Episcopal Conference

An episcopal conference is an assembly of bishops .

Roman Catholic Bishops' Conferences

In the Roman Catholic Church a conference of bishops according to cann. 447–459 CIC the permanent association of the bishops of a nation or a specific area. In addition to the diocesan bishops , the bishops' conferences usually also include all incumbent coadjutors , the diocesan administrators and the auxiliary bishops .

In 2007 there were a total of 113 Bishops 'Conferences worldwide, as well as 18 Bishops' Synods of the Eastern Catholic Churches and 14 international associations of Bishops 'Conferences, which are included in the list of Roman Catholic Bishops' Conferences .

Lambeth Conference

The Lambeth Conference is the international bishops' conference of the Anglican Communion that takes place approximately every 10 years. It was first convened in 1867 and is chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury , Archbishop Justin Welby since March 2013 . The meeting, which was scheduled for three weeks in 2008, was attended by around 650 Anglican bishops from 38 ecclesiastical provinces. The decisions of the Bishops' Conference do not work by themselves in the individual local churches, but must be transferred by them into the respective canon law.

Orthodox Episcopal Conferences

Orthodox Bishops' Conference in Austria

The Orthodox Bishops' Conference in Austria has been the highest body of Orthodoxy in the country since it was constituted in 2010. The conference represents Orthodoxy towards the Republic of Austria and its authorities. The Bishops' Conference comprises seven bishops assigned to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Patriarchs of Antioch , Moscow , Serbia , Romania , Bulgaria and Georgia . Thus, all of the Orthodox churches in Austria take part in the conference. The official seat is in Vienna, chaired by the respective representative of the Patriarch of Constantinople. Metropolitan Michael Staikos was followed in March 2012 by Metropolitan Arsenios Kardamakis as Chairman.

Orthodox Bishops' Conference in Germany

The Orthodox Bishops' Conference in Germany , founded in 2010, has 19 members. The representative of the Greek Orthodox Church acts as president; this is currently Metropolitan Augoustinos Lambardakis . The secretariat is based in Dortmund. The Bishops' Conference includes bishops from the Russian, Romanian, Serbian, Georgian, Ukrainian, Greek and ancient oriental traditions.

Bishops' Conference of the VELKD

The Bishops' Conference of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany meets under the Chief Bishop of the VELKD; since 2018 this has been regional bishop Ralf Meister von Hannover. All bishops of the member churches are members of the conference. Six permanent guests, including the Evangelical Augsburg Bishop of Austria, take part in the meetings without voting rights. The church leadership is formed from members of the bishops' conference and the general synod. Church laws are also passed by resolution of the General Synod and the Bishops' Conference.

International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference

The International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference (IBK) comprises the bishops of the Utrecht Union of Old Catholic Churches and represents the autonomous Old Catholic local churches on an international level. The ex officio President is the Archbishop of Utrecht , since March 2000 Joris Vercammen . The Secretariat of the Bishops' Conference is located in Utrecht; the plenary assemblies take place annually at different locations, for example in 2012 in Austria, in the Catholic Benedictine Abbey of Melk or in 2014 in the Old Catholic St. Gertrudis Cathedral in Utrecht. The Anglican Community and the Archbishop of Canterbury are represented by constant observers.

The Old Catholic members of the International Roman Catholic - Old Catholic Dialogue Commission (IRAD) are nominated by the Bishops' Conference. On the occasion of the commemoration year 125 years of the Union of Utrecht (1889–2014) , the International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference was received by Pope Francis in a private audience in the Vatican in October 2014 . In the course of a personal conversation with the Old Catholic Episcopate, the Pope called for cooperation between the Roman and Old Catholic Churches to be strengthened.

literature

Aymans , Mörsdorf : Canon Law. Volume 2: Constitutional and Association Law. 13th completely revised edition. Schöningh, Paderborn 1997, ISBN 3-506-70482-6 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Bishops' Conference - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

^ Karl Cardinal Lehmann : From the service to the whole. Lecture at the press conference for the opening of the spring general assembly of the German Bishops' Conference in Würzburg. February 11, 2008, accessed November 20, 2014 .
^ Church newspaper, Lexicon: Anglican Church ( Memento from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Homepage of the Diocese of Linz, accessed on June 26, 2014
^ Church newspaper, Lambeth Conference ( Memento from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Homepage of the Diocese of Linz, accessed on June 26, 2014
↑ Christopher Hill: Lambeth Conference . In: Wolfgang Thönissen (Hrsg.): Lexicon of ecumenism and denominational studies . On behalf of the Johann Adam Möhler Institute for Ecumenism. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 2007, ISBN 978-3-451-29500-3 , pp. 751-752.
^ Orthodox Bishops' Conference in Austria Homepage of the Orthodox Church in Austria, accessed on June 26, 2014
↑ Orthodox Bishops' Conference in Germany Homepage kath.net, accessed on June 26, 2014
^ Bishops' Conference of the VELKD Homepage of the VELKD, accessed on December 4, 2017
^ Burckhard Neumann: United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany. In: Wolfgang Thönissen (Hrsg.): Lexicon of ecumenism and denominational studies. On behalf of the Johann Adam Möhler Institute for Ecumenism. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 2007, ISBN 978-3-451-29500-3 , pp. 1407-1409.
^ Peter Neuner : Old Catholic Church . In: Wolfgang Thönissen (Hrsg.): Lexicon of ecumenism and denominational studies . On behalf of the Johann Adam Möhler Institute for Ecumenism. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 2007, ISBN 978-3-451-29500-3 , pp. 31-34.
^ International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference Homepage of the Union of Utrecht, accessed on June 26, 2014
^ Church and church fellowship. Report of the International Roman Catholic - Old Catholic Dialogue Commission . Bonifatius Lembeck, Paderborn / Frankfurt / Main 2009, ISBN 978-3-89710-456-3 , p. 50 .
↑ Pope receives Old Catholics. Vatican Radio, October 30, 2014, accessed February 1, 2015 .
^ Address by Pope Francis to the delegation of the Old Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Union of Utrecht. Holy See Press Office, October 30, 2014, accessed February 1, 2015 .

[1] Karl Cardinal Lehmann : From the service to the whole. Lecture at the press conference for the opening of the spring general assembly of the German Bishops' Conference in Würzburg. February 11, 2008, accessed November 20, 2014 .

[2] Church newspaper, Lexicon: Anglican Church ( Memento from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Homepage of the Diocese of Linz, accessed on June 26, 2014

[3] Church newspaper, Lambeth Conference ( Memento from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Homepage of the Diocese of Linz, accessed on June 26, 2014

[4] Christopher Hill: Lambeth Conference . In: Wolfgang Thönissen (Hrsg.): Lexicon of ecumenism and denominational studies . On behalf of the Johann Adam Möhler Institute for Ecumenism. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 2007, ISBN 978-3-451-29500-3 , pp. 751-752.

[5] Orthodox Bishops' Conference in Austria Homepage of the Orthodox Church in Austria, accessed on June 26, 2014

[6] Orthodox Bishops' Conference in Germany Homepage kath.net, accessed on June 26, 2014

[7] Bishops' Conference of the VELKD Homepage of the VELKD, accessed on December 4, 2017

[8] Burckhard Neumann: United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany. In: Wolfgang Thönissen (Hrsg.): Lexicon of ecumenism and denominational studies. On behalf of the Johann Adam Möhler Institute for Ecumenism. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 2007, ISBN 978-3-451-29500-3 , pp. 1407-1409.

[9] Peter Neuner : Old Catholic Church . In: Wolfgang Thönissen (Hrsg.): Lexicon of ecumenism and denominational studies . On behalf of the Johann Adam Möhler Institute for Ecumenism. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 2007, ISBN 978-3-451-29500-3 , pp. 31-34.

[10] International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference Homepage of the Union of Utrecht, accessed on June 26, 2014

[11] Church and church fellowship. Report of the International Roman Catholic - Old Catholic Dialogue Commission . Bonifatius Lembeck, Paderborn / Frankfurt / Main 2009, ISBN 978-3-89710-456-3 , p. 50 .

[12] Pope receives Old Catholics. Vatican Radio, October 30, 2014, accessed February 1, 2015 .

[13] Address by Pope Francis to the delegation of the Old Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Union of Utrecht. Holy See Press Office, October 30, 2014, accessed February 1, 2015 .