of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia, nine members of the Ordinary Council for the Secretariat, the Secretary General of the Synod, the Undersecretary, over a dozen members invited by Pope John Paul II, and 10 fraternal delegates. No women were invited to participate as voting members, though several of the observers were women. In addition to Pope John Paul II, who served as president of the synod, there were multiple other classes of participants. Archbishop Jan Pieter Schotte, CICM, served as Secretary General, Cardinal Godfried Danneels was the Relator General, and the Rev. Walter Kasper was the Special Secretary. The delegate presidents were cardinals John Krol, Joseph Malula, and Johannes Willebrands. Though the number of bishops was much smaller than at the Second Vatican Council, the press corps was significantly larger. Archbishop John Patrick Foley, the president of the Pontifical Commission for Social Communications, reported that in addition to the 200 regular accredited members of the Vatican press corps, 600 accreditations were issued for the synod, half of which were from the United States. Press briefings were given daily in different languages, and the English briefings were given by the Irish priest Diarmuid Martin. Martin, then part of Archbishop Édouard Gagnon's staff at the Pontifical Council for the Family, is today a cardinal and the Archbishop of Dublin. See also Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops Joseph Ratzinger as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith References Synod of bishops in the Catholic Church 1985 in Vatican City 20th-century Catholicism Pope John Paul II 1985 in Christianity Second Vatican Council