Pope Benedict XIV, who served in the first half of the eighteenth century, described a diocesan synod as “A lawful assembly convoked by the bishop, in which he gathers together the priests and clerics of his diocese and all others who are bound to attend it, for the purpose of doing and deliberating concerning what belongs to the pastoral care.”
Such a gathering has occurred twice in the 100-year history of the Diocese of Corpus Christi.
Bishop Mariano S. Garriga “solemnly” decreed that “the First Synod of the Diocese of Corpus Christi shall be celebrated in our Cathedral Church on Monday, the fourth of June, Nineteen hundred sixty-two.” Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not, it was the golden jubilee year of the diocese.
Under Canon Law in effect at the time, the bishop called the priests under his charge to an assembly to discuss matters regarding the needs of the clergy and the laity in the diocese.
At that time, a diocesan synod was required to be held once every 10 years, but nothing precluded the bishop from calling a synod more often. Participation in the synod was limited to clergy.
Special committees met and sent their recommendations to Bishop Garriga and his general committee. A copy of the proposed legislation was sent to each priest and was discussed at the deaneries. Priests voted on the proposed statutes and the results were sent to the General Committee for preparation of a final draft.
The actual synod was held at the Cathedral where the final legislation was promulgated, and became law after Bishop Garriga’s signature. It should be noted that in a diocesan synod there is only one voter and only one lawgiver, the bishop of the diocese; his is the final word.
At the conclusion of the Synod, 223 statutes became binding upon the clergy, religious and laity of the diocese. Priests were called to set “an example to their people” in observing the civil law. Aside from voting they were prohibited from any political activity and could not allow parochial buildings to be used by politicians. Pastors were also called to be mindful of their pastoral obligations towards non-Catholics in their territory.
Faithful were required to register in their own parishes and fulfill their obligations in that parish. The laity was summoned to “Catholic Action” in every aspect of life and was called to participate in at least one parish or diocesan organization.
Children were to be confirmed before they completed their elementary school education. Prospective converts were granted the right to select the priest they wished to instruct them in the faith.
A scanning of the statutes adopted does not suggest any great variances from what is in place today. Which is not surprising since “under no circumstances may…a synod define any new article of faith or decide any doctrinal point in dispute…”
Twenty-six years later, on April 13-15, 1988, the Diocese of Corpus Christi held a second synod. Since this was post Vatican II, this synod had some notable differences from the first. The most obvious one was the participation of the laity.
On Oct. 25, 1985, at the conclusion of a five-day priests retreat, Bishop Rene Gracida issued a call for the second synod in the diocese with the theme “Becoming One Body.” The bishop said he called the synod because it was time for “renewal of local church discipline and a time for the Diocese of Corpus Christi to more fully bring into reality the vision of the Church as called for by the Second Vatican Council.”
Bishop Gracida sought to set a vision of Church ministry for the future and to establish norms and policies for pastoral ministry. He named Msgr. Leonard Pivonka Episcopal Vicar for the synod.
Msgr. Pivonka, now pastor of St. Elizabeth in Alice, said the synod was modeled after the Second Vatican Council and followed the provisions of the new Code of Canon Law adopted in 1983. It involved a lot of work over a long period, Msgr. Pivonka said.
“It was an interesting experience of the diocese being church,” Msgr. Pivonka said.
After almost three years of meetings held throughout the diocese in preparation for the synod, the clergy and faithful began to file into the Bayfront Convention Center on April 13, 1988 for the convocation.
“The Church has repeatedly experienced the need to examine itself in light of the Gospel message,” said Archbishop Pio Langhi, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, in his keynote address.
“What we hope to accomplish with our synod is the preparation of our Church. We must enable the Church to be strong in its faith, life and hope,” Bishop Gracida said.
The preparations for the synod had been very successful, and the assembly did short shrift with the proposed statutes completing them in two days instead of the three allocated. They adopted recommendations in 16 areas of concern, including: the diocese, the parish, priests, the permanent deaconate, liturgy, the laity, evangelization, Catholic education, Catholic health care, communications, consecrated life, ecumenism and interfaith matters, marriage and family, youth, young adults and campus ministry, spiritual life and social justice.
Results of the synod were published in a 288-page book entitled “Synod 88: Becoming one Body.”
“Many parishes used them as guides but as time went on they forgot about them,” Msgr. Pivonka said.