College of Bishops and Synods

Authority level: Dogma
Disciplinary status: Church discipline
This article contains claims at more than one doctrinal grade. The summary shows the highest represented grade.
GuideThe episcopal college and its union with the pope belong to doctrine; synodal and conference structures also involve canon law and discipline.
Contents

College of Bishops and Synods is the shared episcopal responsibility expressed through the worldwide college, ecumenical councils, episcopal conferences, and Eastern synods.[1]

Episcopal collegiality

The bishops together succeed the apostolic college. The college has authority over the universal Church only with its head, the bishop of Rome, and never apart from him. An ecumenical council is a solemn exercise of this collegial responsibility when convoked or recognized according to Catholic law.

Collegiality also appears through communion among bishops, shared teaching and pastoral action, and concern for churches beyond one's own jurisdiction. It does not eliminate each diocesan bishop's proper authority.

Synods and conferences

Patriarchal and major archiepiscopal Eastern Catholic churches are governed in significant matters by their synods of bishops according to the Eastern code. Latin episcopal conferences coordinate specified pastoral and teaching responsibilities within a territory. The Synod of Bishops advises and assists the pope; these bodies differ in membership and legal authority.[2]

References

  1. 1.Lumen gentium — Sections 22–23 on the college of bishops
  2. 2.Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches — Canons governing patriarchal and synodal structures