B16 is such a cool dude. His papacy, thus far, is shaping up as a series of refreshing surprises. He’s marking his own course as pope, either breaking with papal tradition or restoring old papal traditions that have lapsed, and thus far I’ve been really delighted with the direction he has been moving things.
F’rinstance:
Following the recent Synod on the Eucharist, B16 did something unprecedented. Now, he’d already done some unprecedented things in terms of how the synod ran–allowing bishops to have "open mike" time for three minute speeches, for example, to better foster discussion amongst them–but at the close of the synod he did something really amazing.
He released the document of private recommendations that the bishops gave him regarding the Eucharist.
Y’see, normally each synod draws up a list of recommendations that are given privately to the pope. At the first few synods, that was ALL that happened. The pope got the recommendations and that was it. Then, after the Synod on Evangelization, Paul VI decided to write an apostolic exhortation (the one now known as Evangelii nuntiandi), and that became a new papal tradition. At the end of each synod the bishops would turn in their private advice to the pope and then he’d write an apostolic exhortation based on the private advice.
But this time B16 has made that private advice public.
YEE-HAW! KEWL!
There were rumors that this might be ALL that B16 would do–that he might just release the advice and not follow up with an apostolic exhortation (despite the fact that point #1 in the advice was to ask him to write an apostolic exhortation). That’s apparently not going to be what happens. B16 has announced that he plans on offering further elaboration on the points raised by the bishops in the exhortation, so we should be getting one.
But having the advice in hand at this stage gives us a greater insight into what the pope is likely to say in the exhortation. He will go beyond what they said, offering his own personal thoughts, but we still have an unprecedented insight into what the final document will be like.
Unfortunately, the complete text of the advice is only out in Italian right now.
Fortunately, Zenit is releasing it in English in a series of parts over the next few days (or that seems to be the plan).
The advice consists of fifty numbered "propositions" (though they’re really short passages rather than single propositions), and I’ll be taking the opportunity to comment on them as they’re released.
More later.
Can’t wait to see them!
Ditto! This is really getting me primed for the first encyclical.
Your commentary on the recommendations will be of great interest.
What kind of authority do these Papal Exhortations normally carry?