HVS Conference on Non-Human Sentience
Contents
Description of the Conference
The Conference on Non-Human Sentience, was called by Leo XIV in the Apostolic Letter "Sapientum Concilium". In the Letter, Leo explains his reasons, among them "We have been requested to issue Decretals upon these matters, and upon our desk are more than a dozen solicitations for rescripts with respect to individual Bishops and Ordinaries’ decisions relating to non-humans. Suggestions have been made that a full Apostolic Constitution is required to guide the Church in this matter. In this we concur. Yet we would not proceed in such a momentous matter without the assistance and wisdom of the Church’s Bishops, scholars, and theologians."
He also refers, in relatively dry terms, to the last Vatican attempt to deal with the matter. A juicier description can be found in the account of journalist David Tedeschi, who was present at that Sixtus' Council.
A General Overview of the Conference:
- The Conference will take place at the newly-renovated and expanded Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, in Rome.
- The Conference will be scheduled over three consecutive years, with General Sessions interspersed with Committee work, and recesses for Delegates to return to their diocese and institutions for consultation and visitation.
- Conference attendees will each be assigned status according to their role as approved by the Conference Committee:
- Delegates will be seated on the floor during Plenary Sessions, will be permitted to vote, and will be permitted to formally submit reports, recommendations and requests for consideration by the Conference.
- Advisors will be provided gallery seating, will be permitted to serve on Committees as requested, and can request the privilege of addressing the Conference at the discretion of the President, Proctor, and Convenor. They are empowered to vote or to make recommendations, reports, or requests.
- Observers will be provided gallery seating, and can be requested by Committee Convenors or the Conference Convenor to comment upon matters under discussion at the Convenor's discretion.
- Only Catholic Ordinaries (Bishops, Archbishops, Abbots/Abbesses, Presidents of Orders, Congregations, or Catholic Universities) are eligible to have their qualifications and requests for Delegate status reviewed.
- The strictest formal protocol will obtain during all General Sessions, with the Holy Father present both for the Opening and the Final Report of the Conference. A less-formal but strictly-enforced protocol will prevail in Committees.
- Committees have been established in advance of the Conference by the Conference Organizing Committee, and Convenors would be selected from among Delegates expressing an interest in the Committee by the Holy Father.
- All Recommendations, and the Final Report of the Conference, will be formally submitted to the Holy Father under the Seal of the Conference, by supermajority vote of the Plenary Session. Minority and dissenting reports could be submitted, but without the Seal of the Conference.
Constitution and Rules
In order to ensure smooth running of the Conference, all attendees and delegates should read the Constitution and the Rules.
