Pope Calls World Bishops to Re-Examine Reforms : Two Week Scrutiny of Vatican II

Pope John Paul II today announced that he is calling an extraordinary worldwide bishops’ conference to review the Second Vatican Council, which vastly revised the workings of the Roman Catholic Church 20 years ago.

The pontiff, in a surprise announcement during a Mass in the Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, said that the conference will “relive” the spirit of the council, but also will re-examine the changes it made “in the light of new demands.”

He added that the conference, known as a bishops’ synod, would meet in Rome from Nov. 25 to Dec. 8 of this year.

The Second Vatican Council, commonly called Vatican II, was called by Pope John XXIII and lasted from 1962 to 1965.

Sweeping Reforms

Vatican II resulted in reforms that hurled the Roman Catholic Church into modern times. Among many other things, it permitted the saying of Mass in the local language, or vernacular, and stressed greater participation of lay people in the church liturgy.

It also stressed religious freedom, ecumenicism and condemned anti-Semitism.

The Pope made the announcement on the eve of his trip to Latin America.

John Paul said there would be representatives of Catholic bishops’ conferences from all five continents at the “extraordinary synod.”

The Pope did not specify whether he is seeking changes in the Second Vatican Council’s reforms.

The Polish-born pontiff said the synod would aid the church “on the road to the third millennium of history.”

John Paul noted that he was making the announcement on the anniversary of the day in 1959 that John XXIII announced the Second Vatican Council in the same church.

The announcement came more than five hours after Vatican offices had closed for the day, and was not included in his prepared remarks.

“I attribute to this extraordinary assembly a particular importance,” John Paul told several thousand people who had filled the church.

He noted that the Second Vatican Council has been a “constant point of reference” since his pontificate began in 1978.

Major Shifts Unlikely

It was not immediately clear what powers the new assembly will have, but its relative brevity--two weeks--did not suggest that a major rethinking of Church doctrines could be planned.

Vatican observers said it could provide an opportunity for churchmen from all over the world to state their views on the controversial subject of the correct application of Vatican II’s 16 major documents.

The council, the pillar of modern Roman Catholic teaching, profoundly affected the way in which the church viewed its mission, and the period since then has been marked by disagreement on its practical implications.

Conservatives were shocked by its abrupt departure from tradition, especially in liturgy but also in its call for dialogue with other religions and even with atheists.

As a gesture to conservatives, the Pope last year allowed a limited return to the use of the old-style Latin Mass, which the council decided to abolish.