Synod

Diocesan synod in Kraków in 1643 presided by Bishop Piotr Gembicki

A synod (/ˈsɪnəd/) is a council of a Christian denomination. They are usually convened to decide an issue which has caused problems. The word synod comes from the Ancient Greek σύνοδος (synodus) 'assembly, meeting'. This is like the Latin word concilium 'council'. Originally, synods were meetings of bishops. The word is still used in that sense in Catholicism, Oriental Orthodoxy and Eastern Orthodoxy. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not. It is also sometimes used to refer to a church that is governed by a synod.

Sometimes the phrase "general synod" or "general council" refers to an ecumenical council. The word synod also refers to the standing council of high-ranking bishops governing some of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches. The day-to-day governance of patriarchal and major archiepiscopal Eastern Catholic Churches is done by a permanent synod.

Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox

Holy Sobor of 1917, following the election of Saint Tikhon as Patriarch of Moscow

In Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches, synods of bishops are meetings of bishops within each autonomous Church. They are where the election of bishops and the establishment of inter-diocesan ecclesiastical laws are done.

A sobor is a formal gathering or council of bishops together with other clerical and lay delegates representing the church to deal with matters of faith, morality, rite, and canonical and cultural life.[1] The synod in the Western churches is similar. They are usually limited to an assembly of bishops.[1]

The term is found among those Eastern Orthodox Churches that use Slavic language (the Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian and Macedonian Orthodox Churches), along with the Romanian Orthodox Church.

Bibliography

Collections of synodal decrees

  • The Canons of the first four general councils of Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus and Chalcedon (in Ancient Greek). Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1880.
  • Benson (1893). The six œcumenical councils of the undivided catholic church: Lectures delivered in 1893 under the auspices of the church club of New York. New York: E. & J.B. Young.
  • DuBose, William Porcher (1896). The ecumenical councils. New York: Christian Literature Co.
  • Percival, Henry Robert (1900). Schaff, P.; Wace, H. (eds.). The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church: Their Canons and Dogmatic Decrees, Together with the Canons of All the Local Synods which Have Received Ecumenical Acceptance. Nicene and post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church. Parker.
  • Schwartz, E. (1914–1940), Acta conciliorum oecumenicorum [The Acts of the Ecumenical Councils] (See "Acta conciliorum oecumenicorum" (webpage). Wisconsin Lutheran College. Retrieved 17 August 2017.)
  • Schroeder, Henry Joseph (1937). Disciplinary decrees of the general councils: Text, translation, and commentary. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co.
  • Straub, J. (1971), Acta conciliorum oecumenicorum [The Acts of the Ecumenical Councils] (See "Acta conciliorum oecumenicorum" (webpage). Wisconsin Lutheran College. Retrieved 17 August 2017.)
  • Alberigo, Giuseppe; Ioannou, Periclīs-Petros; Leonardi, Claudio; Jedin, Hubert (1962). Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Decreta. Basilae: Herder.
  • Alberigo, Giuseppe; Dossetti, Joseph A; Jedin, Hubert (1973). Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Decreta. Bologna: Bologna Institute for Religious Sciences.
  • Tanner, Norman P. (1990). Decrees of the ecumenical councils. Vol. 2 Volumes. Sheed & Ward ; Georgetown University Press. ISBN 978-0-87840-490-2.
  • Alberigo, Giuseppe; Melloni, Alberto, eds. (2000–2017). Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Generaliumque Decreta: Editio critica. Corpus Christianorum. Vol. 4 Volumes. Turnhout: Brepols Publishers.

Other

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Sobor". Encyclopediaofukraine.com. 1990-06-06. Retrieved 2023-08-22.