Councils Question

[Boulder257]

I was thinking about when we may see the next Council and I have two prevailing theories. They are:

1. With the world changing so quickly, we may see councils more often than we have historically and thus we may see another one in our lifetime.
2. With information so readily available and with people able to communicate so much more efficiently, we don’t have a need for Councils as much, so it could be a long time until we see another one.

Which theory would you subscribe to, or do you have a different theory on the subject?

 

[Lormar]

One council a lifetime is enough for me. I don’t have it in me to live through another.

 

[NickD]

We’re having enough trouble figuring out the one that opened 50 years ago…maybe a council in 50 years, but that’s on the near side of things, IMHO, at least

 

[Aelred_Minor]

Historically the pattern has seemed to be about one ecumenical council a century, but I agree that as the world is changing so rapidly this pattern may not hold true in the future.

To me it seems difficult to imagine a new ecumenical council happening any time soon. There is no shortage of controversial issues which a Council could address, but I don’t see the Church being particularly inclined to address them in that way. Same with soft pastoral teaching: we need it too but probably not from another ecumenical council. I can just imagine the media circus and crazy expectations that the announcement of a new ecumenical council would bring in today’s world. Of course I could be wrong. Pope Francis could easily surprise the world the way John XXIII did by announcing another Vatican council, or perhaps an ecumenical council to be held in some surprising part of the world.