For the 1st time, several diocese in north of France (the province of Île-de-France) will be gathering in a provincial council. The theme of the Council will be: ‘Catechumens and neophytes, new perspectives for the life of our Church in our dioceses’, and will run from Trinity Sunday 2026 until summer 2027.
But what is a provincial council? and why have they decice to have one?
A council is an assembly where people meet to discuss important issues and establish common rules.
We all remember the Second Vatican Council, that gathering of bishops from around the world, but in the early days of Christianity, councils were often held at the provincial level. Since Vatican II, bishops in a province have been invited to discern the relevance of convening a council. Since then, only seven provincial councils have been held worldwide.
The provincial council has the power to set rules for the dioceses concerned… providing, of course, that these rules are in accordance with the universal law of the Church.
The organisers stress that
“we cannot decide something for ourselves without taking into account that we are part of the universal Church!”
Once the council is over, the fruit of their work will be presented to Rome for the Recognitio. The recognitio directly concerns the act of revision: it examines whether it complies with certain parameters (of law, doctrine, expediency), and once this has been done, the document that has been revised is approved and confirmed.
In this part of France, they are going to experience a council and not a synod, because that is what it is called when such a process takes place at the provincial level… but it is very much in the spirit of a synodal process, of ‘walking together’, for the next two years, using also the method of the conversation in the Spirit.
The website of this procincial Council is full of resources concerning their consultation process, the different stages of the proces,… for those interested this particular participation bodie of the Church.