Synod: A chance to let the Holy Spirit lead
Bishop Michael Martin calls on all people to embrace the Synod on Synodality, the Church’s worldwide effort to prayerfully listen to the Holy Spirit and to one another. Read it here.
Participants in the assembly of the Synod of Bishops gather in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican to pray before the opening session Oct. 2, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
Synodality, an antidote to polarization, helps mission, cardinal says
VATICAN CITY— At the end of a multiyear process of listening, praying, discussing and discerning, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, said he hopes the Synod of Bishops can give Catholics four practical suggestions for being a more "synodal" church.
"What four things? I can't tell you right now, but I sure wish we could give four pieces of guidance to the people of God across the world," the cardinal told Catholic News Service Oct. 4.
In a message to the people of his archdiocese, Cardinal Tobin said synodality -- which involves listening to one another and the Holy Spirit and helping every baptized person take responsibility for their role in the church -- "is not an end in itself; we're not pursuing synodality as the ultimate goal."
Instead, he said, synodality "is a way of carrying out the mission that has been entrusted to us, and is, without a doubt, the responsibility of every baptized person."
Asked why it is so important to the church now, Cardinal Tobin said that in the "marvelous mosaic of the North American church, I think synodality is absolutely necessary as an antidote to polarization and division."
For instance, he said, "it struck me a year or two ago that we as bishops in the United States, in our assemblies, have never been able to speak about any of the exhortations of Pope Francis" -- from "Evangelii Gaudium," or the "Joy of the Gospel," to "Fratelli Tutti" -- when discussing the plans and priorities of the church in the United States.
"It dawned on me that perhaps we lack that sense of synodality that unlocks those documents and shows us the way forward," he said. It is important "to listen to others, so that when we propose priorities, we're actually speaking because we've listened to the people."
Pope Francis set up study groups to delve into several of the topics thousands of people raised in the preparatory process for the synod -- topics like women's role in the church, the procedure for choosing bishops, designing seminary programs to help priests learn to collaborate, ministry to LGBTQ Catholics and relations between bishops and members of religious orders.
While members of the synod heard reports on the study groups' progress Oct. 2, those topics were not treated in-depth in the working document that will guide synod discussions through Oct. 27.
Cardinal Tobin said he did not think the topics were "off the table," but that the study groups were a way "to keep those themes alive" without letting any one of them "capture the whole imagination of the synod, because we are still trying to figure out what a synodal missionary church looks like."
— Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
Synod stresses global approach to role of women, doctrinal development
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Synod stresses global approach to role of women, doctrinal development
VATICAN CITY — Controversy over women's ordination, even at the synod, detracts attention from the plight of women in the Catholic Church and society, said an Australian bishop, who is a member of the Synod of Bishops.
When Catholics in the global North are "obsessed" with the issue of women's ordination, "women who in many parts of the church and world are treated as second-class citizens are totally ignored," Bishop Anthony Randazzo of Broken Bay, Australia, said during a press briefing Oct. 4, the third day of the synod on synodality.
In a written report delivered to synod members Oct. 2, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote that his dicastery, assigned to study the question of women's roles in the church, "judges that there is still no room for a positive decision by the magisterium regarding the access of women to the diaconate, understood as a degree of the sacrament of holy orders."
While Bishop Randazzo said he sees no problem with the topic of women's ordination being discussed and studied at the synod, he said such attention should "absolutely not" come at the cost of the dignity of women in the church and in the world.
"Can we stop talking about women and listen to, and speak with, women?" he asked. "This is how the church is called to act."
According to a 2024 Pew Research Center poll, a majority of Catholics surveyed in several Latin American countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Colombia, believe the Catholic Church should allow women to become priests. In the United States, 64% of Catholics surveyed agreed and a majority of Catholics in Italy, France and Spain support women's ordination. Data on is not readily available on the sentiment of Catholics in Asia, Africa and Oceania.
Sister Xiskya Lucia Valladares, a member of the Religious of the Purity of Mary, said that although synod members received the report from Cardinal Fernández, the topic of women's ordination continues to be raised in both in small groups and assembly-wide discussions since there is an environment of "complete freedom of expression" encouraged by the synod organizers.
Sheila Leocádia Pires, secretary of the synod's information committee, said that the role of women and the relationship between individual charisms and ordained ministries were themes throughout the day's conversations among synod members.
Asked about reconciling differing views within the church, particularly in regard to the reception of "Fiducia Supplicans" ("Supplicating Trust"), Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero of Rabat, Morocco, said that it would have been preferable if such a document had gone through a synodal process.
The Vatican declaration stated it is permissible to give an informal blessing to a gay or other unmarried couple, though the union itself cannot be blessed, and drew criticism from several bishops in Africa.
Cardinal López, president of the North African regional bishops' conference, said bishops were not consulted about its publication, "so it should not surprise us that there were reactions against some of its points, not all of them."
After the document's publication, Congolese Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo of Kinshasa, president of Symposium of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, released a letter saying most bishops' conferences in Africa would not offer blessings to same-sex couples, though each bishop remained free to do so in his diocese.
Yet Cardinal López said his region was not consulted in Africa's response to the document, despite being part of the continent.
"Learning synodality is not a simple thing," he said. "We are going to have to overcome many setbacks and many moments in which we will have to ask for forgiveness, just as the president of the African bishops asked forgiveness for making a statement without waiting for us make to one."
— Justin McLellan, Catholic News Service
Diversity of perspectives can strengthen the church, synod members say
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Diversity of perspectives can strengthen the church, synod members say
VATICAN CITY — Catholics cannot have a clear view of the biggest issues impacting the church if they do not listen to the perspectives of Catholics who come from different countries or cultures or have different life experiences than they do, said Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas.
"Perspective is not the enemy of the truth. It's the normal way of the church. That's why we have four Gospels," said Bishop Flores, one of nine people Pope Francis chose to serve as president delegates of the Synod of Bishops in 2023 and again this year.
At a news conference Oct. 3, Bishop Flores told reporters covering the synod on synodality that the global listening process that preceded last year's meeting in Rome and the first synod assembly itself were exercises in helping synod members learn to listen to different perspectives.
"The central reality is to be aware that the perspective approaches the same mystery, but from its own context," he said, and "it's important for the rest of the body to hear it, not because we have to kind of pay due to that, but because we don't see as clearly if we don't hear what the local perspective is."
"My diocese is very poor," he told reporters. "It's on the border between Texas and Mexico. It's largely bilingual. But there is a voice there of the people that has something to say about how the Lord Jesus shows himself."
Listening is a discipline, Bishop Flores said. "If it were easy for everyone to listen, we would all do it, but obviously we don't. And so, the synodal reality into the future is a disciplined, patient listening, a perspective that we all need to hear, if we are to get the full picture. But what is the picture? The picture is the face of Christ."
The work of the synod, he said, is to take all the perspectives that have been offered from listening sessions on a local, diocesan, national and continental level and combine them with what was heard from the synod members at the first assembly and try "to find a cohesive voice," one which is not that of any particular person or country, but the voice of the church.
"We are searching for the 'we,'" he said, and "it's a work in progress."
Jesuit Father Giacomo Costa, special secretary of the synod, said the goal of last year's assembly "was to allow all experiences to be heard and to be recognized as a rich blessing of diversity. I remember at the end, after a month, how many people were amazed by the experiences of the church that they would never have imagined."
The task now, he said, is to "identify convergences, divergences and possibilities."
As for the issue of recognizing and strengthening the role of women in the church, an issue that was mentioned repeatedly at every stage of the synod consultation and sessions at the Vatican, St. Joseph Sister Maria de los Dolores Palencia Gómez, another synod president delegate, said that "a path is being carved and is already bearing fruit," although the pace varies by culture and context.
"The gifts of women and their contributions to a synodal church are being recognized more and more," she said. "We are taking steps, but we have to take even bigger, faster steps, with greater intensity while also taking into account the contexts, respecting the cultures, dialoguing with those cultures and listening to the women themselves."
— Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
No one has 'exclusive right' to God's voice, pope says at synod opening
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No one has 'exclusive right' to God's voice, pope says at synod opening
VATICAN CITY — Members of the Synod of Bishops must engage in genuine dialogue with those holding differing views, avoid pushing personal agendas and remain open to changing their minds about what is best for the church, Pope Francis said.
"We must free ourselves from everything that prevents the charity of the Spirit from creating harmony in diversity in us and among us," he said in his homily at the synod's opening Mass. "Those who arrogantly claim to have the exclusive right to hear the voice of the Lord cannot hear it."
The pope was joined by the 368 members of the Synod of Bishops for the Mass in St. Peter's Square Oct. 2. The synod's 16 fraternal delegates -- representatives from other Christian communities, who are participating in the assembly without voting privileges -- were the first to process into the square, followed by laypeople and religious who make up the 96 non-bishop voting members of the synod, or just over a quarter of the assembly. The Vatican reported that 77 cardinals attended the Mass.
Pope Francis urged synod participants to be careful "not to see our contributions as points to defend at all costs or agendas to be imposed," but rather to see their personal contribution to the synod proceedings "as a gift to be shared, ready even to sacrifice our own point of view in order to give life to something new, all according to God's plan."
Otherwise, he warned, "we will end up locking ourselves into dialogues among the deaf, where participants seek to advance their own causes or agendas without listening to others and, above all, without listening to the voice of the Lord."
The 87-year-old pope presided over the Mass but remained seated throughout the liturgy. Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, relator general of the synod, was the main celebrant at the altar, joined by Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the synod, and Bishop Luis Marín de San Martín, undersecretary of the synod.
The day after Israeli troops crossed the border into Lebanon and Iran fired ballistic missiles at Israel -- seen as significant escalations of the conflict in the Middle East -- Pope Francis in his homily called on all people to observe a day of prayer and fasting for peace Oct. 7, marking one year since Hamas' attack on Israel that sparked the ongoing conflict.
The pope also announced he will lead the recitation of the rosary for peace at Rome's Basilica of St. Mary Major Oct. 6, and he invited synod members to join him.
"Brothers and sisters, we again take up this synodal journey with a gaze fixed on the world, because the Christian community is always at the service of humanity to announce to all the joy of the Gospel," he said. "It is needed above all in this dramatic hour of history when the winds of war and flames of violence continue to destroy entire peoples and nations."
Bishops process toward the altar in St. Peter's Square during Mass with Pope Francis for the opening of the Synod of Bishops on synodality at the Vatican Oct. 2, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)In his homily, Pope Francis said that the synod is not a "parliamentary assembly," but an effort to understand the history, dreams and hopes of "our brothers and sisters scattered around the world inspired by our same faith, moved by the same desire for holiness."He called on synod members to receive the contributions of the people of God collected throughout the synodal process, which began in October 2021, "with respect and attention, in prayer and in the light of the Word of God" in order to "reach the destination the Lord desires for us."
"The more we realize that we are surrounded by friends who love, respect and appreciate us, friends who want to listen to what we have to say, the more we will feel free to express ourselves spontaneously and openly," the pope said.
Developing such an attitude, he said, is not just a "technique" for facilitating dialogue and group communication dynamics, but is central to the church's vocation as "a welcoming place of gathering."
Though he acknowledged the need to be "great" in spirit, heart and outlook "because the issues that we must deal with are great and delicate, and the situations are broad and universal," the pope also said that "the only way to be worthy of the task entrusted to us is to make ourselves small and to receive one another humbly."
"Let us walk together, let us listen to the Lord, let us be led by the blowing of the Spirit," he said.
— Justin McLellan, Catholic News Service
More: Seven things to know about the second and final session of the Synod on Synodality
Pope defends decision to give women, laymen voting rights at synod
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Pope defends decision to give women, laymen voting rights at synod
Pope Francis gives his blessing during the opening of the first working session of the Synod of Bishops in the Vatican's Paul VI Audience Hall Oct. 2, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis opened the second session of the Synod of Bishops defending his decision to give women and laymen votes at the assembly, saying it reflects the Second Vatican Council's teaching that a bishop exercises his ministry with and within the people of God."It is certainly not a matter of replacing one with the other, rallying to the cry: 'Now it is our turn!'" the pope said as the 368 synod members -- including what the Vatican described as 96 "non-bishops" -- began their work Oct. 2 in the Paul VI Audience Hall.
"We are being asked to work together symphonically, in a composition that unites all of us in the service of God's mercy, in accordance with the different ministries and charisms that the bishop is charged to acknowledge and promote," the pope told the members, seated at round tables with a mix of cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and lay men and women.
Pope Francis said he wanted to respond to a "storm of chattering" that had developed around his expansion of synod membership.
German Cardinal Gerhard Müller, former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and a synod member appointed by the pope, has said, "the canonical status of this assembly is not clear" since so many of the members are not, in fact, bishops.
For decades, however, the men's Union of Superiors General has been asked to elect 10 of their members -- almost always priests, but occasionally a religious brother -- to be full members of the synod. The real novelty Pope Francis introduced last year was to appoint women among the members, including by asking the women's International Union of Superiors General to elect full members like their male counterparts had been doing. A total of 57 women were named members of the synod's 2024 session.
Pope Francis insisted the composition of the assembly "expresses a way of exercising the episcopal ministry consistent with the living tradition of the church and with the teaching of the Second Vatican Council. Never can a bishop, or any other Christian, think of himself 'without others.'"
"The presence in the assembly of the Synod of Bishops of members who are not bishops does not diminish the 'episcopal' dimension of the assembly," he said. "Still less does it place any limitation on, or derogate from, the authority proper to individual bishops and the College of Bishops."
Instead, the pope said, it highlights that bishops are to exercise their authority in a church that recognizes that it lives and grows from relationships between and among its members.
Quoting the ancient hymn "Veni Sancte Spiritus," Pope Francis prayed that the assembly would be "guided by the Holy Spirit, who 'bends the stubborn heart and will, melts the frozen, warms the chill and guides the steps that go astray'" as it strives "to help bring about a truly synodal church, a church in mission, capable of setting out, making herself present in today's geographical and existential peripheries, and seeking to enter into a relationship with everyone in Jesus Christ, our brother and Lord."
Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the synod, told members that if lay people were involved only at the beginning of the process it would "give the illusion of taking part in a decision-making process that however remains concentrated in the hands of a few."
If that were true, he said, "those who claim that the synodal process, once it has passed to the stage of the discernment of the bishops, has extinguished every prophetic instance of the People of God would be right!"
— Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
