Spirituality: Will there be a Vatican III?

Now that is a good question. It is likely that there will be an ecumenical council in the future, but the question remains, "What will it look like?"

Whenever the Church wants to deal with change today, it convokes a synod to discuss practical issues. Synods are comre commonplace in the Church today and more practical than an ecumenical council.

John O'Malley, S.J. in his book "When Bishops Meet" analyzes the contemporary factors that would go into hosting an ecumenical council. He writes that there are at least five factors to take into account: 

    a. the size of the gathering,

    b. its membership,

    c. its location,

    d. the potential impact upon it of electronic technologies, and

    e. the ancient tradition of collegial governance of the church by the bishops in union with the pope.

At Vatican Council II, 2,600 bishops had the right to attend, This list is more than doubled in the contemporary world. Also included would be:

    officially designated theologians, the observers, secretaries (heads of curial offices), ushers, and other personnel essential for the smooth functioning of the proceedings (like translators, drivers, cafeteria workers, custodial services.)

Therefore, it is unlikely that it would be held at the Vatican (unless creative scheduling would allow Paul VI Auditorium to hold 6,300 people.)

Of course, bishops would be there as voters. It is likely that laymen and laywomen would be included to speak of their own interests. Lay people have often been involved at Councils. Vatican I was the exception. 

At Vatican II, almost 500 theologians attended, and all of them were priests. Now, nuns and laypersons make up a sizeable proportion of the theologians in the Catholic Church. 

Observers from other Christian Churches would be admitted again, but as observers, they were not permitted to speak. Would it be possible to include them in a passive voice again? With these increased numbers, where could such a meeting be held? 

It is possible to arrange meetings of more manageable numbers of bishops and others, chosen or elected in an equitable way to represent different cultures and viewpoints, much like the Synods do. It is still the prerogative of the bishops to sit and listen passively, but then to actively vote. The contemporary world provides for electronic means to conduct meetings. Internet meetings will most likely be part of the next council's way of proceeding. 

Of the thirteen ecumenical councils of the Western Church, seven have met in Rome with the last two at the Vatican itself. The others were held in Germany, Northern Europe, or Turkey. The Vatican is located in Europe and for most of its history, the Catholic church was a European Church, and the majority of its members were in Europe and its traditions and problems were essentially European. The last fifty years, the nature of the Church has changed to a worldwide representation. 

Could there be a Buenos Aries I or a Nairobi I or even a Chicago I? It is possible. The matter of funding also comes into question, and as we remember Vatican II was almost broke.

Does it make sense to take Church business away from the Curia? The Curia provides a great deal of organizational expertise and groundwork preparation as the Vatican Offices routinely handle such affairs, but if we remember, the curia was an obstacle to overcome at Vatican II. The Curia gave Curial cardinals the key positions in the council's day-to-day operations. Bureaucracies function according to the norms and goals proper to themselves, and those norms and goals are not necessarily proper to meetings such as councils. 

The question remains: Should the task of preparing for a council do so in a more inclusive way than at Vatican I or Vatican II? How would that change the operations of the church? 

From the earliest times, church governance has been both collegial and hierarchical. Councils have met to deal with new problems and issues. They have met to deal with a changing world. They have dealt with local, provincial, and ecumenical relationships. The world will certainly continue to change, and the church will have to deal with the changes. Councils have been instruments for doing so, especially when the changes were especially significant and challenging.

To answer the question, yes, it is likely that there will be a future ecumenical council. There's a lot to anticipate.