Episcopal conference


An episcopal conference, often also called a bishops’ conference or conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The first assembly of bishops to meet regularly, with its own legal structure and ecclesial leadership function, is the Swiss Bishops' Conference, which was founded in 1863. More than forty episcopal conferences existed before the Second Vatican Council. Their status was confirmed by the Second Vatican Council and further defined by Pope Paul VI's 1966 motu proprio, Ecclesiae sanctae.
Episcopal conferences are generally defined by geographic borders, often national ones, with all the bishops in a given country belonging to the same conference, although they may also include neighboring countries. Certain authority and tasks are assigned to episcopal conferences, particularly with regard to setting the liturgical norms for the Mass, a role affirmed in the Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. Episcopal conferences receive their authority under universal law or particular mandates. In certain circumstances, as defined by canon law, the decisions of an episcopal conference are subject to ratification from the Holy See. Individual bishops do not relinquish their immediate authority for the governance of their respective dioceses to the conference.

Theological and juridical status

The operation, authority, and responsibilities of episcopal conferences are currently governed by the 1983 Code of Canon Law In addition, there are assemblies of bishops which include the bishops of different rites in a nation, both Eastern Catholic and Latin Catholic; these are described in canon 322 §2 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches.
The nature of episcopal conferences, and their magisterial authority in particular, was subsequently clarified by Pope John Paul II in his 1998 motu proprio, Apostolos suos, which stated that the declarations of such conferences "constitute authentic magisterium" when approved unanimously by the conference; otherwise the conference must achieve a two-thirds majority and seek the recognitio, that is, recognition of approval, of the Holy See, which they will not receive if the majority "is not substantial".
In the 2013 apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis expressed his concern that the intent of the Second Vatican Council, which would give episcopal conferences "genuine doctrinal authority, has not yet been sufficiently elaborated". On September 9, 2017, Pope Francis modified canon law, granting episcopal conferences specific authority "to faithfully prepare … approve and publish the liturgical books for the regions for which they are responsible after the confirmation of the Apostolic See." The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, which formerly had primary responsibility for translations, was ordered to "help the Episcopal Conferences to fulfil their task." On October 22, 2017, the Holy See released a letter that Pope Francis had sent to the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Robert Sarah, clarifying that the Holy See and its departments would have only limited authority to confirm liturgical translations recognized by a local episcopal conference. In late February, 2018, the Council of Cardinals and Pope Francis undertook a consideration of the theological status of episcopal conferences, re-reading Pope John Paul II's Apostolos Suos in the light of Pope Francis's Evangelii Gaudium.

List of episcopal conferences

Source:

Africa

  1. Episcopal Conference of Angola and São Tomé
  2. Episcopal Conference of Benin
  3. Conference of Bishops of Burkina Faso and of Niger
  4. Conference of Catholic Bishops of Burundi
  5. National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon
  6. Central African Episcopal Conference
  7. Episcopal Conference of Chad
  8. Episcopal Conference of the Congo
  9. Episcopal Conference of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
  10. Episcopal Conference of the Côte d'Ivoire
  11. Episcopal Conference of Equatorial Guinea
  12. Catholic Bishops' Conference of Ethiopia and Eritrea
  13. Episcopal Conference of Gabon
  14. Inter-territorial Catholic Bishops' Conference of The Gambia and Sierra Leone
  15. Ghana Bishops' Conference
  16. Episcopal Conference of Guinea
  17. Episcopal Conference of the Indian Ocean
  18. Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops
  19. Lesotho Catholic Bishops' Conference
  20. Catholic Bishops' Conference of Liberia
  21. Episcopal Conference of Madagascar
  22. Episcopal Conference of Malawi
  23. Episcopal Conference of Mali
  24. Episcopal Conference of Mozambique
  25. Namibian Catholic Bishops' Conference
  26. Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria
  27. Regional Episcopal Conference of North Africa
  28. Conference of Catholic Bishops of Rwanda
  29. Conference of Bishops of Senegal, Mauritania, Cape Verde, and Guinea Bissau
  30. Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference
  31. Sudan Catholic Bishops' Conference
  32. Tanzania Episcopal Conference
  33. Episcopal Conference of Togo
  34. Uganda Episcopal Conference
  35. Zambia Episcopal Conference
  36. Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference

    Asia

  37. Conference of the Latin Bishops of the Arab Regions
  38. Catholic Bishops' Conference of Bangladesh
  39. Bishops' Conference of Central Asia
  40. Chinese Regional Bishops' Conference
  41. Conference of Catholic Bishops of India
  42. Bishops' Conference of Indonesia
  43. Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan
  44. Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea
  45. Episcopal Conference of Laos and Cambodia
  46. Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei
  47. Catholic Bishops' Conference of Myanmar
  48. Catholic Bishops' Conference of Pakistan
  49. Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines
  50. Catholic Bishops' Conference of Thailand
  51. Episcopal Conference of Turkey
  52. Catholic Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka
  53. Catholic Bishops' Conference of Vietnam

    Europe

  54. Episcopal Conference of Albania
  55. Austrian Bishops' Conference
  56. Conference of Catholic Bishops of Belarus
  57. Episcopal Conference of Belgium
  58. Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union
  59. Bishops' Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina
  60. Episcopal Conference of Bulgaria
  61. Croatian Bishops' Conference
  62. Czech Bishops' Conference
  63. Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales
  64. Bishops' Conference of France
  65. German Bishops' Conference
  66. Holy Synod of Catholic Bishops of Greece
  67. Catholic Bishops' Conference of Hungary
  68. Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference
  69. Italian Episcopal Conference
  70. Latvian Bishops' Conference
  71. Lithuanian Bishops' Conference
  72. Maltese Episcopal Conference
  73. Bishops' Conference of the Netherlands
  74. Polish Episcopal Conference
  75. Portuguese Episcopal Conference
  76. Romanian Episcopal Conference
  77. Conference of Catholic Bishops of the Russian Federation
  78. International Bishops' Conference of Saints Cyril and Methodius
  79. Scandinavian Bishops Conference
  80. Bishops' Conference of Scotland
  81. Conference of Slovak Bishops
  82. Slovenian Bishops' Conference
  83. Spanish Episcopal Conference
  84. Swiss Bishops Conference
  85. Ukrainian Episcopal Conference

    Oceania

  86. Australian Catholic Bishops Conference
  87. New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference
  88. Episcopal Conference of the Pacific
  89. Catholic Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands

    North America

  90. Antilles Episcopal Conference
  91. Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
  92. Episcopal Conference of Costa Rica
  93. Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba
  94. Conference of the Dominican Episcopate
  95. Episcopal Conference of El Salvador
  96. Episcopal Conference of Guatemala
  97. Episcopal Conference of Haiti
  98. Episcopal Conference of Honduras
  99. Conference of the Mexican Episcopate
  100. Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua
  101. Episcopal Conference of Panama
  102. Puerto Rican Episcopal Conference
  103. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

    South America

  104. Argentine Episcopal Conference
  105. Bolivian Episcopal Conference
  106. National Conference of Bishops of Brazil
  107. Episcopal Conference of Chile
  108. Episcopal Conference of Colombia
  109. Ecuadorian Episcopal Conference
  110. Paraguayan Episcopal Conference
  111. Peruvian Episcopal Conference
  112. Episcopal Conference of Uruguay
  113. Venezuelan Episcopal Conference
'''Notes'''

Other episcopal bodies

In addition to the episcopal conferences as defined by the Holy See, there are a number of other regional groupings of bishops:

Synods of eastern rite churches

Synods of Bishops of the Patriarchal and Major Archiepiscopal Churches
  • Synod of the Armenian Catholic Church
  • Synod of the Chaldean Church
  • Synod of the Catholic Coptic Church
  • Synod of the Greek-Catholic Ukrainian Church
  • Synod of the Greek-Melkite Catholic Church
  • Synod of the Romanian Church
  • Synod of the Syrian Catholic Church
  • Synod of the Syro-Malabarese Church
  • Synod of the Syro-Malankarese Church
  • Council of the Ethiopian Church
  • Council of the Ruthenian Church, U.S.A.
  • Council of the Slovakian Church

    Assemblies of bishops

National assemblies of Hierarchs of Churches Sui Iuris
  • Assembly of the Catholic Hierarchy of Egypt
  • Assembly of the Catholic Bishops of Iraq
  • Assembly of the Patriarchs and Bishops of Lebanon
  • Assembly of the Catholic Hierarchs of Syria
  • Assembly of the Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land
  • Iranian Episcopal Conference
  • Catholic Bishops' Conference of India

    International Meetings of Episcopal Conferences

  • Council of Catholic Patriarchs of the East
  • Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar
  • Regional Episcopal Conference of Francophone West Africa
  • Association of Episcopal Conferences of Central Africa
  • Association of Episcopal Conferences of the Region of Central Africa
  • Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa
  • Inter-Regional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa
  • Reunion of Episcopal Conferences of West Africa
  • Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences
  • Federation of Catholic Bishops' Conferences of Oceania
  • Council of European Bishops' Conferences
  • Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community
  • Latin American Episcopal Council
  • Episcopal Secretariate of Central America and Panama