Episcopal conference explained

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 first assembly of bishops to meet regularly, with its own legal structure and ecclesial leadership function, is the Swiss Bishops' Conference, which was founded in 1863. More than forty episcopal conferences existed before the Second Vatican Council. Their status was confirmed by the Second Vatican Council and further defined by Pope Paul VI's 1966 motu proprio, Ecclesiae sanctae.^[1]

Episcopal conferences are generally defined by geographic borders, often national ones, with all the bishops in a given country belonging to the same conference, although they may also include neighboring countries. Certain authority and tasks are assigned to episcopal conferences, particularly with regard to setting the liturgical norms for the Mass. Episcopal conferences receive their authority under universal law or particular mandates. In certain circumstances, as defined by canon law, the decisions of an episcopal conference are subject to ratification from the Holy See. Individual bishops do not relinquish their immediate authority for the governance of their respective dioceses to the conference.

Theological and juridical status

The operation, authority, and responsibilities of episcopal conferences are currently governed by the 1983 Code of Canon Law (see especially canons 447–459) In addition, there are assemblies of bishops which include the bishops of different rites in a nation, both Eastern Catholic and Latin Catholic; these are described in canon 322 §2 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches.

The nature of episcopal conferences, and their magisterial authority in particular, was subsequently clarified by Pope John Paul II in his 1998 motu proprio, Apostolos suos, which stated that the declarations of such conferences "constitute authentic magisterium" when approved unanimously by the conference; otherwise the conference must achieve a two-thirds majority and seek the Latin: recognitio, that is, recognition of approval, of the Holy See, which they will not receive if the majority "is not substantial".

In the 2013 apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis expressed his concern that the intent of the Second Vatican Council, which would give episcopal conferences "genuine doctrinal authority, has not yet been sufficiently elaborated." On September 9, 2017, Pope Francis modified canon law, granting episcopal conferences specific authority "to faithfully prepare … approve and publish the liturgical books for the regions for which they are responsible after the confirmation of the Apostolic See." The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, which formerly had primary responsibility for translations, was ordered to "help the Episcopal Conferences to fulfil their task." On October 22, 2017, the Holy See released a letter that Pope Francis had sent to the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Robert Sarah, clarifying that the Holy See and its departments would have only limited authority to confirm liturgical translations recognized by a local episcopal conference. In late February, 2018, the Council of Cardinals and Pope Francis undertook a consideration of the theological status of episcopal conferences, re-reading Pope John Paul II's Apostolos Suos in the light of Pope Francis's Evangelii Gaudium.

List of episcopal conferences

Source:

Africa

Asia

Europe

Notes

Other episcopal bodies

In addition to the episcopal conferences as defined by the Holy See, there are a number of other regional groupings of bishops:^[2]

Synods of eastern rite churches

Synods of Bishops of the Patriarchal and Major Archiepiscopal Churches

Synod of the Armenian Catholic Church
Synod of the Chaldean Church
Synod of the Catholic Coptic Church
Synod of the Greek-Catholic Ukrainian Church
Synod of the Greek-Melkite Catholic Church
Synod of the Romanian Church
Synod of the Syrian Catholic Church
Synod of the Syro-Malabarese Church
Synod of the Syro-Malankarese Church
Council of the Ethiopian Church
Council of the Ruthenian Church, U.S.A.
Council of the Slovakian Church

Assemblies of bishops

National assemblies of Hierarchs of Churches Sui Iuris (including eastern Catholic as well as Latin ordinaries)

Assembly of the Catholic Hierarchy of Egypt
Assembly of the Catholic Bishops of Iraq
Assembly of the Patriarchs and Bishops of Lebanon
Assembly of the Catholic Hierarchs of Syria
Assembly of the Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land
Iranian Episcopal Conference
Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI)

International Meetings of Episcopal Conferences

Council of Catholic Patriarchs of the East
Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar
Regional Episcopal Conference of Francophone West Africa
Association of Episcopal Conferences of Central Africa
Association of Episcopal Conferences of the Region of Central Africa
Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa
Inter-Regional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa
Reunion of Episcopal Conferences of West Africa
Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences
Federation of Catholic Bishops' Conferences of Oceania (FCBCO)
Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE)
Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community (COMECE)
Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM)
Episcopal Secretariate of Central America and Panama

External links

List of all episcopal conferences by Giga-Catholic Information
The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church by David M. Cheney

Notes and References

The Limits of the Papacy, p. 97, by Patrick Granfield, Crossroad, New York, 1987.
Book: 2010 . Annuario Pontificio per l'anno 2010 . Annuario Pontificio of 2010 . Vatican City . Libreria Editrice Vaticana.