Plenary Council in the Czech Republic (1997—2005)

Abstract

This article analyses the preparation, process and conclusions of the Plenary Council of the Catholic Church in the Czech Republic held in 1997—2005. The Plenary Council was one of the few manifestations of the collegiality of the Czech Church, because the diocesan synods are not used here as a tool. The Decree on convocation of the Assembly was announced by the Czech and Moravian bishops on 5 July 1997 in Velehrad. The council was also an opportunity for priests and laity in the country to realise their responsibility for the Church and the co-responsibility of the Church for the condition of society. The Council had a preparatory phase (1997—2003), a stage of the 1st Session (July 2003), and a second phase of the Session (July 2005) where the project was completed and followed by the process of post-conciliar steps. Three final messages were the immediate output from the Second Plenary Session: the Message of the Council to the Public; the Message of the Council to the Believers of the Catholic Church and the Message of the Council to Christians in the Czech Republic. The resulting document was published in 2007 under the title The Life and Mission of Christians in the Church and the World. It was a document of a pastoral nature, in no way of a normative nature (no rules were actually adopted despite the work of the commission and the proposals). The Czech situation is described as “post-Christian missionary territory” there and — estimated the course of the conciliar process and of the Council itself — as an introduction of more intensive implementation of synodality in the Czech Church.