Holy Synod
In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
In
Early synods
The principle of summoning a
Eastern Orthodox Church
Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
The Ecumenical Patriarchate is governed by the "Holy and Sacred Synod", developed from the "endemousa synod" (the "resident" synod), which consisted of the bishops living (even if only transiently) in or near Constantinople.[2][3] It is presided over by the Patriarch of Constantinople and consists of twelve hierarchs, each of whom holds membership for a year, with half of them being replaced every six months.[4]
The Russian Holy Synod
The
The Greek Holy Synod
The first other Orthodox Church to imitate the Russian Government by synod was that of Greece. The national assemblies of free Greece in 1822 and 1827 began the process of making their Church independent of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. In 1833 the Greek Parliament formally rejected the patriarch's authority and set up a Holy Directing Synod in exact imitation of Russia. After much dispute, the patriarch gave in and acknowledged the Greek synod, in 1850. Since then, the Church of Greece has been governed by a Holy Synod exactly as was the Church of Russia.
A law in 1852 regulated its rights and duties. It met at
After the proclamation of the Greek Republic in 1924, royal control of the Holy Synod naturally ceased, and with the elevation of the Metropolitan of Athens to an Archbishophric in 1932, the Archbishop began to be named in liturgies. Today, supreme authority is vested in the synod of all the diocesan bishops, who all have metropolitical status (the Hierarchy of the Church of Greece) under the presidency of the Archbishop of Athens and all Greece. This synod deals with general church questions. The Standing Synod is under the same presidency, and consists of the Primate and 12 bishops, each serving for one term on a rotating basis and deals with details of administration.
Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church
The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church is organized as the highest authority on all matters concerning the church. It comprises the Patriarch, all metropolitans, archbishops, bishops and vicar bishops of the church. The Holy Synod usually meets two times a year, in spring and autumn in ordinary sessions but extraordinary sessions are organized whenever necessary. Whilst is the supreme authority on all matters of the church, it is a deliberative authority, as all of its members are the leaders of the entire church, directly representing all of the believers of the RoOC.[5]
Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is governed by a five-member Holy Synod. The patriarch is a permanent member, while the other four are bishops elected for two-year terms by the Bishops' Council, a body that represents all the metropolitans and other bishops of the church.[6]
Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church
The supreme clerical, judicial and administrative power for the whole domain of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is exercised by the Holy Synod, which includes the Patriarch and the diocesan prelates, who are called metropolitans.
Oriental Orthodoxy
The Coptic Holy Synod
The Holy Synod of the
The Synod is chaired by the
The Syriac Holy Synod
The Holy Synod of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch is the highest authority of the Church of Antioch. It is chaired by the Patriarch of Antioch with metropolitans and bishops as members.
Catholic Church
Within the Catholic Church, each sui iuris patriarchal church and each major archiepiscopal church has its own synod of bishops, which is exclusively competent to make laws for the entire sui iuris church in question and is its tribunal.[7]
The Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches makes mention 115 times of the synod of bishops in this sense. It does not add honorific adjectives such as "holy", "holy and sacred" "most holy", as used in some Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches.
The Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches distinguishes between a patriarchal or major archiepiscopal church's standing synod and the synod of its bishops as a whole. It is the standing synod that corresponds to the term "holy synod" as used above. The standing synod consists of the patriarch or major archbishop and four bishops appointed for a five-year term. Of these four, three are elected by the church's synod of bishops and one is appointed by the patriarch or major archbishop, while another four are designated in the same way to replace any member who is impeded.[8] A meeting of the synod of all the church's bishops is called when a decision is required on a question that only it is authorized to decide, or when the patriarch or major archbishop, with the agreement of the standing synod, judges it to be necessary, or when at least one third of the bishops request that it be held to consider some specific matter. In addition, the individual canon law of some of these churches requires that their synod of bishops be convoked at predetermined intervals.[9]
In metropolitan sui iuris churches a role analogous to that of the synod of bishops is played by a council of hierarchs.[10]
See also
References
- ^ "Holy Synod". Catholic Encyclopedia.
- ISBN 978-0-268-15880-4. p. 86.
- ISBN 978-0-8132-1679-9. p. 164.
- ^ The Holy and Sacred Synod
- ^ The Statute of The Romanian Orthodox Church
- ISBN 9781405185394), vol. 1, p. 559
- ^ Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon 110
- ^ Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon 115
- ^ Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon 106
- ^ Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon 155
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Holy Synod". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.