The Eighteenth Synod of the Archdiocese of New York:: An Historical Study

If the definition of papal infallibility at Vatican Council I (1869-1870) can be viewed as the culmination of certain ultramontane tendencies within nineteenth century Roman Catholicism, then it might likewise be said that the ecclesiology of Vatican Council II (1962-1965) represented an attempt, by that same Church, to balance an earlier centrist ecclesiology with a more distinctively collaborative model. This collaborative model, which was articulated at Vatican Council II, can be seen as having completed a task largely unfinished, in the previous Council, by more clearly formulating the nature of episcopal ministry within the Church while also reemphasizing the notion of communio as a model for shared ministry in the Church. An effort to incorporate the ecclesiological insights of Vatican Council II, within the life of the local diocesan church, was undertaken by the Archdiocese of New York when it convened its Eighteenth Diocesan Synod. This synod, which reflected the conciliar notion of communio, likewise attempted to revitalize the local church through a collegial expression of shared pastoral renewal. The goal of this proposed "experiment in ecclesiology" continues to challenge all those responsible for the implementation of conciliar ecclesiology at the local diocesan level. This work, which represents an integrated study of a unique historical event in the life and mission of a given local - church, may also provide a paradigm by which to contextualize the history of a particular church within the overall mission of the Church Universal.

About the Author :
After graduating in 1978 from Cathedral College in Douglaston, New York with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, Father Rossi attended Saint Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie, New York from 1978 to 1981. Following the completion of both a Master of Divinity degree and his diaconal ordination in 1981, he was later ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of New York the following November. Father Rossi was then assigned as a Parochial Vicar of Saints Philip and James Church in the Bronx from 1982 to 1987. During this time he earned a Master of Arts degree in Theology from Fordham University in New York. In November of 1987 he was assigned to the Faculty of The Saint John Neumann Seminary of the Archdiocese of New York where he served as Academic Dean and Professor of Fundamental Catholic Theology from 1987 until 1997. While serving on the seminary faculty, he earned a Doctoral Degree in theological history from Fordham University in April of 1992 as well as a Master of Arts degree in Philosophy and Religious Studies at Pace University in New York from 1995 to 1999. In that capacity he taught both comparative religion and the history of philosophy. In January of 1998 he was appointed Pastor of the Parish of Saints Philip and James Church in the Bronx, a position he held until his appointment in September 2008 as Pastor of Saint Michael the Archangel Parish also in the Bronx. Father Rossi presently serves as an instructor in the humanities at the College of New Rochelle in New York.