2 Year Catholic Synod Begins Next Month
October 7 opens a Church Wide process understand our mission for out times.
One of Pope Francis’ most famous sayings is to “make a mess.” Often used to denigrate his legacy, the term actually was a call to young people to shake things up to more powerfully spread the Gospel. His style changed the status quo of life in the Catholic Church and it may be in the process of doing it again.
The Pope called a worldwide two-year synod that will listen to the voice of all Catholics, especially, according to the documents released yesterday, those baptized members of the faith who feel marginalized.
The synod will begin with a solemn gathering of bishops on October 7, ten days later it will open to all Catholics worldwide in their local dioceses. The focus will be to understand Catholic witness to the current world in light of the movement of the Holy Spirit in these times. It will close in October of 2023 with another gathering of bishops.
The two-year process will highlight the question: A synodal Church, in announcing the Gospel, “journeys together:” How is this “journeying together” happening today in your particular Church? What steps does the Spirit invite us to take in order to grow in our “journeying together”?
The focus of a synodal Church is a union of vision of mission. The point is to listen to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and to hear his guidance for Catholics for the future.
The latest document makes clear that this is not the same as a democratic process where everyone focuses on their own self-interests. The synod will focus on the Church’s interaction with other churches, societies, respective countries, and to herself.
“The consultation of the People of God does not imply the assumption within the Church of the dynamics of democracy based on the principle of majority, because there is, at the basis of participation in every synodal process, a shared passion for the common mission of evangelization and not the representation of conflicting interests.” according to the preparatory document
The synod intends to explore ten “nuclei” over the two-year process, among them are the questions:
Who is journeying with us? Who is part of the journey? What groups are left on the ecclesial margins?
The process will invite all baptized Catholics to bring their voice to be heard and for discernment of where the Holy Spirit is leading this Church for the future. It will work through presbyteral councils which are councils of priests who serve in each diocese and pastoral councils which are councils of lay people in every parish. Some dioceses also have a pastoral council again of laypeople.
When people look to the Catholic Church, they think of a hierarchical structure where leaders in Rome decide what is true Catholic doctrine and encourage everyone to obey it. There is, after all, the statement Roma locuta est, causa finita est, which means Rome has spoken, the case is closed. However, Catholicism has both a top-down and a bottom-up understanding of listening to the Holy Spirit. Top-down is where the hierarchy speaks but bottom-up is where ideas and traditions begin with the laity and spread throughout the Church.
Pope Francis is a firm believer of the former and the latter and so he is open to what is called synodality. This is where members of the entire church weigh in on issues affecting her. The pontiff maintains that the Holy Spirit may choose to speak through all baptized Catholics.
This is an important point because bishops, often seen as the doctrinal leaders, often have limited experience with parishioners. Take, for example, the immensely popular Bishop Barron. He often speaks of responding to many of the comments in his online forums and addresses many issues brought to his attention but he, like many other bishops, was a seminary professor and seminary rector before becoming a bishop. He is, therefore, an academic and not historically in touch with regular people on a day-to-day basis except through his online work. The same with so many others who never encounter people at the parish level except in limited ways.
George Weigel criticizes the process where bishops choose bishops extending this ecclesial class of leadership in the Church.
The pope, however, calls for all Catholics to have a voice with the understanding that the Holy Spirit speaks through the baptized.
He seems to make a special call to Catholics who feel they are marginalized by the Church.
This presents a challenge for all on the front lines of Catholic life. For example, many people think incorrectly they are rejected by the Catholic Church. How do Catholic leaders correct this misunderstanding and how do they bring Catholics on the margins to hear and embrace the Gospel message? One step, according to the document, is to listen to those who believe they are on the fringe of the Church.
Some Catholics especially in the United States, confuse American values and Catholic values. Some Catholic bookstores even sell images of Jesus wrapped in the American flag. Worse yet, the loyalty to the Democrats or the Republicans is confused with being a good or bad Catholic.
The upcoming two-year synod is rather a call for all Catholics tied into the mission of the Church to have a voice in living out that vision for our current times. It is not to instill a new constitution of the Catholic church such as what was created by some US academics decades ago. Rather, it is to listen to hear where the Holy Spirit is calling the Church today.
The fruit of the synod should be apparent at its closing ceremony in October of 2023.
In either case, the process announced today begins next month in Rome.