Quinquennial visit ad limina

Ad limina visit is called a canonical obligation of the Roman Catholic bishops, personally pay usually every five years the Pope to visit and give it a report on the status of each diocese. The term derives from visitatio ad limina Apostolorum " visit to the doorsteps ( the grave churches ) of the Apostles ( Peter and Paul ) ."

Control

The ad limina visit is governed by the canons 399 and 400 of the Code of Canon Law (CIC ) or Canon 208 of the Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium ( CCEO ).

History

This mandatory travel the bishops to Rome are attested in the 4th century.

Since the 12th century, these visits were increasingly regulated. First, the head of the ecclesiastical provinces, the metropolitans or archbishops were committed, but later all the bishops.

1585, Pope Sixtus V, the Apostolic Constitution Romanus Pontifex, which defines as the content of the visit: visit and worship tombs of the Apostles, meeting with the Pope and report on the condition of each diocese.

Current drain

Today, the report has been sent to Rome to the Curia gets the opportunity to prepare an appropriate exchange and speeches from six to three months before the visit in writing.

During the visit, the bishops also hold talks in the various departments of the Vatican.

Average each year about 500 bishops ad limina visit to Rome, not infrequently, several bishops of a region close this together.

Due to various events, the distance between the ad limina visits can also enlarge or reduce.

Importance

The ad limina visits are in addition to synods and councils to the instruments of the unity of the Church. Here, the symbolic- symbolic element is as important as the exchange of information and perspective expansion on a world scale.

Ad limina visits of the German Bishops

From 8 to 20 November 1999, the German bishops were divided into three groups in Rome, from 6 to 18 November, 2006 two groups.

Austrian bishops were in January 2014 in Rome, the Swiss bishops in early February 2005.