POPE FRANCIS ANNOUNCES A NEW SYNOD ON CHURCH REFORM
"FOR A SYNODAL CHURCH: COMMUNION, PARTICIPATION AND MISSION"
by John R. Connolly
"FOR A SYNODAL CHURCH: COMMUNION, PARTICIPATION AND MISSION"
by John R. Connolly
On September 3, 2021, Pope Francis announced the formation of a new synod of the universal church which will focus on reforming the synodal process. The synod will begin on October 10, 2021, with a papal Mass at St. Peter’s and end in October, 2023, with the bishops voting on the document. There will be three phases in the synodal process: a local phase at the diocesan and parish level, a continental phase engaging bishops’ conferences around the world, and a universal phase where bishops and lay people will meet in Rome to discuss the findings and topics developed in the first two phases. Pope Francis has appointed a five-member steering committee along with two commissions, one on methodology and one on theology, to coordinate and guide the entire process. On September 7, 2021, the Vatican issued a preparatory document and a handbook for dioceses as part of the preparation process for the synod. The purpose of the preparatory document, along with its questions, is to facilitate the first phase of the process of listening to and consulting the people of God in the local churches. The handbook offers guidelines for bishops and those helping to facilitate the synodal process on how they can best consult with Catholics and the wider community, particularly those on the margins of society, as well as Christians and non-Christians.
Some of the questions in the preparatory document include the following: to whom does our particular church need to listen to, and how are the laity, especially young people and women, listened to? How do we integrate the contribution of consecrated men and women? What space is there for the voice of minorities, the discarded, and the excluded? Do we identify prejudices and stereotypes that hinder our listening? How do we listen to the social and cultural context in which we live? Some of the specific issues that will likely be discussed include the hierarchical pyramidal structure of the church, the restriction of power in the church to clerics, the abuse of power in the church, priestly formation, the role of lay men and women in the government of the church, the role of national conferences of bishops, and the very nature of the synodal process itself and its role in the church.
At this point neither Pope Francis nor any of the members of the synodal commission are predicting what structural changes might or might not take place in the church as a result of the synod. The more immediate goal is to guide Catholic bishops, priests, religious, and laity through a process of open dialogue and communication at a time when the church is polarized and entrenched in divisions and controversies. In one sense, the goal of the synod is to bring Catholics together, to listen to one another, to respect the views of others, to recognize and acknowledge the limitations of their own views, and to be open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit as the church discerns how to best fulfill its mission in the twenty-first century.
September 8, 2021
Some of the questions in the preparatory document include the following: to whom does our particular church need to listen to, and how are the laity, especially young people and women, listened to? How do we integrate the contribution of consecrated men and women? What space is there for the voice of minorities, the discarded, and the excluded? Do we identify prejudices and stereotypes that hinder our listening? How do we listen to the social and cultural context in which we live? Some of the specific issues that will likely be discussed include the hierarchical pyramidal structure of the church, the restriction of power in the church to clerics, the abuse of power in the church, priestly formation, the role of lay men and women in the government of the church, the role of national conferences of bishops, and the very nature of the synodal process itself and its role in the church.
At this point neither Pope Francis nor any of the members of the synodal commission are predicting what structural changes might or might not take place in the church as a result of the synod. The more immediate goal is to guide Catholic bishops, priests, religious, and laity through a process of open dialogue and communication at a time when the church is polarized and entrenched in divisions and controversies. In one sense, the goal of the synod is to bring Catholics together, to listen to one another, to respect the views of others, to recognize and acknowledge the limitations of their own views, and to be open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit as the church discerns how to best fulfill its mission in the twenty-first century.
September 8, 2021
Pope Francis Announces the Opening of the New Synod
October 10, 2021
by John R. Connolly
October 10, 2021
by John R. Connolly
On October 10, 2021, at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis opened the new Synod on Synodality, whose official name is "Synod 2021-2023: For a Synodal Church." The purpose of the synod is to discuss how the church can become more synodal in its governance. In his homily at the Mass Pope Francis urged all Catholics, himself as pope, bishops, priests, religious and laity as members of the Christian community to embody the style of God as the Church begins the synodal process. Celebrating a synod, Francis says, means “walking on the same road, walking together.” As a starting point for participating in the synod Francis suggests that Catholics adopt the following three attitudes: encounter, listening, and discernment.
The first is encounter. Let Jesus stand as our example. When Jesus encountered the rich man in the Gospel (Mk 10:17) he did not stand aloof. Jesus was not annoyed or disturbed by the rich man or his question. Jesus was present to him as a person. The Gospels are full of Jesus’ encounters with others. In these encounters Jesus uplifts the person and brings healing. He was always at the service of the person in his presence. Pope Francis calls for Catholics to become experts in the art of encounter as the Church enters the synodal process. Encounter means prayer and adoration, hearing what the Spirit has to say. It involves looking others in the eye, listening to what they have to say, building rapport, and being sensitive to the questions of others. Every encounter “calls for openness, courage, and a willingness to let ourselves be challenged by the presence and the stories of others.”
The second attitude is listening. When Jesus encountered the rich man, he listened to his question and to the religious and personal concerns that laid behind it. Jesus “did not give a non-committal reply or offer a prepacked solution; he did not pretend to respond politely, simply as a way of dismissing him and continuing on his way.” Jesus listened with his heart, not just with his ears. He let the rich man tell his story and speak freely about himself. Likewise, Pope Francis states that participation in the synod demands that Catholics learn to listen. The pope, bishops, priests, religious, and laity need to be open to listening to the Spirit, to one another, to the concerns and hopes of every church, people and nation, and to the challenges and changes that the world sets before us. We cannot be barricaded in our own certainties which often close us off to the other. We need to listen to one another.
And finally, we must be able to discern. “Encounter and listening are not ends in themselves, leaving everything just as it was before.” It is the hope that the synodal process will lead to new understandings of the Church and its mission, of ourselves and our spirituality, of our relationships with others, in society and in the world. The encounter with Jesus led the rich man to discern that he could not attain happiness simply by engaging in more religious observations, but that he had to be more open to emptying himself, “selling whatever takes place in his heart, to make more room for God.” Participation in the synod impels all Catholics to also be open to a process of discernment. In Francis’s words, “In these days, Jesus calls us, as he did the rich man in the Gospel, to empty ourselves, to free ourselves from all that is worldly, including our inward-looking and outworn pastoral models; and to ask ourselves what it is that God wants to say to us at this time. And the direction in which he wants to lead us.”
(Source: Pope Francis’s homily, in America, October 10, 2021, article, “Pope Francis: Synod Calls us to Become Experts in the Art of Encounter.”) (see article)
John R. Connolly
October 11, 2021
On October 10, 2021, at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis opened the new Synod on Synodality, whose official name is "Synod 2021-2023: For a Synodal Church." The purpose of the synod is to discuss how the church can become more synodal in its governance. In his homily at the Mass Pope Francis urged all Catholics, himself as pope, bishops, priests, religious and laity as members of the Christian community to embody the style of God as the Church begins the synodal process. Celebrating a synod, Francis says, means “walking on the same road, walking together.” As a starting point for participating in the synod Francis suggests that Catholics adopt the following three attitudes: encounter, listening, and discernment.
The first is encounter. Let Jesus stand as our example. When Jesus encountered the rich man in the Gospel (Mk 10:17) he did not stand aloof. Jesus was not annoyed or disturbed by the rich man or his question. Jesus was present to him as a person. The Gospels are full of Jesus’ encounters with others. In these encounters Jesus uplifts the person and brings healing. He was always at the service of the person in his presence. Pope Francis calls for Catholics to become experts in the art of encounter as the Church enters the synodal process. Encounter means prayer and adoration, hearing what the Spirit has to say. It involves looking others in the eye, listening to what they have to say, building rapport, and being sensitive to the questions of others. Every encounter “calls for openness, courage, and a willingness to let ourselves be challenged by the presence and the stories of others.”
The second attitude is listening. When Jesus encountered the rich man, he listened to his question and to the religious and personal concerns that laid behind it. Jesus “did not give a non-committal reply or offer a prepacked solution; he did not pretend to respond politely, simply as a way of dismissing him and continuing on his way.” Jesus listened with his heart, not just with his ears. He let the rich man tell his story and speak freely about himself. Likewise, Pope Francis states that participation in the synod demands that Catholics learn to listen. The pope, bishops, priests, religious, and laity need to be open to listening to the Spirit, to one another, to the concerns and hopes of every church, people and nation, and to the challenges and changes that the world sets before us. We cannot be barricaded in our own certainties which often close us off to the other. We need to listen to one another.
And finally, we must be able to discern. “Encounter and listening are not ends in themselves, leaving everything just as it was before.” It is the hope that the synodal process will lead to new understandings of the Church and its mission, of ourselves and our spirituality, of our relationships with others, in society and in the world. The encounter with Jesus led the rich man to discern that he could not attain happiness simply by engaging in more religious observations, but that he had to be more open to emptying himself, “selling whatever takes place in his heart, to make more room for God.” Participation in the synod impels all Catholics to also be open to a process of discernment. In Francis’s words, “In these days, Jesus calls us, as he did the rich man in the Gospel, to empty ourselves, to free ourselves from all that is worldly, including our inward-looking and outworn pastoral models; and to ask ourselves what it is that God wants to say to us at this time. And the direction in which he wants to lead us.”
(Source: Pope Francis’s homily, in America, October 10, 2021, article, “Pope Francis: Synod Calls us to Become Experts in the Art of Encounter.”) (see article)
John R. Connolly
October 11, 2021