The final phase of the much-discussed Synod on Synodality is just a few weeks away: from October 4th to 29th, to be exact. Bishops, religious and lay people from all over the world will gather here in Rome to discuss where the Catholic Church stands at this moment in time – and what direction it needs to take in the future.
Any discussion inevitably involves engaging with ideas and proposals that many will find uncomfortable – or some totally unacceptable. It's the unacceptable ones that are most likely to capture the headlines. That's why, on his return flight from Mongolia, Pope Francis again insisted on the spiritual nature of the upcoming assembly…
POPE FRANCIS
The Synod is not a television programme or a talk-show. It is a religious occasion, a moment of spiritual exchange. Synod participants will speak for three or four minutes each, followed by three or four minutes of prayer.
There will always be those who choose to reduce everything about the Catholic Church into a struggle between progressives and conservatives. But, as the Pope never ceases to remind us, the Church is not a group of feuding political parties – and neither is the Synod.
POPE FRANCIS
There is no room for ideology in the Synod. It has a different dynamic. The Synod is a dialogue among the baptized members of the Church, concerning the life of the Church.
It's important to remember that a quarter of the participants in the Synod General Assembly will not even be bishops. In fact, one of the declared aims of this Synod is to give greater time and space to the voices of lay women and men. Their growing role as decision-makers is already evident in the number of lay persons currently holding positions of responsibility within several Vatican departments.
Critics of the Synod already fear seeing similarities with Germany's recent Synodal Way which discussed, among other things, the blessing of same-sex couples, and married priests. In reality, what happened in Germany has very little in common with what is about to happen in Rome: this Universal Synod is not about changing doctrine or tradition. It's about finding new ways to articulate the participation of the faithful and exploring how to improve relationships and communications within the Universal Church. This is something the Secretary General of the Synod, Cardinal Grech, has always been at pains to emphasize…
CARD.MARIO GRECH
Secretary General of the Synod
The Synod is a spiritual process. If we do not constantly invoke the Holy Spirit it will be a failure. It is not a sociological experiment. It is not a debate or an exercise in democracy.
From the outside looking in, anyone expecting radical changes to Church doctrine is likely to be disappointed. From the inside looking out, what we can expect is some animated discussion, and serious listening, about the changing challenges of being an active member of Christ's Church on earth in the 21st Century.
Seàn-Patrick Lovett
