Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that answer the question.
Query: When was the first synod of Catholic bishops?
On 15 September 1965, as the Council was drawing to a close, Pope Paul VI established the Synod of Bishops, noting that "the Ecumenical Council ... gave Us the idea of permanently establishing a special Council of bishops, with the aim of providing for a continuance after the Council of the great abundance of benefits that We have been so happy to see flow to the Christian people during the time of the Council as a result of Our close collaboration with the bishops." The Pope sought "to make ever greater use of the bishops' assistance in providing for the good of the universal Church" and to enjoy "the consolation of their presence, the help of their wisdom and experience, the support of their counsel, and the voice of their authority." This preempted action by the Council and made the Synod "immediately and directly" subject to papal authority, ensuring that it would be strictly an advisory body. The Synod of the Bishops does not constitute collegial governance of the Church, but represents a collaboration with the Pope: it discusses topics proposed to it and makes recommendations, but does not settle questions or issue decrees, unless the Pope grants it deliberative power in certain cases.
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , addressed relations between the Catholic Church and the modern world. The council, through the Holy See, was formally opened under the pontificate of Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and was closed under Pope Paul VI on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on 8 December 1965.
On 21–22 July 2017 the Extraordinary Synod of the Old Catholic Church in the Republic of Poland took place. July 22, 2017 On the second day of the Synod, as planned, the bishop of the Old Catholic Church in Poland were ordained. Bishop. E. Artur Wiciński, who according to the applicable Canon Law of the Old Catholic Church in Poland received the title of Archbishop, according to the historical tradition of the Church during the time of Archbishop Wladyslaw Faron, where the Church Superior received the title of archbishop of the community. During the same synod a formal election of Rev. Robert Matysiak for the Bishop of the Diocese of Germany of the Old Catholic Church in Poland.
Since the Apostolic Age, the Bishop of Rome, like other bishops, was chosen by the consensus of the clergy and laity of the diocese. The body of electors was more precisely defined when, in 1059, the College of Cardinals was designated the sole body of electors. Since then, other details of the process have developed. In 1970, Pope Paul VI limited the electors to cardinals under 80 years of age in "Ingravescentem aetatem". The procedures were established by Pope John Paul II in his apostolic constitution "Universi Dominici gregis" as amended by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 and 2013. A two-thirds supermajority vote is required to elect the new pope.
At the end of the empire and during the Merovingian period several saints are counted among the Bishops of Lyon: Saint Justus (374-381) who died in a monastery in the Thebaid (Egypt) and was renowned for the orthodoxy of his doctrine in the struggle against Arianism (the church of the Maccabees, whither his body was brought, was as early as the 5th century a place of pilgrimage under the name of the collegiate church of Saint Justus), Saint Alpinus and Saint Martin (disciple of Saint Martin of Tours; end of 4th century); Saint Antiochus (400-410); Saint Elpidius (410-422); Saint Sicarius (422-33); Saint Eucherius (c. 433-50), a monk of Lérins and the author of homilies, from whom doubtless dates the foundation at Lyon of the "hermitages" of which more will be said below; Saint Patiens (456-98) who successfully combated the famine and Arianism, and whom Sidonius Apollinaris praised in a poem; Saint Lupicinus (491-94); Saint Rusticus (494-501); Saint Stephanus (d. before 515), who with Saint Avitus of Vienne convoked a council at Lyon for the conversion of the Arians; Saint Viventiolus (515-523), who in 517 presided with Saint Avitus at the Council of Epaone; Saint Lupus, a monk, afterwards bishop (535-42), probably the first archbishop, who when signing in 438 the Council of Orléans added the title of "metropolitanus"; Saint Sardot or Sacerdos (549-542), who presided in 549 at the Council of Orléans, and who obtained from King Childebert the foundation of the general hospital; Saint Nicetius or Nizier (552-73), who received from the pope the title of patriarch, and whose tomb was honoured by miracles. The prestige of Saint Nicetius was lasting; his successor Saint Priseus (573-588) bore the title of patriarch, and brought the council of 585 to decide that national synods should be convened every three years at the instance of the patriarch and of the king; Saint Ætherius (588-603), who was a correspondent of Saint Gregory the Great and who perhaps consecrated Saint Augustine, the Apostle of England; Saint Aredius (603-615); Saint Annemundus or Chamond (c. 650), friend of Saint Wilfrid, godfather of Clotaire III, put to death by Ebroin together with his brother, and patron of the town of Saint-Chamond, Loire; Saint Genesius or Genes (660-679 or 680), Benedictine abbot of Fontenelle, grand almoner and minister of Queen Bathilde; Saint Lambertus (c. 680-690), also abbot of Fontenelle.
The site has been used for religious buildings since at least the 4th century, when an oratory stood on the site. A cathedral was built in the 9th century, but was badly damaged by Norman invasions and was replaced in the 10th century, from about 940, when bishop Milo built a Romanesque cathedral. This building was the location of the Council of Troyes that opened on 13 January 1128/29, at which the Order of the Knights Templar was confirmed and its rule established. The Romanesque cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1188.
The Holy See dates back to early Christianity, and is the primate episcopal see of the Catholic Church, with 1.3 billion Catholics around the world distributed in the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches. The independent Vatican City-state, on the other hand, came into existence in 11 February 1929 by the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and Italy, which spoke of it as a new creation, not as a vestige of the much larger Papal States (756–1870), which had previously encompassed much of central Italy.
The Joint Declaration of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill, also known as the Havana Declaration, was issued following the first meeting in February 2016 between Pope Francis, who as the Bishop of Rome is the pontiff of the Catholic Church, and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus', Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches. This was the first time leaders of the Roman Church and the Moscow Patriarchate had met. While the meeting was also seen as a symbolic moment in the history of relations between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches as a community, which had split in the Great Schism of 1054, centuries before the Moscow Patriarchate was constituted, it was not expected to lead to any immediate rapprochement between them.
Sens Cathedral (begun between 1135 and 1140) was the first Cathedral to be built in the new style (St. Denis was an abbey, not a Cathedral). Other versions of the new style soon appeared in Noyon Cathedral (begun 1150); Laon Cathedral (begun 1165); and the most famous of all, Notre-Dame de Paris, where construction had begun in 1160.
Constantinople became established in the ecclesiastical hierarchy at the Council of Constantinople in 381. Second only to Rome, the legendary origins of the Patriarchate of Constantinople go back to St. Andrew, Metrophanes and Alexander of Constantinople. Constantinople's primacy over the Patriarchates of Alexandria and Antioch was reaffirmed at the Council of Chalcedon in 481, after which the papacy in Rome supported Constantinople in its dispute with Alexandria over monophysitism. Later, when Rome sought to assert its primacy over Byzantium, the Eastern Orthodox church developed the doctrine of pentarchy as a response.
The first Christians in Rome were chiefly people who came from the East and spoke Greek. The founding of Constantinople naturally drew such people thither rather than to Rome, and then Christianity at Rome began to spread among the Roman population, so that at last the bulk of the Christian population in Rome spoke Latin. Hence the change in the language of the liturgy. ...The liturgy was said (in Latin) first in one church and then in more, until the Greek liturgy was driven out, and the clergy ceased to know Greek. About 415 or 420 we find a Pope saying he was unable to answer a letter from some Eastern bishops, because he had no one who could write Greek.
The pope is the man who possesses the sacrament of Holy Orders as a bishop and who has been chosen to be Bishop of Rome. The Catholic Church holds that the College of Bishops as a group is the successor of the College of Apostles. The Church also holds that uniquely among the apostles Saint Peter was granted a role of leadership and authority, giving the Pope the right to govern the Church together with the bishops, and making his leadership necessary for the completion of the College. Hence, Catholicism holds that the Bishop of Rome, as successor of Peter, possesses this role: the Pope, uniquely among bishops, may speak for the whole Church, and a council of bishops is incomplete without the approval of the pope. Papal pronouncements which meet the requirements of the decree on papal infallibility of the First Vatican Council, and no others, even in matters of faith and morals, are deemed to be infallible. Papal infallibility has been invoked only twice since the doctrine was instituted and both are about Mary: her Immaculate Conception (declared by Pope Pius IX in 1854 and grandfathered in after the First Vatican Council’s declaration of papal infallibility in 1870) and her bodily Assumption into heaven (declared by Pope Pius XII in 1950).
In 1377 Pedro de Luna and the other cardinals returned to Rome with Pope Gregory, who had been persuaded to leave his papal base at Avignon by Catherine of Siena. After Gregory's death on 27 March 1378, the people of Rome feared that the cardinals would elect a French Pope and return the papacy to Avignon. Consequently, they rioted and laid siege to the cardinals, insisting on an Italian Pope. The conclave duly elected Bartolomeo Prignano, Archbishop of Bari, as Urban VI on 9 April, but the new Pope proved to be intractably hostile to the cardinals. Some of them reconvened at Fondi in September 1378, declared the earlier election invalid and elected Robert of Geneva as their new Pope, initiating the Western Schism. Robert assumed the name Clement VII and moved back to Avignon.
The most usual term for the geographic area of a bishop's authority and ministry, the diocese, began as part of the structure of the Roman Empire under Diocletian. As Roman authority began to fail in the western portion of the empire, the church took over much of the civil administration. This can be clearly seen in the ministry of two popes: Pope Leo I in the 5th century, and Pope Gregory I in the 6th century. Both of these men were statesmen and public administrators in addition to their role as Christian pastors, teachers and leaders. In the Eastern churches, latifundia entailed to a bishop's see were much less common, the state power did not collapse the way it did in the West, and thus the tendency of bishops acquiring secular power was much weaker than in the West. However, the role of Western bishops as civil authorities, often called prince bishops, continued throughout much of the Middle Ages.
In early 1968, "The Tablet" reported that Vatican sources had "been quoted as saying that Catholics are now free to join the Masons in the United States, Britain and most other countries of the world. However, the European Grand Orient Lodge of Masons, established primarily in Italy and France, is still considered anti-Catholic or, at least, atheistic," and that "the 'let it be known that Catholics joining the Freemasons are no longer automatically excommunicated. The Church's new attitude has been in effect for more than a year.' The Church's Code of Canon Law drawn up in 1918 and shortly to be reformed, provided for automatic excommunication of Catholics 'who enroll in the Masonic sect or in secret societies conspiring against the Church or the legitimate authorities.' Vatican sources added that this wording would be changed to modify the Church's position when the new Code of Canon Law was completed." These reports apparently caused consternation in the Vatican, and were quickly corrected. The Holy See publicly said that canon 2335 was not abrogated, and denied it planned to "change profoundly" its historic prohibition against Catholics joining Masonic groups, although confidential sources said "a change in attitude in the future was considered possible."
Catholicism is the largest religion in Austria, representing 57.9% of the total population in 2017. The Catholic Church's governing body in Austria is the Austrian Conference of Catholic Bishops, made up of the hierarchy of the two archbishops (Wien, Salzburg), the bishops and the abbot of territorial abbey of Wettingen-Mehrerau. Nevertheless, each bishop is independent in his own diocese, answerable only to the Pope. The current president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops is Cardinal Christoph Schönborn. Schönborn belongs to the Central European noble family of Schönborn. Although Austria has no primate, the archbishop of Salzburg is titled "Primus Germaniae" (Primate of Germany).
Catholicism can be described as all of the following:
History of the Catholic Church – the church says that its bishops are the successors to the Apostles of Jesus, and that the Bishop of Rome, also known as the Pope, is the sole successor to Saint Peter, who is believed to have been appointed head of the church in the New Testament and who is said to have ministered in Rome.
Catholic Church hierarchy – the Catholic Church is composed of dioceses, each overseen by a bishop. Dioceses are divided into individual communities called parishes, each staffed by one or more priests. Priests may be assisted by deacons.
According to the , it began bilateral dialogue with the Catholic Church in 1967 and the began theological dialogue with the Catholic Church in 1979.
Attempts had previously been made to arrange a meeting between a pope and a Russian patriarch, but these attempts had failed. Tensions had risen between the churches after the fall of Communism as the Churches "moved to pick up the pieces". Negotiations had been held in the 1990s for a possible meeting between Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and Pope John Paul II. According to the United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, the two churches established a joint working group, which met in May and September 2004, to discuss specific concerns. Representatives of both churches reported that the working group contributed to an improved atmosphere. In an August 2004 gesture of reconciliation, John Paul II presented an 18th-century copy of the icon of Our Lady of Kazan to Alexy II. 
In April 2005, John Paul II died and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected as Pope Benedict XVI.
In April 2005, Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev, as chairman of the Representation of the Russian Orthodox Church to the European Institutions, proposed "a European Catholic–Orthodox Alliance".
In May 2005, Cardinal Walter Kasper proposed convoking "a synod of reconciliation" on the 1,000-year anniversary of the Council of Bari in 2098, and proposed an alliance with Orthodox and Protestants against secularism. This alliance would "help one another mutually in favor of common values, of a culture of life, of the dignity of the person, of solidarity and social justice, of peace and the safeguarding of creation," according to Kasper.
In May, then-Metropolitan Kirill met with Benedict XVI in the Vatican, and they highlighted their commitment to working cooperatively. The possibility of a meeting of Kirill (elected Patriarch in 2009) with Benedict XVI had been explored prior to Benedict's retirement in March 2013, and Benedict met the future Patriarch Kirill in Rome in 2006 when Kirill was chairman of the Department of External Church Relations for the Moscow Patriarchate.
The process was further refined by Gregory XV with his 1621 bull "Aeterni Patris Filius", which established the requirement of a two-thirds majority of cardinal electors to elect a pope. The Third Lateran Council had initially set the requirement that two-thirds of the cardinals were needed to elect a pope in 1179. This requirement had varied since then, depending on whether the winning candidate was allowed to vote for himself, in which cases the required majority was two-thirds plus one vote. "Aeterni Patris Filius" prohibited this practice and established two-thirds as the standard needed for election. "Aeterni Patris Filius" did not eliminate the possibility of election by acclamation, but did require that a secret ballot take place first before a pope could be elected.
The founder of Westminster Cathedral, Cardinal Herbert Vaughan laid great emphasis on the beauty and integrity of the cathedral's liturgy. Initially, he determined there should be a community of Benedictine monks at the new cathedral, performing the liturgies and singing the daily Office. This caused great resentment amongst the secular clergy of the diocese, who felt they were being snubbed. In the end, negotiations with both the English Benedictines and the community of French Benedictines at Farnborough failed and a 'traditional' choir of men and boys was set up instead. Despite great financial problems, the Choir School opened on 5 October 1901 with eleven boy choristers, in the building originally intended for the Benedictine monks. Cardinal Vaughan received the boys with the words "You are the foundation stones". The Cathedral Choir was officially instituted three months later in January 1902. Sung Masses and Offices were immediately established when the cathedral opened for worship in 1903, and have continued without interruption ever since. Today, Westminster Cathedral Choir is the only professional Catholic choir in the world to sing daily Mass and Vespers.
Cardinal Cossa was one of the seven cardinals who, in May 1408, withdrew their allegiance from Pope Gregory XII, stating that he had broken his solemn oath not to create new cardinals without consulting them in advance. In company with those cardinals who had been following Antipope Benedict XIII of Avignon, they convened the Council of Pisa, of which Cossa became a leading figure. The aim of the council was to end the schism; to this end they deposed both Gregory XII and Benedict XIII and elected a new pope Alexander V in 1409. Gregory and Benedict ignored this decision, however, so that there were now three simultaneous claimants to the papacy.
Bishop Gianantonio Volpi (1559–1588) held a diocesan synod on 16 March 1565. This was the first synod since the closing of the Council of Trent, which had mandated regular and frequent diocesan synods. He held a second synod on 3–5 September 1579. A diocesan synod was held by Bishop Filippo Archinti (1595–1621) in 1598; and another synod on 16–18 May 1618.
A diocesan synod was held in September 1602 under the presidency of Msgr. Giovanni Mozanega, Protonotary Apostolic and Vicar General of the diocese of Parma. Bishop Pompeo Cornazzano, O.Cist. (1615–1647) held a diocesan synod in November 1621. Bishop Carlo Nembrini (1652–1677) presided over his first diocesan synod on 5–7 June 1659; he held his second diocesan synod on 26–27 April 1674. A synod was held on 7 May 1691 by Bishop Tommaso Saladino (1681–1694).
The earliest synod of which there is any record is that held by Bishop Guido de Valperga (1295–1327) on 7 May 1316. Another was held by Bishop Arnaldus de Roseto (1327–1348) in May 1328. Bishop Scipio Damiani (1469–1473) held his first synod in 1471, and Bishop Basinus Malabaila (1473–1475) on 21 August 1474. Another was held by Bishop Pietro Damiani (1475–1496) at the beginning of his episcopate; he held a second synod in the Episcopal Palace on 8 March 1485.
The idea of these meetings was first suggested in a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury by Bishop John Henry Hopkins of Vermont in 1851. The possibility of such an international gathering of bishops had first emerged during the jubilee of the Church Missionary Society in 1851 when a number of US bishops were present in London. However, the initial impetus came from episcopal churches in Canada. In 1865 the synod of that province, in an urgent letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, (Charles Thomas Longley), represented the unsettlement of members of the Canadian church caused by recent legal decisions of the Privy Council and their alarm lest the revived action of convocation "should leave us governed by canons different from those in force in England and Ireland, and thus cause us to drift into the status of an independent branch of the Catholic Church". They therefore requested him to call a "national synod of the bishops of the Anglican Church at home and abroad", to meet under his leadership. After consulting both houses of the Convocation of Canterbury, Archbishop Longley assented and convened all the bishops of the Anglican Communion (then 144 in number) to meet at Lambeth in 1867.