Second Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
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The Second Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, was held in Vatican City from 24 November to 8 December 1985 on the topic of The Twentieth Anniversary of the Conclusion of the Second Vatican Council.[1] The synod was a gathering of 165 bishops and other participants to celebrate, verify, and promote the council, also known as Vatican II.[2][3][4][5] The participants evaluated the implementation of the changes heralded by Vatican II in the past, and discussed how best to apply them in the future. The bishops discussed topics including secularism, evangelization, the universal call to holiness, formation of seminarians, catechism, liturgy, communion, the role of the laity, ecumenism, the preferential option for the poor, and Catholic social teaching.[6]
Second Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops | |
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Date | 24 November–8 December 1985 |
Convoked by | Pope John Paul II |
President | Pope John Paul II |
Attendance | 165 |
Topics | The Twentieth Anniversary of the Conclusion of the Second Vatican Council |
Documents and statements | Final Report of the Second Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops |
Chronological list of ecumenical councils |
In the months leading up to it, it was widely expected that the synod would be a showdown between the conservative Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and more liberal prelates, like the American representative, Bishop James Malone.[2][3] This led to some calling the event "Ratzinger's Synod."[3] There was also speculation that the representatives of bishops' conferences would seek to gain more autonomy from the Vatican.[2] In the synod's final report, Pope John Paul II included three of the suggestions of the bishops that he welcomed the most: the creation of a catechism of Catholic faith and morals, a study of the theological nature of bishops' conferences, and the publication of a new code of canon law for the Eastern Catholic Churches.[2] The Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches was published in 1990. A notable result of the synod was the 1992 publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.