-thirds vote of the national episcopal conference.
Meetings of the entire episcopate of a region are typically called councils, as well, such as the various Councils of Carthage in which all the bishops of North Africa were to attend.
Provincial councils, which consist of the bishops of an ecclesiastical province and are convoked by the metropolitan with consent of a majority of the suffragan bishops.

Plenary, provincial and regional councils are comprised of the bishops and auxiliary bishops of the territory as well as other ecclesiastical ordinaries who head particular churches in the territory (i.e. territorial abbots and vicars apostolic). Each member has a vote on council legislation. Others representing major church institutions in the territory such as such as presidents of Catholic universities, hospitals etc., and curial officials) are invited and participate as observers or advisors.

Synods

The term Synod refers to meetings of a representative, thematic, non-legislative (advisory) or mixed nature or in some other way do not meet the qualifications of a "council." Examples include:

Synods in Eastern Rite Catholic Churches. These are simliar to synods in Orthodox churches.

Synods in the Latin rite church take the following forms:

The Synod of Bishops is an innovation from the Second Vatican Council, introduced by the decree Christus Dominus. It is an advisory body of the Pope, whose members are elected by bishops from around the world. The Pope serves as its president or appoints its president, determines its agenda, summons, suspends, and dissolves the synod, and can also appoint additional members to it (can. 344). Members of the synod express their opinions on matters on an individual basis (i.e. no decrees or resolutions are issued by the synod), but the Pope, at his option, can grant it that power, in which case its decrees or resolutions are approved and promulgated by him alone (can. 343). The Synod of Bishops is suspended when the Holy See is vacant.

Diocesan synods are irregular meetings of the clergy and laity of a particular church summoned by the diocesan bishop in an advisory capacity on legislative matters. Only one bishop (the diocesan ordinary) holds legislative authority. The other members of the diocesan synod, including the lay faithful, deacons, priests any attending auxiliary bishops, act only in an advisory capacity.

National episcopal conferences

National episcopal conferences are another development of the Second Vatican Council. They are permanent bodies consisting of all the Latin rite bishops of a nation. Bishops of other sui juris churches and papal nuncios are not members of episcopal conferences by law, though the conference itself may invite them be present in an advisory or voting capacity (can. 450).

While councils (can. 445) and diocesan synods (can. 391 & 466) have full legislative powers in their areas of competence, national episcopal conferences may only issue supplementary legislation when authorized to do so by decree of the Holy See. Any such supplemental legislation requires confirmation by the Holy See (can. 455)to have the force of law. Without such authorization and confirmation by the Holy See, episcopal conferences are deliberative only and exercise no authority over their member bishops or dioceses.

Anglican usage

In the Anglican Communion, synods are elected by clergy and laity. In most Anglican churches, there is a geographical hierarchy of synods, with General Synod at the top; bishops, clergy and laity meet as "houses" within the synod.

Diocesan synods are convened by a bishop in his diocese, and consist of elected clergy and lay members.

Deanery synods are convened by the Rural Dean (or Area Dean) and consist of all clergy licensed to a benefice within the deanery, plus elected lay members.

Lutheran usage

In Lutheran traditions a synod can be either a local administrative region similar to a diocese, such as the Minneapolis Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, or denote an entire church body, such as the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. Sometimes the word is also used of the meeting of the priests of a diocese. In such case, the word carries no administrative meaning.

Presbyterian usage

In the Presbyterian system of church governance the synod is a level of administration between the local presbytery and the national general assembly. Some denominations use the synod, such as the Presbyterian Church in Canada, Uniting Church in Australia, and the Presbyterian Church USA. However some other churches do not use the synod at all, and the Church of Scotland dissolved its synods in the 1980s, see List of Church of Scotland synods and presbyteries.

Reformed usage

In Swiss and Southern German Reformed churches where the Reformed churches are organized as regionally defined independent churches (e.g. Evangelical Reformed Church of Zurich, Reformed Church of Berne) the synod corresponds to the general assembly of Presbyterian churches. In Dutch Reformed churches (and their North American counterparts), the "synod" is a denominational meeting of representatives from each local classis.

Protestant usage in the Congo

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the vast majority of Protestant denominations have regrouped under a religious institution named the Church of Christ in Congo or CCC, often referred to - within the Congo - simply as The Protestant Church. In the CCC structure, the national synod is the general assembly of the various churches that constitutes the CCC. From the Synod is drawn an Executive Committee, and a secretariat. There are also synods of the CCC in every province of the Congo, known appropriately as provincial synods. The CCC regroups 62 Protestant denominations.

Some notable synods

External links

Religious law | Christian group structuring

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