Pope Calls Special Synod to Review Vatican II Reforms

Pope John Paul II on Friday unexpectedly announced a special worldwide bishops’ conference to review the application of the Second Vatican Council and prepare the church for the next thousand years.

The council known as Vatican II, which ended 20 years ago, was a major force in modernizing the Roman Catholic Church.

In a move aimed at Christian unity, John Paul said that “patriarchs and some archbishops of Eastern Churches” will participate in the “extraordinary general synod.”

The conservative, Polish-born pontiff, in making the surprise announcement, did not specify any Vatican II reforms that may be under scrutiny during the two-week synod scheduled to be held from Nov. 25 to Dec. 8.

John Paul has indicated he would like to see some revisions in the Vatican II reforms.

On Oct. 17, 1978, in his first sermon after becoming Pope, he said that “general criteria of loyalty to the Vatican Council” must not affect loyalty to the church’s basic doctrinal truths.

Last October he increased the number of instances in which the traditional, Latin Mass can be celebrated. Under Vatican II reforms, the traditional Latin Mass was allowed to be celebrated in the local language of each country.

John Paul has gained a reputation as a conservative mainly on issues such as birth control, divorce and abortion, which were not among the main topics of Vatican II.

The pontiff, who announced the conference at the conclusion of a Mass in the Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, said the synod would “relive” the spirit of the council. But he also said it would re-examine the changes the council made “in the light of new demands.”

“In total and perservering faith, today’s church wants to proceed along the road toward the third millennium of its history,” the pontiff said.

He told several thousand people who had filled the church for the evening service, “I attribute to this extraordinary assembly a particular importance.”

He said that “patriarchs and some archbishops of Eastern Churches and the presidents of all the bishops’ conferences of the five continents will participate” in the synod.

‘Point of Reference’

The Pope said Vatican II has been a “constant point of reference” of his pontificate and “remains the fundamental event of the contemporary life of the church.”

Vatican II was convened by Pope John XXIII and lasted from 1962 to 1965. Drawing together all of the bishops of the church, it examined the status of Catholicism in the modern world and instituted major reforms.

Among the reforms, the council stressed greater participation of lay people in the church liturgy. It also stressed religious freedom, ecumenicism and condemned anti-Semitism.

It also called for a dialogue with other religions and even with athiests. Protestant and Orthodox Eastern Churches were allowed to send observers to the historic sessions.

Papal Consultation

Vatican II also fostered greater papal consultation with church bishops, and proclaimed the Blessed Virgin Mary as the “Mother of the Church.”

The pontiff made the announcement of the 20th-anniversary synod on the eve of his trip to Latin America.

He noted that he was making the announcement on the same day and in the same church that Pope John XXIII in 1959 announced the Second Vatican Council.