The Synod of Bishops: Provenance of Sacramentum Caritatis of Benedict XVI

Authors

Russell Hardiman, University of Notre Dame AustraliaFollow

Publication Details

Hardiman, R. (2007). The Synod of Bishops: Provenance of Sacramentum Caritatis of Benedict XVI. Pastoral Liturgy, 37 (4-5), 11-14.

Abstract

The Synod of Bishops is now a regular institution within the formal administrative structures within the Catholic Church. After four decades it is a young veteran. However, it is still not widely appreciated, just as the origins of its main documents are scarcely understood and read by very few. The publication of the Apostolic Post-Synodal Exhortation, just before Easter 2007, launched by Pope Benedict XVI, brought world wide attention to the fruits of the Synod of 2005. Unfortunately, the treatment by the mass media of the thrust of the document was a travesty of the strengths of its content and its detail. The media picked up on a few items like the discouragement of guitars and the encouragement of Latin as if they were the main features of ninety-seven numbered paragraphs totalling 32,476 words.

Pastoral Liturgy is published by the University of Notre Dame Australia, School of Philosophy and Theology, Fremantle.

Keywords

Peer-reviewed