Although the October 4-24 synod on the family was the best-run synod of bishops since its institution by Pope Paul VI after the Second Vatican Council, there are still ways that the synod process could be improved.
First, what went well?
The most important improvement instituted by Pope Francis was open and free debate.
Earlier synods were often an embarrassment.
The synod was instituted as an advisory body to the pope, but scores of bishops would get up to quote the pope to himself, as if he did not know what he had said.
The synod became an opportunity to prove one’s loyalty to the Vatican rather than advise the Pope.
A number of synod delegates reported that at synods in the past, curial cardinals would go around telling the bishops what topics could not be discussed.
The entire process was carefully stage-managed by Vatican officials, and bishops who ignored the playbook, like San Francisco Archbishop John R. Quinn in 1980, got slapped down.
On the other hand, Francis at the beginning of last year’s synod encouraged discussion and even told the bishops to speak boldly and feel free to disagree with him.
This is what made conservative conspiracy theories about the synod on the family so laughable.
They claimed that the synod was being manipulated and the conclusions were already determined.
In other words, they were accusing the progressives of doing exactly what the conservatives had done at every synod up to the papacy of Francis.
In reality, it was sour grapes. The conservatives were really complaining because they were no longer in control.
Francis returned the Church to the open atmosphere and process that was in place during the Second Vatican Council, but was closed down because of papal fears of chaos and disunity. Continue reading
- Jesuit Fr Thomas Reese is a senior analyst for the National Catholic Reporter and author of Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church
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