By Don Aguiar.
Mumbai, Nov 15, 2021: We as a Church – worldwide – are preparing for a “synod on synodality” in 2023. Pope Francis is asking us to become “a synodal Church.” And in various places Catholics are preparing for ‘synods’ of various kinds.
But if everyone in the big room is shouting, “Let’s have synodality!” over in the corner there is a voice saying, “But I do not even know what that means!” If you sense you do not know what synodality means, that is a good place to be because no one knows exactly what it means.
This is a Synod on synodality, we were told. My first reaction was: what is synodality? The word is real churchy e.g. synodality. What do they translate as in everyday language? Do we mean to make the church “democratic”? Or the top heavy hierarchical structure to remain with some condescension to other members of the baptised? Do we mean all have equal rights in the church? Do we mean that the clerics will have their role assisting in liturgy but the church will be organised by committed and competent hands be they women or laypersons, religious or diocesan?
“Synodality means walking together,” we were then told. But this had to be explained several times, and not only to those less educated. Synodality is a strange word, even for the more literate. So, I have a problem with the word used to describe the theme of the Synod because talking about a synodal Church does not attract much attention. It does not make people want to participate in the discussions. I think this is the case for many lay people. Therefore, we should start by translating this somewhat “learned” word into something that is immediately understandable, even into a slogan that will excite people.
For Pope Francis, convening a Synod assembly on the synodality of the Church is to make Christians aware of the very nature of the Church: to make a real body by giving importance to all the members.
This Synod invites all Christians to no longer remain in the situation of passive consumers, but to resolutely commit themselves to the joint action of proclaiming the Good News of Christ.
The stakes are set by its very theme: to journey together in communion and with the participation of all.
The Synod of Bishops’ secretariat in Rome has put extensive emphasis on listening — to God in the Holy Spirit and to one another. But in the Christian tradition, the act of listening is always connected to reading: not just Scripture, but also whatever is conducive to listening to the revelation of God in history and our lives in order to discern the ways God speaks to us today.
The problem is that there are new forms of illiteracy and ignorance today that affect the Church, and this is a key element in understanding why a number of Catholics seem indifferent to or uninterested in the “synodal process.” Some of the reticence is rooted in an opposition to Pope Francis or the Second Vatican Council. But the problem is actually much deeper.
Sexual abuse is rooted in abuse of power, which is very often the first step. While abuse of power can take many forms, many abusers rely on the excessive and, let’s say it, clericalist use of secrecy. For decades many Church bodies, including the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, have repeatedly called for removing the pontifical secret. On December 17, 2019, Pope Francis finally lifted it for cases of sexual violence and abuse of minors committed by members of the clergy. Nevertheless, this is just one step. A culture of secrecy still exists in the Church, for reasons not always justified and or even healthy. This culture continues to contribute to authoritarianism, clericalism and patriarchalism – all attitudes deeply disrespectful of equality among the baptized.
The Indian Catholic Church is presently engaged in a synodal process. Through this process, all in the Church are invited to grow into a deeper sense of what it means to be Catholic — of growing into deeper Communion, of participating in the life of the Church and of reaching out to the world in Mission.
At Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune, they are seeking to understand how people are involved in the life of the Church at present. Hence, they are conducting a pilot survey to get an initial glimpse of how we see ourselves as ‘journeying together’ as the Church and how they could improve Church functioning.
The response is based on a vast slew of experience of participation in communities and their governance.
Some of it is relevant and some of it is completely irrelevant to today’s challenges and opportunities to set the course and manage the conduct of life in the Church. For example, today we can assume greater managerial responsibilities commensurate with qualifications and experience in particular areas of missionary or apostolic activity, whether or not we also hold or have ecclesiastical status as, for example, a cleric may enjoy.
And then there are those tasks and responsibilities that require the munus or office authorized by the clerical state. And that is exactly where the trouble starts for the exercise of governance in the Catholic Church. Despite all manner of exhortations to share in and participate in governance of the Church, it is simply and practically impossible without the munus that comes with orders.
Away from the strict boundaries of those ten themes, circulated as an objective pilot survey:
– Where would the laity fit in the compulsory setting up of catholic associations in every single parish with a lay woman or man as president? This to be different and separate from parish councils with parish priest as chairman?
– What would be the takeaway for the laity? What do we want the Holy Father to hear from and of the Indian lay faithful?
– If the Laity at the grass root level are not being looked at, bothered about and consulted by the powers in charge, how are they expected to put forth their desires, demands, opinions through a process of discernment and dialogue?
– If the consultation can be among various groups of laity, as made out, and there is no hard and fast rule, then will the results be collated to find a place in the final document of the Synode?
In less than a decade “synod” has shifted from being a technical word used by lawyers and Church bureaucrats to being a buzz word – and, apparently, it points to a magic formula that can solve the really deep problems that afflict us in the Church today.
Synods are very different because only people of a certain status in the Church get to participate and not all those participating get to have an effective say in what is decided. Sometimes, the best that many in a synod without a deliberative or decisive voice or vote can hope for is consultative status. So, synods are not democratic.
The word ‘synodality’ continues to recur regularly in Catholic circles. It is a word that didn’t even exist a mere few years ago. It was coined by Pope Francis, to express… what? That question is the focus of much commentary.
Of course no dictionary will help us. The word is too new. As yet, synodality has no definition. We have to use linguistic clues to tease out just what Francis is trying to communicate by coining it. Definition will have to await an experience of this new kind of reality. We will only learn what possibilities it contains, as well as its limits, by actual participation in it.
As made known although it is called the Synod of Bishops, in order for this synodal assembly to be an event for the whole Church and not only a matter for “clerics”, it is important to ensure — and this is the objective of the general secretariat of the Synod — the real and effective involvement of the laity in its preparatory phase and its implementation – political scientist opined and asserted that the influence and importance of religion in world politics will grow considerably, and that it will fill the vacuum created by the loss of political ideology – holding the opinion and assertion of the political scientists, will the real and effective involvement of the laity be achieved? Or will it continue as king and subjects?
The Church is not the private property of the hierarchy, even if it is the hierarchy that is responsible for its proper functioning. We must all be aware of this!
Clearly, Catholics have a long way to go as Catholics have put ever more trust in doing it all from Rome over the centuries. But Catholics can’t stay where they are. They will just get bogged down in their own frequent failures to meet the challenges of the times.