and 13 superiors-general of religious orders of men, asking him to intervene and prevent the doctrine of collegiality from being accepted at the council. Encyclical on the Church Five weeks before the opening of the Third Session, pope Paul published his first encyclical, Ecclesiam suam, on the Church. Some were annoyed that the pope would issue an encyclical on the very subject that was being discussed at the council. Women lay auditors Following a remark by Cardinal Suenens at the end of the second session that women were absent from the council, pope Paul appointed 15 women to be lay auditors during the third Session. Eventually 23 women, including 10 religious, would sit in on debates as official auditors. While 3 of the male auditors would eventually be asked to address the Council Fathers about their concerns as laypeople, none of the women would be asked to speak. Third period: 14 September – 21 November 1964 Opening The Third Session opened with a ceremony that most people in the Latin Church had never experienced before: a concelebrated mass. The Pope celebrated mass along with 24 bishops representing 19 different countries. The mass was followed by a long address by the Pope, in which the relationship between the papacy and the episcopal office figured prominently. While granting the importance of strengthening the episcopal function, he defended the authority and prerogatives of the papacy. Most Council Fathers hoped this would be the final Session of the council. The hope was optimistic since 6 schemas had not finished their course through the conciliar process, and 8 others had not even been examined yet. Seven of these were “practical” schemas whose goal was to update various aspects of the life and practice of the Church. The eighth was the important schema about the Church in the Modern World. It would eventually become clear that a fourth session was necessary. Schema on the Church After being revised during the interval, the schema now had 8 chapters instead of 4. 1. The Mystery of the Church 2. The People of God 3. The Hierarchical Structure; in particular the Episcopate 4. The Laity 5. The Universal Call to Holiness 6. The Religious Life 7. The Pilgrim Church and its Union with the Church in Heaven 8. The Virgin Mary The chapter on the People of God had been moved from third to second place, so that the