Synod Extraordinary

Hebblethwaite, Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and the London Times, uses his insider's vantage to establish a rationale for the Extraordinary Synod convened, in apparent haste, by Pope John Paul II in the waning months of 1985. Speculation ran high that this gathering of bishops from around the world would accomplish more than mark the 20th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. Little information about the internecine activity was revealed to the public, although denunciations of certain theologians and warnings about misinterpretations were issued. Hebblethwaite's version of an institutionally controlled Synod will interest Vatican watchers, setting the scene as it does for an anticipated Synod in 1987. (April 18)