Abstract

The Council of Trent strengthened the bishop's office in the Catholic Church. It took three centuries until papal infallibility and jurisdiction could be defined. Synodal assemblies were under the superintendent of the Roman Curia after the First Vatican Council. Lumen Gentium tried to restore the balance between pope and bishops. After the Second Vatican Council, the popes promoted the bishop's synods, which were controlled by them, while synods were intensified in the countries and dioceses. The tension between centrality and synodality must, however, continue to be sustained and brought into a new relationship with each other.