Councils, Plenary
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In the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, a plenary council is any of various kinds of ecclesiastical
synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...
s, used when those summoned represent the whole number of bishops of some given territory. The word itself, derived from the Latin ''plenarium'' (complete or full), hence ''concilium plenarium'', also ''concilium plenum''. Plenary councils have a legislative function that does not apply to other national synods. The ecumenical councils or synods are called plenary councils by
Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...
, as they form a complete representation of the entire Church. Thus also, in ecclesiastical documents, provincial councils are denominated plenary, because all the bishops of a certain
ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...
were represented. Later usage has restricted the term ''plenary'' to those councils which are presided over by a delegate of the
Apostolic See An apostolic see is an episcopal see whose foundation is attributed to one or more of the apostles of Jesus or to one of their close associates. In Catholicism, the phrase "The Apostolic See" when capitalized refers specifically to the See of ...
, who has received special power for that purpose, and which are attended by all the metropolitans and bishops of some commonwealth, empire, or kingdom, or by their duly accredited representatives. In this article, only those modern provincial councils where the
ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...
covered a whole country or countries (for example, Baltimore for the United States of America or Sydney for Australasia up to the mid-nineteenth century) are discussed, since it is only those that had a ''de facto'' plenary effect. Such plenary synods are frequently called national councils. Plenary councils should be distinguished from: * ''plenary assemblies'' such as those for Canada, India or Poland which are meetings of a number of bishops from some given territory but without the authorisation to be a council; * ''the
Synod of Bishops in the Catholic Church In the Catholic Church, the Synod of Bishops is an influential, global, consultative and advisory body to the pope. It is one of the mechanisms through which Catholic bishops—the most senior ordained members of the Church—communally render ...
'' being a meeting of bishops in the whole church instituted in 1965; and * ''Diocesan
synods A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...
'', meetings of church representatives convened by the bishop within one diocese.


History

Plenary councils, in the sense of national synods, are included under the term particular councils as opposed to universal councils. They are of the same nature as provincial councils, with the accidental difference that several
ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...
s are represented in national or plenary synods. In current canon law they are called by the
Episcopal Conference An episcopal conference, often also called a bishops’ conference or conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The fir ...
of a given territory when approved by the Pope. The
Episcopal Conference An episcopal conference, often also called a bishops’ conference or conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The fir ...
itself, a permanent body of bishops from a territory, is a relatively modern structure, with the earliest formed in Switzerland in 1863 and only confirmed as policy at
Vatican II The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilic ...
. The ability to meet regularly across large nations or territories waited on modern technology. In contrast, the need to meet for critical matters means that Plenary Councils, called only when necessary to justify the time and effort required, are quite ancient.


Ancient

Provincial councils, strictly so-called, date from the fourth century, when the metropolitical authority had become fully developed. But synods, approaching nearer to the modern signification of a plenary council, are to be recognized in the synodical assemblies of bishops under primatial, exarchal, or patriarchal authority, recorded from the fourth and fifth centuries, and possibly earlier. Such were, apparently, the synods held in
Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
at
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and Synnada in the third century, concerning the re-baptism of heretics; such were, certainly, the councils held later in the northern part of Latin Africa, presided over by the Archbishop of Carthage, Primate of Africa. The latter councils were officially designated plenary councils (Concilium Plenarium totius Africae). Their beginnings are without doubt to be referred, at least, to the fourth, and possibly to the third century. Synods of a somewhat similar nature (though approaching nearer to the idea of a general council) were the
Council of Arles Arles (ancient Arelate) in the south of Roman Gaul (modern France) hosted several councils or synods referred to as ''Concilium Arelatense'' in the history of the early Christian church. Council of Arles in 314 The first council of Arles"Arles, S ...
in
Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...
in 314 (at which were present the bishops of London, York, and
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), and the
Council of Sardica The Council of Serdica, or Synod of Serdica (also Sardica located in modern-day Sofia, Bulgaria), was a synod convened in 343 at Serdica in the civil diocese of Dacia, by Emperors Constans I, Augustus in the West, and Constantius II, Augustus in ...
in 343 (whose canons were frequently cited as Nicene canons). Somewhat later, the Greek
Council in Trullo The Quinisext Council (; , literally meaning, ''Fifth-Sixth Meeting''), i.e., the Fifth-Sixth Council, often called the Council ''in Trullo'', Trullan Council, or the Penthekte Synod, was a church council held in 692 at Constantinople under Jus ...
was held in 692. The popes were accustomed in former ages to hold synods which were designated Councils of the Apostolic See. They might be denominated, to a certain extent, emergency synods, and though they were generally composed of the bishops of Italy, yet bishops of other ecclesiastical provinces took part in them.
Pope Martin I Pope Martin I (, ; between 590 and 600 – 16 September 655), also known as Martin the Confessor, was the bishop of Rome from 21 July 649 to his death 16 September 655. He had served as Pope Theodore I's ambassador to Constantinople, and was pap ...
held such a council in 649, and
Pope Agatho Pope Agatho (577 – 10 January 681) served as the bishop of Rome from 27 June 678 until his death on 10 January 681. He heard the appeal of Wilfrid of York, who had been displaced from his see by the division of the archdiocese ordered by ...
in 680. The patriarchs of Constantinople convoked, on special occasions, a '' synodos endemousa'', at which were present bishops from various provinces of the Greek world who happened to be sojourning in the imperial city, or were summoned to give council to the emperor or the patriarch concerning matters that required special episcopal consultation. From the end of the sixth century, "national councils" were convoked in the Frankish and West-Gothic kingdoms. The bishops in these synods were not gathered together because they belonged to certain ecclesiastical provinces, but because they were under the same civil government, and consequently had common interests which concerned the kingdom in which they lived or the people over whom they ruled.


Early modern


France

As ecclesiastical jurisdiction is necessary for the person who presides over a plenary or national synod, this name has been refused to the assemblies of the bishops of France, which met without papal authorization in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. These ''comitia cleri Gallicani'' were not really plenary councils. The more noted among them were those held at Paris in 1681 and 1682. Convocations of ecclesiastics (''
Assemblées du Clergé The assembly of the French clergy (''assemblée du clergé de France'') was in its origins a representative meeting of the Catholic clergy of France, held every five years, for the purpose of apportioning the financial burdens laid upon the clergy ...
'') were frequent in France before the Revolution of 1789. They consisted of certain bishops deputed by the various ecclesiastical provinces of the kingdom, and of priests elected by their equals from the same provinces, to deliberate on the temporal affairs of the French churches, and more particularly on the assistance, generally monetary, to be accorded to the Government. After the establishment of the empire,
Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
held a great convention of bishops at Paris (1811), and is said to have been much incensed because
Pius VII Pope Pius VII (; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823) was head of the Catholic Church from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. He ruled the Papal States from June 1800 to 17 May 1809 and again ...
did not designate it a national council. Similarly, mere congresses of bishops, even of a whole nation, who meet to discuss common ecclesiastical affairs, without adhering to synodal forms, are not to be called national or plenary Councils, because no one having the proper jurisdiction has formally summoned them to a canonical synod. Such episcopal conventions have been praised by the Holy See, because they showed unity among the bishops, and zeal for asserting the rights of the Church and the progress of the Catholic cause in their midst, in accordance with the sacred canons, but, as the requisite legal forms and proper hierarchical authority are wanting, these congresses of bishops do not constitute a plenary council, no matter how full the representation of episcopal dignitaries may be. For example, in current usage plenary assemblies though in all other ways identical to plenary councils do not meet those requirements.


Mexico

*
First Mexican Provincial Council The First Mexican Provincial Council was a 1555 Plenary council, provincial council of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Mexico. Attendees Alonso de Montúfar, the archbishop of Mexico, convoked the council on June 29, 1555. The other ...
*
Second Mexican Provincial Council The Second Mexican Provincial Council was a 1565 provincial council of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Mexico. Topics Alonso de Montúfar, the archbishop of Mexico, convened the council on November 8, 1565. A major topic was the imple ...
*
Third Mexican Provincial Council The Third Mexican Provincial Council was a 1585 provincial council of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Mexico. Unlike the first two Mexican Provincial Councils, it was approved by the Holy See. It called for reform of the system of India ...


Modern

After the nineteenth century, plenary councils became less frequent. For example, the United States held three plenary councils before 1884 and has held none since. From the first few years of the second half of the twentieth century there doesn't appear to be any plenary councils reported. Some prominent examples since the second decade of the nineteenth century in order of first plenary council in each territory are:


United States of America

*
Provincial Councils of Baltimore The Provincial Councils of Baltimore were councils of Roman Catholic bishops that set the pattern for Catholic organisation in the United States. They took place in Baltimore. They were seen as having a unique importance for the Church in the Uni ...
Ten Councils between 1829 and 1869. Prior to 1850, all dioceses in the United States were in the
ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...
of Baltimore, so the Provincial Councils covered the whole nation, and were therefore plenary councils ''de facto''. Baltimore was seen as the primal see for the country (''cf''.
Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...
for
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in both the pre-Reformation Catholic Church and the Anglican Church), and the US bishops requested that this be confirmed in 1884, but the Vatican has never done so. *
Plenary Councils of Baltimore The Plenary Councils of Baltimore were three meetings of American Catholic bishops, archbishops and superiors of religious orders in the United States. The councils were held in 1852, 1866 and 1884 in Baltimore, Maryland. These three conferenc ...
(1852, 1866 and 1884) By 1850 a need for the now multiple provinces in the nation to meet was formed, and so three full Plenary Councils across these provinces were held. The attendance at the Provincial Council of Baltimore was significantly lower from 1852 onwards as there were then fewer bishops in the restructured province. The Third Baltimore Council was notable for the
Baltimore Catechism ''A Catechism of Christian Doctrine, Prepared and Enjoined by Order of the Third Council of Baltimore'', or simply the ''Baltimore Catechism'', was the national Catholic catechism for children in the United States, based on Robert Bellarmine's 16 ...
, the major catechism in North America from 1884 until the 1960s.


Ireland

* (1875) Maynooth. Referred to officially as the Irish Episcopal Plenary Synod of Maynooth (''synodi plenariæ Episcoporum hiberniæ''). This plenary council had a major influence on the Australasian council which followed it.


Australia and New Zealand

* As in America, the plenary councils had been preceded by provincial councils with ''de facto'' plenary effect, the First and Second Provincial Councils of Australasia in 1844 (Sydney) and 1869 (Melbourne), as before 1874 Australia and New Zealand were one province. * The plenary councils (1885, 1895 1905 and 1937) are also referred to as the First, Second, Third and Fourth Councils of Sydney, as per American usage with the Plenary Councils of Baltimore. As with Baltimore, Sydney was the ''de facto'' Primal see of the country. The first plenary council, like its two provincial predecessors, was a Plenary Council of Australasia (''Concilii Plenarii Australasiae''), the second and third are Plenary Councils of Australia (''Concilii Plenarii Australiensis'') and the fourth was again expanded to be the Plenary Council of Australia and New Zealand. The Plenary Councils focused less on doctrine and more on church governance, such as selection procedures for bishops and diocesan boundaries.


South America

* Latin American Plenary Council (1898) * Brazilian Plenary Councils (1890 and 1939)


East Asia

* Chinese plenary council (1924) Plenary Council of Shanghai * French Indochina plenary council (1934) Plenary Council of Hanoi * Indian plenary council (1952) * Philippines plenary council (1953)


Canon Law


Authorization

A plenary or national council may not be convoked or celebrated without the authority of the Apostolic See, as was solemnly and repeatedly declared by Pius IX. This has always been the practice in the Church, if not explicitly, at least from the fact that recourse could always be had to the Holy See against decisions of such councils. Now, however, express and special papal authorization is required. He who presides over the council must have the necessary jurisdiction, which is accorded by special Apostolic delegation. In the United States, the presidency of such synods has always been accorded by the Holy See to the archbishops of Baltimore. In their case, a papal delegation is necessary, for although they have a precedence of honour over all the other American metropolitans, yet they have no primatial or patriarchal jurisdiction. It is not uncommon for the pope to send from Rome a special delegate to preside over plenary councils.


Summons

Summons to a national or plenary council is to be sent to all archbishops and bishops of the nation, and they are obliged to appear, unless prevented by a canonical hindrance; to all administrators of dioceses sede plena or vacua, and to vicars capitular sede vacante; to vicars Apostolic possessed of episcopal jurisdiction; to the representatives of cathedral chapters, to abbots having quasi-episcopal jurisdiction. In the United States, custom has sanctioned the summoning of auxiliary, coadjutor, and visiting bishops; provincials of religious orders; all mitred abbots; rectors of major seminaries, as well as priests to serve as theologians and canonists.


Attendance

Only those who have a right to a summons have also a right to cast a ''decisive vote'' in councils. The others may give only a consultive vote. The fathers may, however, empower auxiliary, coadjutor, and visiting bishops, as well as procurators of absent bishops to cast a decisive vote. The
Third Plenary Council of Baltimore The Plenary Councils of Baltimore were three meetings of American Catholic bishops, archbishops and superiors of religious orders in the United States. The councils were held in 1852, 1866 and 1884 in Baltimore, Maryland. These three conferenc ...
allowed a decisive vote also to a general of a religious congregation, because this was done at the Vatican Council. At the latter council, however, such vote was granted only to generals of regular orders, but not to those of religious congregations At Baltimore, a decisive vote was refused to abbots of a single monastery, but conferred on arch-abbots. Those who have a ''consultive vote'' and who: * must attend from the given territory (province, nation or region) include: ** "the vicars general and episcopal vicars of all the particular churches; ** "elected representatives of the major superiors of religious institutes and societies of apostolic life; ** "rectors of ecclesiastical and Catholic universities and deans of faculties of theology and of canon law; ** "some rectors of major seminaries." *may attend, include: ** "presbyters and other members of the Christian faithful who are called to particular councils, but in such a way that their number does not exceed half the number of church officials with a consultive vote attending. ** "cathedral chapters and the presbyteral council and pastoral council of each particular church who are to be invited to provincial councils so that two of their members represent them. ** "others who can also be invited as guests to particular councils, by the conference of bishops for a plenary council, or by the metropolitan together with the suffragan bishops for a provincial council." Critics suggest that the Church does not communicate well the true limited role of lay participants in Plenary Councils, and that this may create unrealised expectations from the misapplication of the lay understanding of participation. This view is that the Church needs to find ways to make this consultative role of the laity more real.


Process


Discussion

In particular councils, the subject-matter to be treated is what concerns discipline, the reformation of abuses, the repression of crimes, and the progress of the Catholic cause. In former times, such councils often condemned incipient heresies and opinions contrary to sound morals, but their decisions became dogmatic only after solemn confirmation by the Apostolic See. Thus, the Council of Milevum (416) and Council of Carthage (418) condemned
Pelagianism Pelagianism is a Christian theological position that holds that the fall did not taint human nature and that humans by divine grace have free will to achieve human perfection. Pelagius (), an ascetic and philosopher from the British Isles, ta ...
, and the Council of Orange (Arausicanum)
Semipelagianism Semi-Pelagianism (or Semipelagianism) is a historical Christian theological and soteriological school of thought about the role of free will in salvation. In semipelagian thought, a distinction is made between the beginning of faith and the inc ...
. Such latitude is not allowed to modern synods, and the Fathers are warned that they are not to restrict opinions which are tolerated by the Catholic Church.


Decrees

One of the most important powers of the plenary council is its legislative function. Decrees of plenary councils must be submitted, before promulgation, for the confirmation, recognition and revision of the Holy See. Such recognition does not imply an approval of all the regulations submitted by the council. Bishops have the power of relaxing decrees of a plenary council in particular cases in their own dioceses, unless the council was confirmed in ''forma specifica'' at Rome. In like manner, when no specific confirmation of the decrees has been accorded, it is lawful to appeal from these councils. In modern times, it is not unusual for the Holy See to confirm councils ''in forma specifica'', but only to accord them the necessary recognition. If, consequently, anything be found in their acts contrary to the common law of the Church, it would have no binding force unless a special apostolic
derogation Derogation is a legal term of art, which allows for part or all of a provision in a legal measure to be applied differently, or not at all, in certain cases. European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working ConditionsDerogation publi ...
were made in its favour.


Future plenary councils

Australia was to hold its Fifth Plenary Council in 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic the Council was delayed to late 2021 and mid-2022. The First Assembly was held from the 3rd to the 10th of October, 2021 in a mixed mode in-person and online format due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions and the Second Assembly is to be held in Sydney, NSW in July 2022 Archbishop Phillip Wilson of Adelaide was a proponent of a plenary council for over a decade. In a departure from previous councils, the first session will be held in Adelaide, South Australia, not Sydney. Unlike the Fourth Plenary Council of Sydney, it will not include New Zealand. Eight bishops of the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 2001 after the merger of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic C ...
formally called for a plenary council in 2002 but this did not proceed. There is speculation from US sources that a successful plenary council in Australia will lead other provinces and nations within the Church, such as the US to ask for similar councils. In both the US and Australian instances the main driver for seeking a plenary council was to deal with the issues surrounding
Catholic Church sexual abuse cases There have been many cases of sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests, priests, nuns, and Sexual abuse scandals in Catholic orders and societies, other members of religious life in the Catholic Church. In the late 20th and early 21st c ...
, though the Fifth Australian Plenary Council will deal with a wider range of issues. Archbishop Phillip Wilson of Adelaide gave evidence before the
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was a royal commission announced in November 2012 and established in 2013 by the Australian government pursuant to the Royal Commissions Act 1902 to inquire into and repo ...
that the plenary council was the appropriate church forum to respond to the child sexual abuse issue, rather than national or diocesan synods because: However, because this issue is significant in many other territories, there is potential for the further revival of this long neglected form of governance through plenary councils in other jurisdictions if it is seen as being effective.


See also

*
Plenary Councils of Baltimore The Plenary Councils of Baltimore were three meetings of American Catholic bishops, archbishops and superiors of religious orders in the United States. The councils were held in 1852, 1866 and 1884 in Baltimore, Maryland. These three conferenc ...


References


External links

* {{Catholic Encyclopedia, wstitle=Plenary Council Catholic Church councils