Quote:[a]n erroneous notion of collegiality. This idea is juridically abnormal because it recognizes, contrary to tradition and the Church's constitution, two subjects of the supreme power of jurisdiction: the Sovereign Pontiff and the College of Bishops with, at its head, the Pope, although only the latter can exercise it freely (Lumen Gentium §22; also Nota Praevia). Moreover, this erroneous collegiality entails the de facto disappearance of the personal responsibility of each bishop in the government of his diocese, and its replacement by the collective responsibility of the episcopal conferences (Christus Dominus [CD] §37), which now also are ascribed legislative powers (CD §38), and even a wide autonomy in numerous domains traditionally reserved to the exclusive competence of the Holy See.

Quote:22. Fight Papal Authority, putting an age limit on his activity. Reduce the age limit gradually, explaining that you want to preserve him from excessive work.

23. Be bold. Weaken the Pope by introducing Episcopal synods. The Pope will then become only a figurehead as in England where the High chamber and the Low chamber reign and from them the queen receives orders. Then weaken the authority of the Bishop, giving rise to a concurrent institution at the level of the priests. Say that in this way the priests receive the attention they deserve. Finally weaken the authority of the priest with the formation of groups of lay people who dominate the Priests. In this way you will give rise to such a hatred that even Cardinals will abandon the Church and then the Church will be democratic ... the New Church ...

Quote:They have collegialized the pope's government and that of the bishops with a presbyterial college, that of the parish priest with a lay council, the whole broken down into innumerable commissions, councils, sessions, etc. The new Code of Canon Law is completely permeated with this concept. The pope is described as the head of the College of Bishops. We find this doctrine already suggested in the Council document Lumen Gentium, according to which the College of Bishops, together with the pope, exercises supreme power in the Church in habitual and constant manner. This is not a change for the better; this doctrine of double supremacy is contrary to the teaching and Magisterium of the Church. It is contrary to the definitions of Vatican Council I and to Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Satis Cognitum. The Pope alone has supreme power; he communicates it only to the degree he considers advisable, and only in exceptional circumstances. The pope alone has power of jurisdiction over the whole world. We are witnessing therefore a restriction on the freedom of the Supreme Pontiff. [b]Yes, this is a real revolution![/b] The facts demonstrate that what we have here is not a change without practical consequences. John Paul II is the first pope to be really affected by the reform. We can quote several precise instances where he has reconsidered a decision under pressure from a bishops’ conference.

Quote:Synod of Bishops in the Catholic Church

In the Catholic Church, the Synod of Bishops, considered as an advisory body for the pope, is one of the ways in which the bishops render cooperative assistance to him in exercising his office. It is described in the 1983 Code of Canon Law as "a group of bishops who have been chosen from different regions of the world and meet at fixed times to foster closer unity between the Roman Pontiff and bishops, to assist the Roman Pontiff with their counsel in the preservation and growth of faith and morals and in the observance and strengthening of ecclesiastical discipline, and to consider questions pertaining to the activity of the Church in the world." In addition, each patriarchal church and each major archiepiscopal church within the Catholic Church has its own synod of bishops. Unlike the body that normally assists the pope only by offering advice, these synods of bishops are competent, and exclusively so, to make laws for the entire sui iuris church that each governs.[...]

The papal Synod of Bishops is permanent, even when not in session. Periodically, it holds assemblies, which are either general, if called to consider matters directly concerning the universal Church, or special, if called for problems of a particular geographical area. The general assemblies are either ordinary (held at fixed intervals) or extraordinary (held to treat of some urgent matter).

The papal Synod of Bishops also has a permanent secretariat headquartered in Rome but not part of the Roman Curia. Pope Francis greatly increased both the authority and influence of the Synod in September 2018.


Establishment and nature

In 1959, three years before the Second Vatican Council began, Cardinal Silvio Oddi proposed a permanent consultative body of bishops drawn from many parts of the world to discuss major concerns of the Church, and Cardinal Bernardus Johannes Alfrink proposed a permanent council of specialized bishops to legislate for the Church in union with the Pope and the cardinals.

Within the framework of the Council itself, the first to put forward "the idea of a 'permanent synod of bishops' surrounding the pope" was Melkite Patriarch Maximos IV. In 1963, during the third session of the Council, he proposed that "a relatively small group of bishops [...] with rotating membership would always be in session in Rome to assist the pope. They would work with the pope in collegial fashion". The model he proposed was what the 1990 Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches was to call the synod of bishops, but that he himself called the holy synod of his sui iuris church, a collegial body comprising both the patriarch and other bishops.

On 14 September 1965, at the opening of the fourth and final session of the Council, Pope Paul VI announced that on the following day he was to establish the Synod of Bishops in a form that "could hardly have been further from what Maximos had proposed in the previous year". He noted that "the Ecumenical Council ... gave Us the idea of permanently establishing a special Council of bishops, with the aim of providing for a continuance after the Council of the great abundance of benefits that We have been so happy to see flow to the Christian people during the time of the Council as a result of Our close collaboration with the bishops." The Pope sought "to make ever greater use of the bishops' assistance in providing for the good of the universal Church" and to enjoy "the consolation of their presence, the help of their wisdom and experience, the support of their counsel, and the voice of their authority." This preempted action by the Council, and made the Synod "immediately and directly" subject to papal authority, ensuring that it would be strictly an advisory body. The Synod of the Bishops does not constitute collegial governance of the Church, but represents a collaboration with the Pope: it discusses topics proposed to it and makes recommendations, but does not settle questions or issue decrees, unless the Pope grants it deliberative power in certain cases.


Collegial governance under Pope Francis

See also: Theology of Pope Francis § Decentralization

From the beginning of his papacy, Pope Francis expressed his desire to strengthen the collegial aspects of the Church's governance, and he argued for more recognition of charismatic gifts in the Church. He has held major synods on the topics of the family (2014), on youth (2018), and on the Church in the Pan-Amazon region (2019).[...] Some analysts surmise that the greatest achievement of Francis' papacy may be his creation of a more synodal Catholic church, where synods serve as a platform for open and energetic debate.

On 6 February 2021, Pope Francis appointed Nathalie Becquart an undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, making her the first woman to have the right to vote in the Synod of Bishops.


Secretariat and Council

The Synod of the Bishops has its own permanent general secretariat, composed of the General Secretary and a fifteen-member council, twelve of whom are elected by each general assembly and three are appointed by the Pope. The secretariat assists in preparing the apostolic exhortation which the Pope publishes on the basis of the recommendations of each general assembly, and it prepares the next assembly. Their function ceases with the start of a new general assembly. A similar function is performed by specific special councils elected by the special assemblies.


Secretaries-General of the Synod of Bishops

• Wladyslaw Rubin (27 February 1967 – 12 July 1979)
  
• Jozef Tomko (12 July 1979 – 24 April 1985)
  
• Jan Pieter Schotte, C.I.C.M. (24 April 1985 – 11 February 2004)
  
• Nikola Eterović (11 February 2004 – 21 September 2013)[30]
  
• Lorenzo Baldisseri (21 September 2013[30] – 15 September 2020)[31]
  
• Mario Grech (15 September 2020[31] – present)
  

"A New System" – Inside The Davos Summit 2023

• Addressing the Current Energy and Food Crises in the context of a New System for Energy, Climate and Nature
  
• Addressing the Current High Inflation, Low Growth, High Debt Economy in the context of a New System for Investment, Trade and Infrastructure
  
• Addressing the Current Industry Headwinds in the context of a New System for Harnessing Frontier Technologies for Private Sector Innovation and Resilience
  
• Addressing the Current Social Vulnerabilities in the context of a New System for Work, Skills and Care
  
• Addressing the Current Geopolitical Risks in the context of a New System for Dialogue and Cooperation in a Multipolar World
  

Quote:The world’s biggest problem solvers need to craft better narratives

Quote:People are more persuaded by the information presented within a narrative because a good narrative helps to ease information processing. Those trying to solve the world’s most pressing challenges must take notice of this.

Quote:We must name the real antagonists: irresponsible politicians, bought scientists and some companies failing to live up to the needs of the transition to net-zero.

We must also stop pretending that there is a debate over the facts of climate change. A false balance is a phenomenon that occurs when a news organization or other media outlet presents an issue as being the subject of a debate, even when there is no actual debate or disagreement among experts on the matter.

Quote:the likes of child sexual abuse and exploitation, terrorism and hate speech, misinformation and content related to self-harm and suicide.

Quote:tangible solutions that we already know work, rather than opting to protect the existing global economic system at any cost.

• “A new system”: Reforming the global systems of politics and finance
  
• “controlling the narrative”: Telling more believable lies & limiting public debate
  
• “countering misinformation”: Censorship, especially of the internet
  
• “tangible solutions”: Taking more direct action via enforcement and policy.
  

Taken from Vaitcan.va

Abp. Gänswein provides little-known details of Benedict XVI’s resignation that shocked the world
Archbishop Gänswein's book presents his account of Pope Benedict's resignation, along with his firm argument that Benedict's resignation was valid.



Pope Benedict XVI waves to pilgrims from the window of Castel Gandolfo at the start of his retirement on February 28, 2013 in Rome, Italy.
Franco Origlia/Getty Images

Quote:I have now been Pope for as many years as his illness and I would not like to end up like him. After all, what I could do I have done, and it would be better for the Church that I resign, with the election of a new, younger and more energetic Pontiff. This is the right time when, after the problematic events of these last months have found a conclusion, I can hand over the helm to another without too much difficulty.

Quote:Benedict fulfilled exactly what the Code of Canon Law stipulates (can. 332 §2): “In the case that the Roman Pontiff renounces his office, it is required for validity that the renunciation be freely made and that it be duly manifested, it is not required instead that anyone accept it.” Obviously, in response to those who still claim that there is no formal record of that act, the date and the Pope’s autograph signature were affixed to the paper and his declaration was verbalized by an apostolic protontary, who drew up the Consistory deed, which is kept in the appropriate archives for perpetual memory.

People crowd the gallery on top of St Peter’s Basilica as a helicopter carrying Pope Benedict XVI passes by on its way out of Vatican City on February 28, 2013.

Quote:[d]ue to inappropriate typing, the first version released by the [Holy See]Press Office bore two other errors, like the previous one quickly fixed on the Vatican website in the early afternoon of that Feb. 11: a pro Ecclesiae vitae instead of pro Ecclesiae vita (“for the life of the Church”), and a hora 29 instead of hora 20. But these were not present on the paper Benedict held in his hands, since, as noted in the video recording, both were instead pronounced correctly.

• Federally and privately funded clinical trials;
  
• The purpose of each experimental drug;
  
• Subject eligibility criteria to participate in the clinical trial;
  
• The location of clinical trial sites being used for a study; and
  
• A point of contact for patients interested in enrolling in the trial.
  
• The National Library of Medicine in the National Institutes of Health to host the public website/database
  

Quote:Bayer will partner with BioNTech to develop novel, first-in-class mRNA vaccines and therapeutics for animal health indications, the companies said today, under a collaboration whose value was not disclosed.

Bayer agreed to secure exclusive rights to BioNTech’s mRNA technology and intellectual property for development of mRNA vaccines for animal health applications…

The companies said their partnership is the first of its kind focused on developing mRNA therapeutics specifically for animal health applications.

…

Infectious disease vaccines is the focus of one of the three therapy platforms BioNTech is building through mRNA technologies; the other two are cancer immunotherapies and protein replacement. The three platforms are designed to produce pharmacologically optimized protein coding RNA for targeted in vivo delivery…

Quote:Companies collaborate on cutting-edge technology to develop new solutions to protect companion and farm animal health.

• Infectious disease vaccines
  
• Cancer immunotherapies and
  
• Protein replacement.
  

Quote:"Following discussions with the German government it has become clear that current manufacturing capacities for vaccines need to be increased, particularly for potential variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

This includes the need to expand production capacity as well as related manufacturing expertise in Germany.

We at Bayer will contribute even further by making more vaccine available to help fight the pandemic.

Quote:Combat current and future swine diseases with SEQUIVITY from Merck Animal Health. A revolutionary swine vaccine platform, SEQUIVITY harnesses RNA particle technology to create customized prescription vaccines against strains of influenza A virus in swine, porcine circovirus (PCV), rotavirus and beyond. It’s supported by a sophisticated dashboard filled with comprehensive data and insights, all to help you stay on top.

Quote:MADISON, N.J., November 12, 2015 – Merck Animal Health (known as MSD Animal Health outside the United States and Canada) and Harrisvaccines, Inc., today announced the companies have entered into an agreement under which Merck Animal Health will acquire Harrisvaccines, a privately-held company that develops, manufactures and sells vaccines for food production and companion animals.

“As a leader in biologics, Merck Animal Health has built a robust portfolio of vaccines across all animal species,” stated Rick DeLuca, president, Merck Animal Health. “Combining Harrisvaccines’ R&D and portfolio of products with our strong capabilities and global reach will enable us to address even more devastating diseases that are impacting production animals and reinforce our commitment to the science of healthier animals.”

Harrisvaccines offers innovative technology and an important portfolio of vaccines, with a focus on production animals, an increasingly important segment as consumer demand for protein continues to grow worldwide. The company has a unique RNA Particle technology which represents a breakthrough in vaccine development. It also has a highly versatile production platform able to target a wide range of viruses and bacteria. Pathogens are collected from a farm and specific genes are sequenced and inserted into RNA particles, making safe, potent vaccines able to provide herd-specific protection.

This pioneering system is rapidly adaptable to new disease challenges and was instrumental in producing the first conditionally licensed vaccine to help control Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDv), a deadly virus that has killed more than eight million piglets since suddenly emerging in the U.S. in 2013.

Quote:Bovine respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a significant viral pathogens of young cows that is a key component of the respiratory disease complex and often leads to secondary bacterial pneumonia. Prefusion F has recently shown to be highly efficacious in barrier housed RSV challenged cows. However, the difficulty in generating prefusion F along with the cost of its production are a hurdle for adoption to the farm. RSV immunity also tends to wane quickly and given the complications of field or pen raised cattle and their stressors and other circulating diseases, and a protein vaccine may not prove highly efficacious in the real world. Here, we will test a novel mRNA vaccine system we have developed that substantially lowers the price point for production animals and may lead to more thermal stable transcripts compatible with vaccinating on the farm. The use of an alternative delivery system rather than lipid nanoparticles will also lower the vaccine costs. We expect to demonstrate efficacy of the vaccine platform using mice at first as proof of principle before switching to a full cow vaccination and challenge system in year 2. Our overall goal is to test a novel mRNA system for inducing immunological protection from bovine RSV infection. We hypothesize that a prefusion F mRNA delivered continuously by vaccine implant will lead to prolonged and robust cellular and antibody immunity. Here, we will optimize our vaccine further and then test for potential correlates of protection to examine for in eventually challenged cows.

Quote:After finding similar species can be infected, researchers quickly began to increase safety protocols at zoos and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center in Colorado, the main source of the captive-breeding and release program for the federally endangered species.

“They have done a magnificent job in keeping those animals safe,” said Tonie Rocke, a research scientist with the USGS National Wildlife Health Center who works with ferrets.

But U.S. Geological Survey researchers who also study black-footed ferrets had learned about recent studies in mice and hamsters, demonstrating safety and efficacy of vaccination against COVID-19 using purified viral protein. They decided to try something similar on a handful of ferrets this past May and June.

The vaccine used in ferrets is different — it’s a simplified version of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccinations now being used for humans — and it’s based on a similar protein, said Rocke.

Under the authority of the USFWS, the scientists could test the solution on a handful of ferrets in a process that is much quicker than the extensive approvals needed for commercial vaccination for humans like the Pfizer or Moderna inoculations.

The isolated ferrets that had received this trial vaccination produced antibodies against the coronavirus.

• A study that linked gas stoves to childhood asthma cases was backed by two groups that are pushing for Americans to adopt electric stoves.
  
• The study was partly funded by RMI, a group that seeks to “accelerate the clean energy transition,” and co-authored by RMI’s Carbon-Free Buildings team that aims to retrofit buildings with electric appliances in 20 states.
  
• The study was also co-authored by Rewiring America (RA) Research Associate Talor Gruenwald, a research associate at Rewiring America (RA), a nonprofit that is committed to “electrifying everything” in communities across America, according to its website.