First Ordinary General Assembly - Preservation and strengthening of the Catholic faith, its integrity, its force, its development, its doctrinal and historical coherence (29 September-29 October 1967)
First Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
In Session: 29 September - 29 October 1967
Synod Fathers: 197
Topic: “The Preservation and Strengthening of the Catholic Faith, its Integrity, its Force, its Development, its Doctrinal and Historical Coherence”
Pope Paul VI stated the goals for this First General Assembly: “... the preservation and the strengthening of the Catholic faith, its integrity, its force, its development, its doctrinal and historical coherence”. One result of the meeting was a recommendation by the bishops, in light of the rise of atheism, a crisis of faith and erroneous theological opinions, to set up an international commission of theologians to assist the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith as well as to broaden a discussion on approaches to theological research. In 1969 Pope Paul VI established the International Theological Commission.
The Synod also called for a revision of the Code of Canon Law of 1917 in an attempt to make it more pastoral and more contemporary in tone and emphasis. The work was subsequently begun by Pope Paul VI and brought to completion under Pope John Paul II with the promulgation, in 1983, of the revised Code of Canon Law.
The greater role of Episcopal Conferences in the renewal of seminaries and in priestly formation was discussed and proposals submitted to the Pope. Certain procedures relating to mixed marriages, recommended by the Assembly, were approved by the Pope in 1970, and various aspects of liturgical reform were treated, many of which were implemented when the New Order of the Mass was approved and put into effect in 1969.
President-Delegates
S.Em.R. il Sig. Card. Jean Villot, Prefetto della Sacra Congregazione per il Clero (Vaticano)
S.Em.R. il Sig. Card. William Conway, Arcivescovo di Armagh (Irlanda)
S.Em.R. il Sig. Card. Pericle Felici, Presidente della Pontificia Commissione per la Revisione del Codice di Diritto Canonico e Presidente della Pontificia Commissione per l’Interpretazione dei Decreti del Concilio Vaticano II (Vaticano)
Segretario Generale
S.E.R. Mons. Władisław Rubin, Vescovo tit. di Serta (Vaticano)
General Secretary
S.E.R. Mons. Władisław Rubin, Vescovo tit. di Serta (Vaticano)
General Rapporteurs
S.Em.R. il Sig. Card. Pericle Felici, Presidente della Pontificia Commissione per la Revisione del Codice di Diritto Canonico e Presidente della Pontificia Commissione per l’Interpretazione dei Decreti del Concilio Vaticano II (Vaticano)
S.Em.R. il Sig. Card. Michele Browne, O.P., Presidente dell’Accademia Romana di S. Tommaso d’Aquino e di Religione Cattolica (Italia)
S.Em.R. il Sig. Card. Gabriel-Marie Garrone, Prefetto della Sacra Congregazione per l’Educazione Cattolica (Vaticano)
S.Em.R. il Sig. Card. Paolo Marella, Presidente del Segretariato per i non Cristiani (Vaticano)
S.Em.R. il Sig. Card. Giacomo Lercaro, Arcivescovo di Bologna (Italia) e Presidente del Consilium ad exsequendam Costitutionem de Sacra Liturgia (Vaticano)
Special Secretaries
Rev. Mons. Flaminio Cerruti, Capo dell’Ufficio Università della Sacra Congregazione per l’Educazione Cattolica (Vaticano)
Rev. Mons. Jozef Tomko, Ufficiale della Sacra Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede (Vaticano)
Rev. P. Raimondo Bidagor, S.I., Segretario della Pontificia Commissione per la Revisione del Codice di Diritto Canonico (Vaticano)
Rev. P. Edoardo Dhanis, S.I., Consultore della Sacra Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede (Vaticano)
Rev. P. Annibale Bugnini, C.M., Sottosegretario della Sacra Congregazione dei Riti (Vaticano)