I have been asked by one of our elderly "parishioners" a question which I cannot yet answer, and am hoping someone here can help.

She tells me that a number of years ago, possibly in the late 1960s or early 1970s, she and her husband read something, possibly an opinion, that stated that when the Pope who convenes a council dies, the council dies with him, and that this occurrence is more or less looked upon as a sign from the Holy Ghost that the council or the subject(s) debated were of no importance, or were not appropriate for the times.

I had never heard such a thing.

I do know that the Council of Trent was first convened under Pope Paul III, and continued under the reigns of the following Popes, Julius III and Pius IV, being finalized (if I am not mistaken) under Pius V.

I also know that the decrees of any council are not considered to be "legitimate" or "dogmatic" until and unless the reigning Pope "signs off" on them, and that for at least one council, some of its decrees were so authorized, and some from that same council were not.

So, if we assumed for the purposes of argument that my elderly friend is correct, does this mean that when the convening Pope dies, his successors must re-convene that council, or is she mistaken so that any council, once started, is simply allowed to run its course?

If she is mistaken, where might she have heard this, or is she misinterpreting some other rule or event?

Although she is 80 years old, she is as sharp as a tack, and has been the mainstay of our small group for many years.

Ken,

Canon 229 says,

"If it should occur that the Roman Pontiff dies during the holding of a Council [the context is discussing oecumenical councils] the council is suspended by the law itself until the new Pontiff orders it to be resumed and continued."

This suspension is of course not the complete annulment of the council. Indeed I am pretty sure that John XXIII actually declared Vatican I closed so that he could open Vatican II - up to that time Vatican I was suspended but had never been closed.

The point of the Canon is of course to emphasize that the oecumenical council derives its authority from the pope actually reigning and therefore cannot act when no pope is reigning.

In Domino,

John

Thank you, John, all of that makes absolute sense. I should have gone back to my own book of Canon Law. Furthermore, this episode proves yet again that just because you are 80 years old does not mean you are automatically stupid.

I've called her up and explained to her that both she and her husband (who was a convert, by the way) were correct.