What are bishop’s counsels for?

What do the councils of the bishop, obligatory, provided for by canon law designate?

In the Catholic Church, the councils of the bishop are a heritage of the chapter of canons, a college of clerics, attached to a cathedral. “Around the bishop, there have always been clerics who had an administrative charge and participated in the exercise of his power”, notes Thibault Joubert of the Institute of Canon Law in Strasbourg. The Second Vatican Council, by insisting on the central role of the bishop and the sanctity of its power, organized the Diocesan Curia. This one “consists of the organizations and persons who assist the bishop in the government of the whole diocese, especially in the direction of pastoral action, in the administration of the diocese, as well as in the exercise of judicial power », according to the 1983 code of canon law.

Two councils of the bishop are obligatory. The council for economic, social and legal affairs (canon 492), which helps the bishop in the management of the financial affairs and the property of the diocese. He prepares, for example, the financial bulletin of the diocese, as well as projections for the following year. It must consist of at least “three faithful appointed by the bishop, truly competent in economic affairs as well as in civil law and remarkable for their probity”.

Also compulsory, the presbyteral council (canons 495 to 501) represents all the priests of the diocese. “Some are members by right, others elected by their peers. They are in a way the senate of the bishop, promoting the pastoral unity of the diocese”, says Thibault Joubert. Among them, six to twelve members are appointed by the bishop to constitute the college of consultors (canon 502), even closer to the model of the cathedral chapter. They have an advisory role for most matters, obligatory for important matters such as the alienation of certain diocesan goods.

What are the optional tips?

Paradoxically, one of the councils mentioned in the canon law as being optional has rather a central role. This is the episcopal council, made up of general and episcopal vicars (canon 473-4) and sometimes beyond. Its purpose is to coordinate action at the level of the diocesan Curia with those who are in charge. If we make an analogy with the organization of the Ve Republic, “one could say that it is the equivalent of the council of ministers. It’s the bishop’s crisis unit.notes Thibault Joubert.

Another consultative council, the pastoral council (canons 511 to 514) is a creation of Vatican II. Supposed to represent the whole diocese, it is chaired by the bishop and composed of clerics, religious and laity, “specially selected” which questions its representative character. When it exists, it must meet at least once a year.

In addition to this advice, there are others which are not provided for by law. Depending on the location, you can find advice dedicated to consecrated life, charity, young people, the question of abuse and sexual violence…

What changes can be observed in the organization of these councils?

The ecclesiologist Marie-Anne Florin conducted, for her academic research on the actors and actresses of the episcopal councils, a survey of all the dioceses of France. She notes that the episcopal council has taken on increasing importance over the past twenty years to the detriment of the other councils. It has also been extended to lay people, in particular women with pastoral responsibilities in the diocese, for example as responsible for catechesis, formation or communication.

If we can rejoice in this enrichment, “we can question this vision of the otherness of clerical men versus lay women, which only brings into the episcopal councils a certain vision of society”, she points. However, due to this development, “the episcopal council becomes an organ of government which manages the current affairs of the pastoral questions of the diocese”. It meets every week or every fortnight, where the other bodies meet two to three times a year.

In some places, the diocesan pastoral council has even disappeared, while the episcopal council invites once a quarter priests in charge of certain sectors or those responsible for the pastoral care of the diocese: formation, young people, family, charity… “This imbalance can be criticized in itself”recognizes the ecclesiologist.

In his eyes, the presbyteral council and the pastoral council suffer, like any association, from the difficulty of finding priests or lay people who have the taste to commit to a mandate of representation involving work, a presence and follow-up between councils. “Commissions should be a source of proposals in these councils so that the bishop can rely more on them to renew missionary pastoral work. Otherwise, communication is a bit top-down”she adds.

What do the councils of governance reflect in the diocesan Church?

These tips are advisory only. Apart from financial questions, the bishop is extremely free. “He remains alone to be able to decide but it is rare that he decides against his advice”, emphasizes Marie-Anne Florin. This assertion is relativized by Thibault Joubert: it also sometimes happens that the councils serve more to ratify the decisions of the bishop than to discern in a common way.

According to this canonist, the discretion of the diocesan pastoral council illustrates the difficulty in the Catholic Church of “to move from a culture of monarchical governance – the function of the bishop concentrates the legislative, executive and judicial powers – to a culture of the synodal type, that is to say of interdependence, in the context of a culture democracy itself in distress”. However, he recalls, quoting Pope Francis, a reform of structures can only be rooted in a spiritual reform, therefore a personal conversion calling in return for a reform of the law.

What are bishop’s counsels for?