Back Conferencia episcopal AN Conferència episcopal Catalan Biskupská konference Czech Bischofskonferenz German Episkopara Konferenco Esperanto Conferencia episcopal Spanish Apezpiku-konferentzia Basque Piispainkokous Finnish Conférence épiscopale French Conferencia episcopal Galician
 |
| Part of a series on the |
| Canon law of the Catholic Church |
|---|
 Catholicism portal |
An episcopal conference, often also called a bishops’ conference or conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The first assembly of bishops to meet regularly, with its own legal structure and ecclesial leadership function, is the Swiss Bishops' Conference, which was founded in 1863.[1] More than forty episcopal conferences existed before the Second Vatican Council.[2] Their status was confirmed by the Second Vatican Council[3] and further defined by Pope Paul VI's 1966 motu proprio, Ecclesiae sanctae.[4][5]
Episcopal conferences are generally defined by geographic borders, often national ones, with all the bishops in a given country belonging to the same conference, although they may also include neighboring countries. Certain authority and tasks are assigned to episcopal conferences, particularly with regard to setting the liturgical norms for the Mass. Episcopal conferences receive their authority under universal law or particular mandates. In certain circumstances, as defined by canon law, the decisions of an episcopal conference are subject to ratification from the Holy See. Individual bishops do not relinquish their immediate authority for the governance of their respective dioceses to the conference.[6]
- ^ Histoire: Les origines de la CES: première expérience au monde d'une conférence épiscopale nationale (in French), Fribourg: Service de presse de la Conférence des évêques suisses, retrieved 6 March 2018
- ^ McAleese, Mary (2012), Quo Vadis?: Collegiality in the Code of Canon Law (Kindle ed.), Blackrock, Ireland: The Columba Press, locations 2463-2466, ISBN 978-1-85607-786-6
- ^ Christus Dominus: Decree Concerning the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church, 28 October 1965, §36–38, retrieved 7 March 2018
- ^ Ecclesiae sanctae, 6 August 1966, retrieved 7 March 2018
- ^ The Limits of the Papacy, p. 97, by Patrick Granfield, Crossroad, New York, 1987. ISBN 0-8245-0839-4
- ^ John Paul II (21 May 1998), Apostolos suos; On the Theological and Juridical Nature of Episcopal Conferences, Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, §19, retrieved 7 March 2018