Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 4.djvu/490

 COUNCILS

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COUNCILS

Vatican Council to find an ofBcial Ordo concilii acu- menici and a Methodus servanda in primA sessione, etc. In all earlier councils the management of affairs was left to the Fathers and adjusted by them to the par- ticular objects and circumstances of the council. The so-called Ordo celebrandi Concilii Tridentini is a com- pilation posterior to the council, written by the oonciliar secretary, A. Massarelli; it is a record of what has been done, not a rule of what should be done. Some fixed rules were, however, already estab- lished at the reform councils of the fifteenth century as a substitute for the absent directing power of the pope. The substance of these rulings is given in the "Cseremoniale Romanvun" of Augustinus Patritius (d. 1496). The institution of "congregations" dates from the Council of Constance (1415). At earlier councils all the meetings of the Fathers were called indiscriminately sessiones or actionem, but since Con- stance the term session has been restricted to the solemn meetings at which the final votes are given, while all meetings for the purpose of consultation or provisory voting are termed congregations.

The distinction between general and particular congregations likewise dates from Constance, where, however, the particular congregations assumed a form different in spirit and composition from the practice of earlier and later councils. They were simply separate assemblies of the "nations" (first four, then five) present at the council; their de- liberations went to form national votes which were presented in the general assembly, whose decisions conformed to a majority of such votes. The particular congregations of more recent councils were merely consultative assemblies (conmiittees, commissions) brought together by appointment or invitation in order to deliberate on special matters. At Trent there were congregations of prelates and congregations of theologians, both partly for dogma, partly for discipline. The congregations of prelates were either "deputations", i. e. committeesof specially chosen experts, or conciliary groups, usually three, into which the coimcil divided for the purpose of facilitating discussion.

The official ordo of the Vatican Council confirmed the Tridentine practice, leaving, however, to the in- itiative of the prelates the formation of groups of a more private character. The voting by "nations", peculiar to the reform councils, has also been aban- doned in favour of the traditional voting by individ- uals (capita). At the Vatican Council there were seven "commissions" consisting of theologians from all countries, appointed a year before the actual meeting of the assembly. Their duty was to prepare the various matters to be laid before the council. The object of these congregations is sufficiently de- scribed by their titles: (1) Congregatio cardinalitia directrix; (2) Commissio CEeremoniarum; (3) politico- ecclesiastica; (4) pro ecclesiis et missionibus Orientis; (5) pro Regularibus; (6) theologica dogmatica; (7) pro disciplina ecclesiastica (i. e. a general directive cardinalitial congregation, and several commissions for ceremonies, politico-ecclesiastical affairs, the churches and missions of the Orient, the regular or- ders, dogmatic theology, ecclesiastical discipline). On the basis of their labours were worked out the schemata (drafts of decrees) to be discussed by the council. Within the council itself there were seven "deputations": (1) Pro recipiendis et expendendis Patrum propositionibus (appointed by the pope to examine the propositions of the Fathers) ; (2) Judiccs excusationmn (Judges of excuses); (.'?) Judices quere- larum et controvcrsiarmn (to settle quest ions of prece- dence and such lik<0; (4) di put:itio pro n'l)us ad fidem pertinentibus (on matters j)ertainiii!^ to faith); (l>) deputatio pro rebus discipliiue ecclesiastica' (on eccle- Biastical discipline) ; (G) pro rebus ordiiunn regularium (on religious orders) ; (7) pro rebus ritus orientalis et

apostolicis missionibus (Oriental rites and Apostolic missions).

All these deputations, except the first, were chosen by the coimcil. Objections and amentlments to the proposed schemata had to be handed in in writing to the responsible deputation which considered the mat- ter and modified the schema accordingly. Anyone de- siring further to improve the modified draft had to obtain from the legates permission to propose his amendments in a speech, after which he put them down in writing. If, however, ten prelates decided that the matter had been sufficiently debated, leave for speaking was refused. At this stage the amend- ments were collected and examined by the synodal congregation, then again laid before the general con- gregation to be voted on severally. The votes for admission or rejection were expressed by the prelates standing or remaining seated. Next the schema, re- formed in accordance with these votes, was submitted to a general congregation for approval or disapproval in toto. In case a majority of placets were given for it, it was accepted in a last solemn public session, after a final vote of placet or nan placet ("it pleases", or "it does not please").

(b) The theory. — The principle which directs the practical working of a council is the perfect, or best possible, realization of its object, viz. a final judgment on questions of faith and morals, invested with the authority and majesty of the whole teaching body of the Church. To this end some means are absolutely necessary, others are only desirable as adding perfec- tion to "the result. We deal first with these latter means, which may be called the ideal elements of the council:

(1) The presence of all the bishops of the world is an ideal not to be realized, but the presence of a very great majority is desirable for many reasons. A quasi- complete council has the advantage of being a real representation of the whole Church, while a sparsely attended one is only so in law, i. e. the few members present legally represent the many absent, but only represent their jviridical power, their ordinary power not being representable. Thus for every bishop ab- sent there is absent an authentic witness of the Faith as it is in his diocese. (2) A free and exhaustive dis- cussion of all objections. (3) An appeal to the uni- versal belief — if existing — witnessed to by all the bishops in council. This, if realized, would render all further discussion superfluous. (4) Unanimity in the final vote, the result either of the universal faith as testified to by the Fathers, or of conviction gained in the debates. It is evident that these four elements in the working of a council generally contribute to its ideal perfection, but it is not less evident that they are not essential to its substance, to its conciliary elTec- tiveness. If they were necessary many acknowledged councils and decrees would lose their intrinsic au- thority, because one or other or all of these conditions were wanting. Again, there is no standard by which to determine whether or not the number of assisting bishops was sufficient and the debates have been ex- haustive; nor do the Acts of the councils always in- form us of the imanimity of the final decisions or of the way in which it was obtained. Were each and all of these four elements essential to an authoritative council no such council could have been held, in many cases, when it was none the less urgently required by the necessities of the Church. Authors who insist on the ideal perfection of councils only succeed in under- mining their authority, which is, jjcrhaps, the object they aim at. Their fundamental error is a false no- tion of the natur(> of coimcils. They conceive of the function of the council as a witnessing to, and teaching of, the generally acce])tcd faith; whereas it is essen- tially a juridical function, the action of judges as well as of witncs.scs of tlic Faith. This leads us to consider the essential elements in conciliar action.

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