Quebec bishops praise autonomy, democracy.Montreal--A recent (winter 1999) document from the Quebec Bishops' Conference ("Proclaiming the Gospel in the Actual Culture of Quebec The culture of Quebec is a Western culture that is rooted in the history and society of the French-speaking majority. As the only majority French-speaking region in North America, the culture of French Quebecers differs from that of the 325 million English-speaking citizens of "), reinforces the impression of an episcopacy episcopacy System of church government by bishops. It existed as early as the 2nd century AD, when bishops were chosen to oversee preaching and worship within a specific region, now called a diocese. of a more "progressive" bent than the Holy See. The document advocates reforms based on modern democratic principles, showing respect for personal freedom and autonomy, stating, "Nothing can be imposed by authority; there is no single word." Bishop Roger Ebacher (Gatineau-Hull), co-author of the publication, states that the traditional Catholic concepts of synods, collegiality and subsidiarity subsidiarity Noun the principle of taking political decisions at the lowest practical level Noun 1. subsidiarity - secondary importance subordinateness which contributed to the formation of modern democracy, should, in turn, be rediscovered by the church. Bishop Ebacher recognizes that the document presents some viewpoints which differ from those of the Vatican, notably from Pope John Paul Pope John Paul is the name of two Popes of the Roman Catholic Church:
The Pope in this encyclical condemns modern philosophies bound with nihilism and relativism. ); however, he claims that the Quebec letter is a "pastoral text." The Quebec bishops have a history of differing from Rome on issues of liturgy and discipline. For example, twice, in 1986 and 1998, they supported the concept of the ordination of women In general religious use, ordination is the process by which one is consecrated (set apart for the undivided administration of various religious rites). The ordination of women , and they have also advocated married priests and more lay decision making. Their position, needless to say, has met approval from dissenting theologian and former priest Gregory Baum of McGill University, who stated that "they now realize that...trying to impose something by force is a very bad idea." The document, in French, may be obtained from the Quebec bishops' website. |
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