The Synod on Synodality opened in the Vatican last month. But some are still having trouble expressing exactly what a “Synod on Synodality” really is.
Which is why we asked Sister Nathalie Becquart, the first woman to be appointed Under-Secretary for the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops with the right to vote. Part of her job is to help communicate to the world what the Synod is all about.
SR NATHALIE BECQUART
Under-Secretary of the Synod of Bishops
The difficulty with the Synod, you know, it's, we can say, an abstract concept. But it's very easy to connect, because 'Synod and Church are synonymous. So, it's about the Church. Which kind of Church we want to be today? Or it's more about how God is trying to call the Church to be today, to be with the people to reach the people, to be the Church for this century.'
Sister Nathalie's experience in management and marketing is proving very useful in her new role – part of which is to reassure those who are afraid a Synod on Synodality means promoting unecessary change in the Church.
SR NATHALIE BECQUART
Under-Secretary of the Synod of Bishops
'Everybody can agree, that our world is changing very fast, and we are just leaving a pandemic. So you can't be exactly the same, because the world is changing. And the Church is within the world, through the world, but has to find, to discern, a good way to be faithful to our mission.'
Sister Nathalie learned to navigate change thanks to her special relationship with the sea. She was once a skipper on a sailboat that took young people on spiritual retreats. That maritime connection is helping her to navigate the currents of the present Synod.
SR NATHALIE BECQUART
Under-Secretary of the Synod of Bishops
'It's always risky to sail. So it's normal to be afraid. But then you know, as a good sailor, you have to learn where are the good currents, and where are the counter currents, and to navigate. So that the same in our life, you have the good spirits that push you to life, to serve, to peace, to joy. And you have counter currents, of fears, of anxieties, troubles. So you have to understand like on the sea, where are the good currents and the bad currents.'
One of the oldest images of the Church is as a boat upon the sea, a Church that's not afraid to “put out into the deep”.
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