This practice passed into the post-Apostolic period, as evidenced by one of the oldest known synods (already in the 2nd century) that all the faithful participated in early synods: A For this reason believers in Asia often assembled in many Asian localities, examined the new doctrines, and condemned the heresy (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History (PG 20, 468). St. Cyprian (3rd century) bore witness to the custom of the people having the right not only to elect, but also to reject and even recall bishops: AThe people themselves most especially have the power to choose worthy bishops or to reject unworthy ones (Epistle, 67, 3, CSEL, 3.2.737). Following the old Roman principle, A Whatever affects everyone must be decided upon by everyone, St. Cyprian very often convoked synods: A Concilio frequenter acto (Epistle xxvi), and wrote to his priests and deacons: A From the beginning of my episcopate I have been determined to undertake nothing on my own private judgment without consulting you and gaining the assent of the people (PL 4, 234).

Every Catholic schoolgirl and schoolboy knows the stories of the elections of St. Ambrose as bishop of Milan and St. Augustine bishop of Hippo (4th and 5th centuries) by the acclamation of the people: A Nos elegimus eum!  A We elect him! A little later Pope St. Celestine (d. 432 A.D.) said: A No one is given the episcopate uninvited. The consent and desire of the clerics, the people, and leadership are required (Epistle, iv, 5; PL, 50, 431). That redoubtable Pope St. Leo the Great
(d. 461 A.D.), who faced down Attila the Hun and saved Rome from the sack, wrote: A Let him who will stand before all be elected by all (Epistle, x, 4; PL, 54, 634).

These principles from the early centuries of Christian practice were reiterated in various synods until as late as the Council of Paris in 829 A.D. Basically the election of bishops by the clergy and people remained in effect until the 12th century over half the present span of Christianity. In addition, the first seven Ecumenical Councils, which set all the basic Christian doctrines, were all convoked, presided over, and promulgated, not by popes or bishops or even clerics, but by laymen and shocking! A lay woman! Further, every single Catholic religious order of priests, sisters, or brothers have from their beginnings with St. Benedict in the sixth century governed themselves by Constitutions! which include the election of leaders, limited term of office, due process of law........
All democratic structures centuries before the American Constitution.

C) Democracy at the Beginning of the American Catholic Church
Even at the beginning of the United States of America, our first bishop, John Carroll (1735-1815), and his two coadjutor bishops were, with the full approval of Rome, elected at least by all of the priests of the U.S.; Carroll then proposed a similar election of all subsequent bishops in America only to be blocked by Rome. One of Carroll's greatest successors, John England, Bishop of the Carolinas 1820-1840, governed his diocese with a Constitution, which the entire diocese approved before it took effect; following his Constitution, he held an Annual Diocesan Convention, at which he gave a full accounting of all activities, including the finances (Leonard Swidler, Toward a Catholic Constitution. New York; Crossroad, 1996. Pp. 118-25).

D) The Contemporary Magisterium supports Democracy
Then perhaps unconsciously following Bishop England's example, Pope Paul VI called for a Catholic Constitution, a Lex Fundamentalis Ecclesiae. He went further in 1967 and 71, stating: A>It belongs to the laity, without waiting passively for orders and directives, to take the initiative.....infuse a Christian spirit into the mentality, customs, laws and structures of the community in which they live. [Paul VI, Populorum  progressio (1967). One of the most important communities we live in is the Catholic Church!] Let each one examine himself, to see what he has done up to now, and what he ought to do. It is not enough to recall principles, state intentions, point to crying injustice and utter prophetic denunciations; these words will lack real weight unless they are accompanied for each individual by a livelier awareness of personal responsibility and by effective action. [Paul VI, Octogesima adveniens (1971)] Here is a call to action to all of us by the pope himself!

Pope John Paul II continued on this path when he noted that A Democracy...represents a most important topic for the new millennium...[the Church] values the democratic system inasmuch as it ensures the participation of citizens in making political choices, guarantees to the governed the possibility both of electing and holding accountable those who govern them, and of replacing them. ( A John Paul II to the Participants in the 6th Plenary Session of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, February 23, 2000.)

In brief, then: What the Church needs in the 21st century is a Return to Tradition of shared rights and responsibilities for all the A People of God, spelled out in written form for all to see a Constitution!

II. International Movement for a Catholic Constitution

A) A Discussion Begun─But Only
Fllowing from the Second Vatican Council and the call for a Catholic Constitution by Pope Paul VI, is an International Movement for a Catholic Constitution. Such a Constitution will be in the spirit of Jesus Gospel of liberation and love and adaptive of the most mature governance principles available at the start of the Third Millennium. Spearheading this Movement is the Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church (ARCC http://arcc-catholic-rights.org), which in the course of several years and with world-wide collaboration has drawn up a Proposed Catholic Constitution. This Proposed Catholic Constitution has been carefully researched, thought through, drafted and re-drafted numerous times. Nevertheless, it is intended as a Proposed draft to launch a discussion which must range long, wide, and deep before the Constitution will begin to be accepted as an effective instrument to undergird the governance of the whole Catholic Church.

This discussion needs to include the experience and wisdom of groups such as canon lawyers, theologians, church historians, pastors, bishops, popes, constitutional lawyers, political scientists, sociologists, psychologists, educators, business people, etc., as well as parents, young persons, older persons, women, men in short, all categories of the members of the Catholic Church. We also need to learn from the experience of other churches which have developed various forms of responsibility-sharing, democratic structures in their own governance; we will want to learn by their positive and negative experiences.

B) A Change of Catholic Consciousness Needed
Perhaps the most important change that must be brought about to make a Catholic Constitution a reality is a change in
the consciousness, mentality, of Catholics laity and clergy. Our Catholic tradition and community must be experienced
as a living source of how to make life meaningful and vital how to make it whole, (w)holy, as something liberating for
which we mature Christians feel a reciprocal sense of responsibility. This includes an adult sharing in claiming rights
and shouldering responsibilities, in short, a sharing in democracy in a Constitution. If the seemingly endless present sexual abuse scandal has taught us anything, it is that we can allow no more secrecy, no more closed-door decisions about where our money goes, about who gets appointed to what positions, about who appoints them. We need the governance of law, and that means the laws have to be written down for all to see and know, and there have to be procedures to make certain that the laws are followed. In other words, we are talking about what? About a Constitution!

 III. What To Do─Now!

A) Learn About and Spread the Idea of Catholic Democracy and a Constitution
Therefore I urge the following:

1. That each reader of these words, and through them, all the Catholic organizations and groups s/he has contact with, engage in serious study, deep reflection, thorough discussion, and eventual action on the idea, principles and specifics
of Catholic responsibility-sharing, a democratic Catholicism, and a Constitution.(Send copies of all communications to ARCC E-mail: arccangel@charter.net; WEB: http://arcc-catholic-rights.org ;Post: PO Box 85  Southampton, MA 01073, which will archive, share, and monitor the results of these actions.)

2. That each reader of these words, and all the Catholic organizations and groups they are involved with, use every
creative means to disseminate and publicize the idea, principles, and specifics of a democratic Catholicism and a Constitution e.g., through newspaper and periodical articles, newsletters, letters to the editor, lectures, textbooks, homilies, classes, radio and TV broadcasts, e-mail, World Wide Web.

B) But Start Acting Now on the Local Level
However, we cannot just study, reflect and discuss vital as they are. We need to start to act now on our local levels. Therefore, I urge,

3. That each begin immediately to work with her/his pastors to start a process bringing together All elements of the parish to draw up a A parish constitution by which the parish will be governed.

4.That each begin immediately to work with his/her bishops to start a process bringing together All elements  of the diocese to draw up a A Diocesan Constitution by which the diocese will be governed.

Remember:
There are no restrictions at all in the 1983 Code of Canon Law concerning setting up Constitutions on the parish and diocesan levels. These actions lie completely in the hands of the local pastor and bishop to initiate without any permissions needed.

While it is true that a subsequent pastor or bishop would not have to honor his predecessors Constitution, the ball will have been set rolling, and it will be difficult to reverse the momentum. This will be especially true if several parishes and dioceses successfully inaugurate Parish and Diocesan Constitutions. Clearly a successfully drafted and implemented Parish and Diocesan Constitution will have a very positive effect on the parishes in the diocese, and on other dioceses. Pressure for substantive change must come from the bottom up from each reader!

C) Start Acting Now on the National Level

5. That all A religious sisters and brothers use their special charisma of a long and intense experience with constitutions, democratic structures, dialogue, and subsidiarity, especially in the profound revision and renewal of structures all religious societies went through in the years after Vatican II that they use this charisma to help the Universal Church understand that these democratic principles are in deep symbiosis with the liberative goals of Jesus A Good News, and thus expand and deepen our Christianness.

Hence, each religious and her/his societies ought to consciously strategize how they can make this sharing of their wisdom and experience of democratic structures and spirit in the Church a priority in their apostolate to the Universal Church. Further, each religious society ought to seek out collaborative groupings with other religious societies and lay and priestly organizations.