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Ioannes Paulus PP. II
Apostolos suos
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5. In 1966, Pope Paul VI, by the Motu Proprio Ecclesiae Sanctae, called for Episcopal Conferences to be established wherever they did not yet exist; those already existing were to draw up proper statutes; and in cases where it was not possible to establish a Conference, the Bishops in question were to join already existing Episcopal Conferences; Episcopal Conferences comprising several nations or even international Episcopal Conferences could be established.(30) Several years later, in 1973, the Pastoral Directory for Bishops stated once again that “the Episcopal Conference is established as a contemporary means of contributing in a varied and fruitful way to the practice of collegiality. These Conferences admirably help to foster a spirit of communion with the Universal Church and among the different local Churches.(31) Finally, the Code of Canon Law, promulgated by me on January 25, 1983, established specific norms (Canons 447-459) regulating the objectives and the powers of Episcopal Conferences, as well as their erection, membership and functioning.

The collegial spirit which inspired the establishment of Episcopal Conferences and guides their activity is also the reason why Conferences of different countries should cooperate among themselves, as the Second Vatican Council recommended (32) and the subsequent canonical legislation reaffirmed.(33)



30) Paul VI, Motu Proprio Ecclesiae Sanctae (6 August 1966), I. Normae ad exsequenda Decreta SS. Concilii Vaticani II “Christus Dominus” et “Presbyterorum Ordinis”, No. 41: AAS 58 (1966), 773-774.



31) Congregation for Bishops, Directory Ecclesiae Imago, De Pastorali Ministerio Episcoporum (22 February 1973), 210.



32) Cf. Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church Christus Dominus, 38, 5.



33) Cf. Code of Canon Law, Canon 459, 1. Such cooperation has in fact been fostered by the International Meetings of Episcopal Conferences, the Consejo Episcopal Latinoamericano (C.E.L.AM.), the Consilium Conferentiarum Episcopalium Europae (C.C.E.E.), the Secretariado Episcopal de América Central y Panama (S.E.D.A.C.), the Commissio Episcopatuum Communitatis Europaeae (COM.E.C.E.), the Association des Conférences Episcopales de l'Afrique Centrale (A.C.E.A.C.), the Association des Conférences Episcopales de la Région de l'Afrique Centrale (A.C.E.R.A.C.), the Symposium des Conférences Episcopales d'Afrique et de Madagascar (S.C.E.A.M.), the Inter-Regional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa (I.M.B.S.A.), the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (S.A.C.B.C.), the Conférences Episcopales de l'Afrique de l'Ouest Francophone (C.E.R.A.O.), the Association of the Episcopal Conferences of Anglophone West Africa (A.E.C.A.W.A.), the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (A.M.E.C.E.A.), the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (F.A.B.C.), the Federation of Catholic Bishops' Conferences of Oceania (F.C.B.C.O.) (Cf. Annuario Pontificio 1998, Vatican City 1998, pp. 1112-1115). Nevertheless, these institutions are not properly Episcopal Conferences.





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