For four weeks, while the 1974 Synod of Bishops met in Rome, Pope Paul VI had dutifully sat silent through the plenary sessions as Roman Catholic bishops from around the world frequently criticized their church and often made bold suggestions for improving it (TIME, Oct. 28). Not until the final session did the Pope get his chance at rebuttal. He first congratulated the bishops for making the synod a "positive experience." He was pleased, he said, at the "increasing vitality of the particular churches." But he then went on to make it clear who was still boss. He was, he reminded the bishops, "the successor of St. Peter, to whom the Lord has entrusted the serious and enduring role of tending his lambs and sheep, of confirming his brethren and of being the foundation and sign of the unity of the church." Then, pointedly quoting a major Vatican II document, he defined the scope of that role: "Full, supreme and universal power in the church."
Good News. As the bishops streamed home from Rome last week, they could measure the Pope's valedictory against their frank, sometimes adventurous discussions. The gap between the two showed both the limitations and the strengths of the synod. Those who were optimistic—and many were—cited the free exchange of ideas; those who were pessimistic felt that the Pope would resist even some necessary changes.
Some bishops were unhappy with Paul's criticisms of their pet theological theses. While the Pontiff conceded that "human liberation has been rightly emphasized," for example, he cautioned that "the totality of salvation is not to be confused with one or another aspect of liberation. The Good News must preserve all of its own originality: that of a God who saves us from sin and death and brings us to divine life. Hence human advancement [and] social progress [are] not to be excessively emphasized on the temporal level to the detriment of the announcement of the Good News."
Apparently ignoring the theological pluralism of the early church, the Pope also told the prelates that it was "dangerous to speak of diversified theologies according to continents and cultures. The content of faith is either Catholic or it is not." Unabashed, the bishops of Africa and Madagascar publicly issued a joint statement urging that the church in Africa become a faith "incarnate" in the continent through the application of African values, and not merely be an adaptation of European Catholicism.
The synod fathers turned down the major portion of a final summary document on evangelization, some of them voting to quash it because it was too laden with vague generalities. But though they did not produce any comprehensive analysis, the bishops did leave behind a file of some 3,000 separate statements for the Pope to peruse at his pleasure —or displeasure.