Danneels said he expects the topic of collegiality to be discussed at the next general synod, devoted especially to the role of bishops. That meeting is currently scheduled for October of 2000. Among some residential bishops, O'Brien said, there is a frustration that the cardinals and archbishops who run curial agencies seem out of touch with local realities. As a case in point, O'Brien said the bishops of Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales had hoped to hold special sacrament of reconciliation services during Lent in 2000, in keeping with the theme of the Jubilee Year. The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments refused permission for the services.
Medina heads the congregation.
To break such logjams, O'Brien said he thought another council might be necessary. You cannot do it on two or three questions, you have to do it on the general state of the church. I don't know that we are ready to do that in the next one or two years. But O'Brien added that he wasn't talking about a council merely of bishops.