Cardinal Brandmüller questions episcopal conferences, calls for restoration of local synods

September 16, 2026

The president emeritus of the Pontifical Commission for Historical Sciences questioned the development of episcopal conferences in recent centuries and called for a restoration of synods, understood as regional gatherings of bishops.

“Starting from the end of the 19th century, we can observe that, especially in Europe, the place of synods has been taken by episcopal conferences, whose form and procedures follow—as already stated—political models,” Cardinal Walter Brandmüller wrote in an article published on the blog of Vatican journalist Sandro Magister. “It is difficult to ignore the fact that this is an expression of the growing secularization of the understanding of the Church.”

“In the face of these episcopal conferences corresponding to political boundaries, it would be necessary to restore to the synods of the particular Churches, as conforming to authentically ecclesial hierarchical structures, their original importance,” Cardinal Brandmüller added.

 

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Further information:

• The “Synodality” Enigma. Cardinal Brandmüller Explains How Not to Fall Into Mephistopheles’s Traps (Settimo Cielo, 9/8/26)