ABSTRACT
The accelerated rhythm of modern life demands that a bishop constantly re-examine policies and procedures. His responsibilities demand full use of mind and body. Old age creates a gap between the bishop and the world he must serve, and between himself and his clergy. The bishops of Africa took the lead in asking that auxiliary or coadjutor bishops be abolished, since their people did not understand how "after the long and tiring ceremony of consecration a new bishop doesn't yet have all the powers necessary". The core of the debate was twofold: the bishops of the world no longer remembered how to exercise synodal power, for they had forgotten the tradition of the ancient Church maintained in the East; and they did not trust one another. Many felt freer under Rome than under certain cardinals, or "power centers" of other bishops which might arise in their own country.
