Filipino bishop elected member of post-synodal council

A Filipino bishop has been elected as a member of the Twelfth Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops at the conclusion of the 12th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God held at the Vatican October 16-25.

Imus bishop Luis Antonio G. Tagle, a prominent theologian, who also served as an expert at the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for Asia in 1998, was one of the 12 members elected by the assembly to make up the post-synodal council. Three additional members were appointed by the Pope.

Tagle was one of the four bishops elected as delegates to the synod by members of Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) during their plenary meeting last July. The three other prelates were Bishops Arturo Bastes, Broderick Pabillo and Pablo David.

Archbishop Orlando Quevedo who also participated at the synod was appointed by the Pope in his capacity as secretary general of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences.

Post-synodal Council

The 15 members of the post-synodal council are the following: Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments; Cardinal Francis Eugene George O.M.I., archbishop of Chicago and president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga S.D.B., archbishop of Tegucigalpa and president of the Episcopal Conference of Honduras; Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, archbishop of Cape Coast , Ghana , and president of the Association of West African Episcopal Conferences; Cardinal Marc Ouellet P.S.S., archbishop of Quebec , Canada; Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun S.D.B., bishop of Hong Kong, China; Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer, archbishop of Sao Paulo, Brazil; Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity; Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, president of the Episcopal Conference of the Democratic Republic of Congo; Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil S.D.B. of Guwahati, India; Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, Ireland; Archbishop Mark Benedict Coleridge of Canberra-Goulburn, Australia; Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture; Bishop Florentin Crihalmeanu of Cluj-Gherla, Romania; and Bishop Luis Antonio G. Tagle of Imus, Philippines.

Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, announced the names of the council members during the Twenty-Second General Congregation. He likewise revealed that as the participants conclude their work each one will be presented with a facsimile of the Bodmer Papyrus XIV-XV (gospels of Luke and John handwritten in Greek) by the Holy Father.

Post-synodal document

A document called Apostolic Exhortation is usually drafted by the pope at the end of each synod considering the various propositions presented by the synodal Fathers. The post-synodal Council and the General Secretary are involved in the process leading to the publication of the post-synodal document.

First established by Pope Paul VI in 1965, the Synod of Bishops aimed to keep alive the spirit of collegiality provoked by the 2nd Vatican Council.

Since it begun in 1967, there have been 12 Ordinary General Assemblies of the Synod of Bishops held; seven Special Assemblies; two Extraordinary General Assemblies in 1969 and 1985, and a Particular Synod for the Netherlands in 1980.