The Eighteenth Synod of the Archdiocese of New York: - An Historical Study (Hardcover, Firsttion ed.)

If the definition of papal infallibility at Vatican Council I (1869-1870) can be viewed as the culmination of certain ultramontane tendencies within nineteenth century Roman Catholicism, then it might likewise be said that the ecclesiology of Vatican Council II (1962-1965) represented an attempt, by that same Church, to balance an earlier centrist ecclesiology with a more distinctively collaborative model. This collaborative model, which was articulated at Vatican Council II, can be seen as having completed a task largely unfinished, in the previous Council, by more clearly formulating the nature of episcopal ministry within the Church while also reemphasizing the notion of communio as a model for shared ministry in the Church. An effort to incorporate the ecclesiological insights of Vatican Council II, within the life of the local diocesan church, was undertaken by the Archdiocese of New York when it convened its Eighteenth Diocesan Synod. This synod, which reflected the conciliar notion of communio, likewise attempted to revitalize the local church through a collegial expression of shared pastoral renewal. The goal of this proposed "experiment in ecclesiology" continues to challenge all those responsible for the implementation of conciliar ecclesiology at the local diocesan level. This work, which represents an integrated study of a unique historical event in the life and mission of a given local - church, may also provide a paradigm by which to contextualize the history of a particular church within the overall mission of the Church Universal.