L’AQUILA – Tuesday 30 April at 5.00 pm in the Benedict XVI lecture hall of the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences “Fides et Ratio” on Cardinal Fernando FiloniGrand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, will present his latest book, entitled Episcopal conferences. A modern institution of ecclesial communion (Centro Editoriale Cattolico, 2023, p. 216). It will be His Most Rev. Em. the Card. Giuseppe PetrocchiMetropolitan Archbishop of L’Aquila, in his role as Moderator of the Institute to welcome and introduce Cardinal Filoni, while the presentation and moderation of the interventions will be entrusted to the Director of the Institute, Don Daniele Pinton.
His Eminence’s recent mission in Holy Land it will also allow us to listen to the direct testimony of those who have personally visited those places and its inhabitants so tormented by the war conflict, a land that is risking collapse due to the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict between Hamas and the Israeli far right and which does not see currently outlets for peace. The commitment of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher presided over by the cardinal is vast: it has existed since 1848 and today, through the Latin Patriarchate, it supports around 44 schools, the University of Bethlehem, together with many social works for the elderly, children in difficulty and the training of priests. Now, in a book that is more relevant than ever in this time of change, Cardinal Filoni reflects on the meaning and task of Episcopal Conferences in the world, also in light of the synodal path started by Pope Francis for the whole Church.
The Episcopal Conferences, which today are more than half a century old, were born from the bishops and their needs, as friendly meetings, by decisions of a Pope. Only later did the Pontiffs realize the importance of this reality. The network of Conferences is like a net that, when cast, catches many fish, that is, they address the problems, making broad discernment. The factor of freedom is fundamental: for example in China there is no Episcopal Conference, because there is not yet a freedom of structure given by the State and the Conference would not be able to express itself freely. If in these and other situations closer to us the voice of a single bishop can be silenced, that of the Episcopal Conference cannot, however, be suppressed, whose voice is powerful: it is the voice of the Church, which today makes itself heard above all for social issues, peace and people’s rights. The Episcopal Conferences have given voice to difficult issues since the post-war period and it is since the Second Vatican Council that the Church has started to walk on a track made up of two realities: the synod of bishops, in support of the Pope, and the Episcopal Conferences, in support of the ministry of bishops in their dioceses.
The Episcopal Conferences are therefore pastoral structures, which do not have the task of replacing the Pope: no “populist” derailment, therefore. Indeed, just as the world is ideally connected by a network of meridians and parallels, so the Episcopal Conferences constitute a dense web between the two poles and help the Pontiff in the mission of bringing the Gospel to all people. Today, more than ever, Conferences have become fundamental institutions, because they offer the Pope an indispensable collaboration in understanding, evaluating and solving various problems. A collaboration that goes from the doctrinal to the organizational field and extends to the social and charitable field. For example in the appointments of bishops: it is the Conferences that present to the Holy See the candidates identified among those who have pastoral preparation, dignity and suitability for the mission to which they will be assigned.
Cardinal Filoni, with competence and authority, moves easily in this matter between official documents, historical dates and geographical excursions in order to reconstruct the growing importance that the Episcopal Conferences have gradually assumed. In developing the idea of synodality, the Conferences are following Pope Francis’ vision towards authentic forms of communion between bishops, to rethink in a broad and articulated way the entire life of the Church, increasingly attentive to territories, cultures and concrete situations of women and men of our time.
