Originally published at National Catholic Register
A proposal to decentralize doctrinal authority in the Catholic Church was met with significant pushback Wednesday during the Synod on Synodality, three separate participants told the Register.
The pushback took place as delegates considered a proposal in the synod’s instrumentum laboris, or working document, to recognize episcopal conferences “as ecclesial subjects endowed with doctrinal authority, assuming socio-cultural diversity within the framework of a multifaceted Church.”
According to synod sources, several delegates from multiple language groups and geographical backgrounds expressed concerns that the move would fracture Church unity and relativize Catholic teaching.
One synod member described the degree of pushback as “tremendous.”
“A majority is clearly opposed. Overwhelmingly,” the delegate said, speaking on condition of anonymity, given the synod’s strict confidentiality rules.
Another delegate told the Register that the concern expressed by the assembly regarding the proposal was the most forceful yet during this year’s synod session, which started Oct. 2 and concludes on Oct. 27.
Since the instrumentum laboris was released in July, theological observers and synod delegates have told the Register that they see the proposal to give episcopal conferences doctrinal authority as one the most critical topics on the entire agenda.
Decentralizing doctrinal authority, or deciding certain doctrinal
