Free All the Pope's Men by Jr. John L. Allen Page A

information, comment, and analysis.
    THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS
    Paul VI created the synod in 1965 as a means of providing the Pope with regular access to the voice of the world’s bishops to assist him in governing the universal Church. The synod is not, as some analysts have dubbed it, a kind of “parliament for the Church," because it has no decision-making authority. All of its conclusions are merely suggestions to the Pope, and it is up to him to decide what to do. It is the Pope who issues the concluding document from the synod, in his own name. Nevertheless, Paul VI envisioned the synod as a sort of continuation of the Second Vatican Council in miniature, an experiment in collegial governance of the Church. An
ordinary
meeting of the synod is designed to deal with some question of universal relevance for the entire Church. An
extraordinary
meeting deals with some situation of urgent relevance for the universal Church. A
special assembly
considers a subject of relevance for one region, either a specific nation or an entire continent. To date, there have been twenty meetings of the synod.
    Regardless of the type of meeting, the process is the same. Before the synod a working paper is drafted by the Synod Secretariat called the
lineamenta
, from a Latin word meaning outline, and sent out to participants for comment. After feedback is received, this document is revised into the
instrumentum laboris
, which is to be the guide for discussions during the meeting. In theory, speeches in the assembly should be phrased as comments on the
instrumentum laboris
, though in reality people are free to raise pretty much any subject under the sun.
    The bishops, usually some 225 or so, along with a handful of other clergy, such as the head of religious orders, and occasionally a few lay members, spend the first week or so of each synod giving speeches. The format calls for each participant to signal when he or she wishes to speak. Names are put on a list each day, and each speaker reads his or her speech from a seated position in the auditorium. There is an eight-minute time limit, which is more or less enforced depending on who the speaker is. Cardinals and other celebrities, such as Kiko Arguello, founder of the Neocatechumenate, get more leeway. In theory, the speeches are the property of the Synod Secretariat and are supposed to be kept secret, with only short and typically anodyne summaries distributed to the press. In fact, however, there is always a flourishing black market for the full texts of these addresses, and journalists from the different language groups often arrange swap meets. In some cases, bishops themselves hand out their texts, which they want to see quoted in the world’s press.
    In the second phase of the synod, which usually lasts a week, participants divide up into small groups, called
circuli minores
, organized by language to discuss the ideas that have surfaced. Each puts together a list of suggestions for the Pope, which are then submitted to two facilitators called the special secretary and the general rapporteur, both positions appointed by the Pope. The two combine the proposals into a general list of propositions. In the third phase, the groups discuss the list of propositions. They can suggest amendments, but the ultimate decision as to what goes on the list belongs to the special secretary and the general rapporteur. Then the full synod votes up or down on the propositions, which are considered secret and go to the Pope. After some months, and in the case of the second assembly for Europe after three years, the Pope issues an apostolic exhortation offering the fruits of the synod to the world.
    John Paul II obviously believed in this process, because he sat through almost every day of each of the twenty meetings of the synod—a record that no one else can claim. At the same time, the Pope’s faith was not universally shared. Critics complained that the synod amounted to sound and fury signifying