While some might dismiss the highly anticipated event as a meeting on meetings, the term synodality under Pope Francis has expanded to reflect his vision for dialogue and decision-making in the church.

"I am well aware that speaking of a ‘Synod on Synodality' may seem something abstruse, self-referential, excessively technical, and of little interest to the general public," Francis said to journalists at the Vatican on Aug. 26.

The summit will bring 464 Catholic clergy and laypeople, including women, to the Vatican to discuss hot-button issues ranging from sexual abuse to LGBTQ inclusion and female ordination.

"It is something truly important for the church," the pope said.

What is the Synod on Synodality?

The synod is the result of a two-year process that started in September 2021, when the Vatican released a preparatory document and instructions on how to prepare for the summit.

Catholic faithful around the world then met in their parishes to discuss the questions posed by the synod.

The syntheses of those conversations were then sent to their respective bishops' conferences.

Once bishops had the opportunity to discuss — and debate — the syntheses, they sent their conclusions to the Vatican, where a group of some 30 experts, theologians and pastoral workers met in the town of Frascati near Rome in September 2022 to draft a document that would guide the next phase.

This document, titled "Enlarge the Space of your Tent," was sent to the Continental Assemblies, or groups of bishops divided by continents.

The Eastern churches and Catholic advocacy groups also had a chance to submit their reflections on the synodal topics.

The results of those continental discussions were sent once again to the Vatican, where officials at the synod office drafted another document, the "Instrumentum Laboris 2," that will guide discussions at the upcoming synod.

When is the synod?

On Saturday (Sept. 30), right before the synod takes place, there will be a consistory where 21 new cardinals will be made, followed by an ecumenical vigil in St. Peter's Square. Afterward, participants at the synod will travel to the town of Sacrofano for a spiritual retreat where they will get to meet and talk to one another until the eve of the synod on Oct. 3.

Pope Francis will celebrate the inauguration Mass for the synod on Oct. 4. The Vatican announced in April that the synod will be extended, meaning participants will convene again for a second time in the fall of 2024.

The monthlong synod will be sprinkled with other important gatherings and events, including Masses, pilgrimages, retreats and a prayer for migrants and refugees scheduled for Oct. 19. Attendees will pray the rosary in the Vatican gardens on Oct. 25.

Where is the synod?

Instead of taking place in the traditional synod hall, the summit will unfold at the larger Pope Paul VI Hall, which can hold over 6,000 individuals. This is a reflection of the growing number of participants at the synod.

Participants coming to Rome have found their own accommodations close to the Vatican and the multitude of restaurants surrounding the Vatican will likely become a hub for after-hours synodal discussions.

There will also be a number of other events held around the Vatican during the month of the synod. The Women's Ordination Conference, the Italian Bishops' Conference and the Diocese of Rome, for example, are organizing a series of gatherings and events that will accompany the synod.

Who will attend the synod?

There will be 464 participants at the synod and 365 will have the right to vote. For the first time, laypeople will be full voting members of the synod, compared with earlier synods where only bishops had the right to vote. An unprecedented number of women, 54, will also be attending.

Representatives from Eastern churches and high-ranking members of the Roman Curia will also be present. Pope Francis personally selected 120 delegates.

There will be spiritual assistants, 28 theologians and 34 facilitators, whose role will be to promote a synodal atmosphere at the event and encourage what the "Instrumentum Laboris" describes as "conversations in the spirit." While the spiritual assistants will go on the retreat with synod participants, the facilitators and theologians will remain in Rome to prepare for the summit.

During the proceedings, theologians and facilitators will be encouraged to write down their reflections and observations on how the synod is proceeding.

Two bishops from China will attend, having received permission from authorities in Beijing and the approval of Pope Francis.

This is the second time Chinese bishops have been allowed to participate at a synod; the first time was at the synod on young people in 2018. The Vatican and China do not have formal diplomatic relations even though the two recently renewed an agreement on the appointment of bishops.

Participants were selected by the bishops' conferences but the Vatican sent a list of recommendations to follow, such as the inclusion of laypeople and especially women.

Among them there are also those who disagree with the synod itself, such as U.S. Cardinal Raymond Burke, who has called the synod a "Pandora's box."

There will also be several Germans in attendance who support the Synodal Way, a consultation of bishops and lay Catholics in Germany that took place between 2019 and 2023 and proposed progressive positions on sexuality and the inclusion of women.

How will the synod take place?

What is unique about this synod is its attempt to make synodality effective in the way it's carried out.

In the past, synods were mostly about listening to a panel of speakers presenting their views in often long-winded speeches.

Francis himself has hinted at the fact that previous synods under Pope John Paul II or Pope Benedict XVI had predetermined outcomes.

At this synod, participants will be asked to speak briefly and their speeches will be followed by a moment of reflective silence and prayer.

The event will be divided into five modules:

• Synodality,
• Communion,
• Participation,
• Mission and
• a final assembly to cast a vote.

After listening to the public pronouncements and testimonies at the general assembly, attendees will be divided into English, Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese language groups.

The working groups, also known as "circoli minori," will discuss the topics in detail.

Before the start of the discussion the working groups will pray for the Holy Spirit to guide the discussions. Theologians and facilitators will only be allowed to participate at the plenary sessions and not in the working groups.

A summary of the discussions written by the smaller groups will be sent to the Secretariat of the Synod office led by Cardinal Mario Grech, which will collect all the information and send a digital copy to the theologians who attended the synod.

The theologians will be charged with writing a final synthesis that will be submitted for the vote of the plenary assembly.

"It will be like the revelation of a mystery novel," said the Rev Orm Rush, a professor at Australian Catholic University and a member of the theological commission on the synod, speaking to Religion News Service.

The Vatican has made the decision to keep the conversations taking place at the synod secret.

The opening session will be livestreamed to the public, but the remaining plenary sessions and the discussions of the circoli minori will remain behind closed doors.

Journalists reporting on the synod will have to rely on occasional briefings by the Vatican's communication department.

"The pope wants it to be like a closed room," Rush said, "not to keep the journalists out, but to enable us to get away from people and their megaphones blasting at each other in a spirit of hate."

Why is the synod important?

Synod organizers will say that it's impossible to predict what will emerge from the synodal discussions, which they insist will be guided by the Holy Spirit.

But the process that led to the event offers some insights into the expectations of participants and observers.

At the parish level, the summaries of synodal discussions underlined the need to reflect on the role of women in the church, the welcoming of gay and lesbian Catholics and the possibility of a married priesthood.

These concerns were not only present in Western churches, but also for faithful in parishes all over the world who are grappling with how these issues relate to their beliefs.

Synod organizers have made it clear these concerns will be discussed at the synod and there are several questions in the "Instrumentum Laboris" that address them.

The event will also be an opportunity to think about how decisions are made within the hierarchy of the church, underlining the need for bishops to work closely with parish councils, take responsibility for the oversight of their dioceses and enact accountability for sexual abuse cases.

While the Vatican has yet to confirm whether there will be an official document from the synod, it is likely that the participants will vote on some sort of document emerging from their conversations.

It is also likely that the document will be sent back to the local church level to be discussed — and if necessary, amended — once again before the 2024 summit.

Changes in doctrine and morality are off the table, according to Vatican officials.

But changing the way decisions are made and reshuffling the power structures within the historically hierarchical institution could pave the way for such changes in the future.

• Claire Giangravé - Vatican Correspondent RNS. First published in RNS. Republished with permission.

Rather, they are urging him to open up the much-anticipated Synod on Synodality deliberations to the media.

The Catholic media professionals argue that given the global involvement in preparation for the 2021 - 2024 Synod, transparency and wider participation will better serve the Synod process and the Church.

They argue that 'you had to be there' enclosed group spiritual experiences are more subjective and tend not to be universal.

Their comments come in response to Pope Francis' directive that he wishes the Synod to be a "prayerful dialogue" devoid of "political chatter."

Media argue that "political chatter" and media scrutiny are helpful in the discernment process.

In 2021 Francis thanked media professionals for doing a necessary job for the good of the Church. He has repeatedly said that the Synod on Synodality is primarily about listening.

Speaking to reporters on his flight back from Mongolia, Pope Francis stressed that the Synod's October discussions should be viewed as a "religious moment" rather than a "TV talk show."

Amplifying his view, Francis says he is considering binding participants under the strictures of the "Pontifical Secret," a moral and legal obligation of confidentiality.

The use of Pontifical secrecy, normally reserved for gravely important matters, has raised concerns among Catholic media professionals.

The Catholic media professionals warn that the Church's three-year-long campaign encouraging congregational involvement and a more inclusive dialogue may render the Synod an inconsequential gathering if cloaked in such secrecy.

In The Pillar, JD Flynn cautioned that keeping the Synod proceedings confidential could "amplify anxiety" outside the synodal hall.

Cindy Wooden wanted to know if the media could trust the accuracy of the press releases.

After he made the announcement on the plane, Wooden pressed Francis asking if there could be an option for greater transparency with journalists.

Monica Doumit of The Catholic Weekly humorously commented, "The Pontifical Secret is something that everyone knows, except the Pope" and is "something you can tell only one person at a time."

She is advocating for daily press conferences to verify leaks and preserve the Synod's integrity.

Despite these external pressures, Paolo Ruffini, the head of Vatican communications, maintains that the sanctity of the Synod's internal communications is "very important for the discernment process of the entire Church."

He assured the Catholic media that regular press releases would be issued, and the final synthesis document would be made public in the 2024 New Zealand Spring.

As CathNews reported on Friday, events are already planned outside the Rome Synod hall and globally online.

New Zealand's own Christina Reymer, an active member of Be the Change, plans to bring pink shoes adorned with pink ribbons to the Vatican, symbolising women's hardships within the Church.

While the Synod may not be billed as a "power to the people" moment, it's perceived as just that for many Catholics.

Sources

• The Synodal Times
• The Catholic Weekly
• RNS
• The Pillar
• CNN
• CathNews NZ

The Rev. Martin Lintner was selected by its faculty to become dean of the prestigious Theological University of Bressanone, located in the traditionally German-speaking region near the Austrian border.

The appointment of Lintner, a professor of moral and spiritual theology at the seminary, was also met with approval by the local bishop.

But the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education refused to issue the permission required for Lintner to take on the role, the university announced on June 26.

The Congregation released no explanation for its decision and has not replied to a request by Religion News Service for comment.

Confused and dismayed

Theologians and academics around the world responded with confusion and dismay at the Vatican's decision to prevent the appointment of the theologian.

The local bishop, Ivo Muser, said he was informed that the Vatican had denied the appointment due to Lintner's previous "publications on questions relating to the sexual morality of the church."

In a recent statement, Muser said the current dean, Professor Alexander Notdurfter, will keep his position until August 2024. "This time will allow for the calm necessary to further reflect together on the issues that arose and that involved other Vatican departments," Muser said.

Lintner has spoken in support of reconsidering the Catholic Church's controversial ban on artificial birth control enshrined in the 1968 encyclical "Humanae Vitae" by Pope Paul VI.

Lintner has also written in support of blessing same-sex couples, a position promoted by members of the synodal path in Germany despite the Vatican's veto on the subject.

Lintner upheld the dignity of same-sex relationships in an article published in 2020 on the website of Catholic LBGTQ+ advocacy group New Ways Ministry and has offered reflections in favor of ceremonies to bless same-sex couples.

Who decided?

While the decision is officially up to the Congregation for Education, some believe it was the Vatican Department overseeing doctrine that made the ruling on Lintner.

The Congregation for Education and Culture was born from the union of two other departments under the leadership of Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, who is considered a close friend of Pope Francis. Francis' involvement in halting Lintner's appointment remains unclear.

The decision regarding Lintner's appointment highlights the tensions between the Vatican and the synodal path in Germany and elsewhere.

Meant to promote a vision for a less hierarchical church and to empower lay Catholics, the multiyear synodality process has resulted in appeals from many Catholic faithful and clergy around the world for female ordination, LGBTQ+ inclusion and clergy accountability.

Lintner's rejection underlines Pope Francis' struggles in enacting the synodal vision and the reform of the Vatican Curia.

"The Vatican's decision regarding me didn't just cause surprise but also frustration among many faithful," Lintner wrote in a statement published on the university's website on Monday (July 3). "It raises doubts on the good outcome of synodality," he added.

Upcoming synod

Bishops and lay individuals will gather in Rome in October for the Synod on Synodality, where they are poised to discuss the major questions facing Catholicism today, from the role of women to power structures in the church.

The synod is Pope Francis' brainchild and born from a three-year consultation of Catholics at the parish, diocesan, national and continental levels.

It aims to revolutionize the way decisions are made in the church and to create a more open and inclusive way of communicating and engaging with the faithful.

According to the Catholic Theological Faculty Association, the decision on Lintner "contradicts the synodal spirit invoked by Pope Francis" but also shows how Catholic academics remain under the yoke of the Vatican offices and departments known as the Vatican Curia.

"It runs counter to the concern for academic freedom and undermines the self-government of Catholic faculties and Catholic universities," the group said in a June 27 statement in support of Lintner.

Lintner also spoke of an "institutional problem" with regard to the imposition by the Vatican departments for doctrine and education over universities and theologians.

"I hope and desire that my case will contribute to creating a constructive relationship of trust and dialogue between the Magisterium and academic theologians, among dicasteries and theological associations, faculties and theological studies," he said.

"It's very important that there be dialogue" between the Vatican and theologians, said theologian Dawn Eden Goldstein in an interview with RNS on Thursday. He added "there have been many cases in the past where people claimed there had not been dialogue and they had not been heard."

This Vatican imposition has been interpreted as a power play, especially by some members of the German church, who have experienced their fair share of Vatican interference.

The International Society for the Study of Moral Theology in Germany called out the Congregation for Education's decision for being "inadequate and unjustified," while criticizing the lack of transparency as a "demonstration of curial power."

German synodal way

The church in Germany, with its credibility undermined by sexual abuse scandals, began its own synodal path in 2019.

The series of conferences aired a desire by faithful in the country for a church that reflected the values of society today to foster inclusivity and accountability.

As the church became more vocal with its call for modernization, Pope Francis sent a letter urging caution and discernment.

When German priests began to bless same-sex couples, the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, or DDF, answered with a resounding no, stating the church "cannot bless sin."

Vatican experts at the time were told Pope Francis had not been happy with the decision by the doctrinal department and were promised the pope would soon take action.

Reform

On Saturday, Pope Francis completed his reform of the DDF by appointing a close collaborator to head its theological section, Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández.

According to Goldstein, Fernández's appointment is "good timing because it does indicate something hopeful: that there is now someone in leadership who does favor dialogue."

In a recently published interview, Fernández said he intends to lead "in my own way."

He said he is open to discussion regarding the ordination of women or the blessing of same-sex couples "given the pope's call for synodality."

But the decision to appoint Fernández can also be interpreted as a warning signal to papal opposers in the Vatican Curia.

In a 2016 interview with Italian Vatican journalist Massimo Franco, Fernández said the "Roman curia is not an essential structure" of the church and the pope could just as well lead the church with only the college of bishops at the service of the people of God.

"Fernandez might not find it easy to change entrenched attitudes," Goldstein said, "but thankfully the pope has his back."

• Claire Giangravé is an author at Religion News Service.
• First published in Religion News Service. Republished with permission.

The new, expanded two-year process to prepare for synods will begin in October and promises to flip the power structures in the church. When it comes to the voice of women in the church, though, it might not be enough.

The question of the role of women in church leadership remains one of the biggest ecclesial and social challenges in the Catholic Church.

Despite Pope Francis' appointment of women in leadership positions at the Vatican, women are not allowed to vote in synods — the summit of bishops at the Vatican — and cannot be ordained.

"The problem is that nowadays most people still have the mindset of the church as the hierarchy. No! It's not the reality of the church!" said Sr. Nathalie Becquart, who became the first female undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops when Pope Francis appointed her in 2021.

With the upcoming summit of bishops, "For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission," which will begin on Oct. 10 and end when bishops convene in Rome in October 2023, the focus will be on disrupting that historical hierarchy and establishing a new system, "where all the baptized are part of the mission of the church," Becquart said.

Synodality — or Francis' vision for how to approach synods — is a touchstone to understanding his plans to reform the Catholic Church, but its meaning and application have been left open to interpretation.

"It's not easy to explain what is synodality," Becquart told Religion News Service in the Synod offices, a stone's throw away from the Vatican, on Sept. 12. "You discover it through an experience."

To that end, images are Becquart's preferred medium to convey the meaning of synodality.

She pointed to several examples, from the biblical passage of the journey to Emmaus, where the resurrected Christ walked with two disciples, to the tent of the meeting in Exodus. Some, she said, have described synodality as "dancing together," while "listening to the music of the Holy Spirit."

The images attempt to convey a compelling decision-making model, where all Catholic faithful come together at the grassroots level to discuss, debate and dialogue on the direction of the church. What should emerge is a clearer understanding of the "sensus fidelium," or "sense of the faithful," an ephemeral concept meant to assign authority based on a universal consensus by believers.

The sensus fidelium, though, is still bound to the shepherding of the priests, bishops and even the pope, who are charged with keeping and preserving doctrine.

Decisions will be made differently, but this doesn't mean "getting rid of the hierarchal principles," Becquart said.

"Synodality is not a parliament" subjugated to majority and minority dynamics, she emphasized, but "through mutual listening we will find a consensus."

Ultimately, though, an exclusively male clergy will have the responsibility of representing their lay people's concerns and issues to the bishops' conference and eventually to the Vatican.

Becquart, who might be the only woman eligible to vote at the synod of bishops, said she believes women will feel like they are part of the synodal church's decision-making process through synodality.

But being part of the discussion may not be enough for a new generation of women who wish to have equal footing with men in the Catholic Church. With no promise of compelling male clergy to take into account the feelings of the faithful, especially women, synodality risks being nothing more than a well-intentioned conversation that can just as easily be dismissed.

"Will the talking ever end?" said Phyllis Zagano, a U.S. Catholic scholar who advocates for the promotion of women in the church, during a Sept. 10 webinar on synodality and women.

The effectiveness of synodality "will depend on the individual bishop," she added, pointing to the disparate responses to the synodal process in several dioceses, especially in the U.S.

"As Western culture increasingly accepts women in positions of authority, the church does not seem to do so," Zagano said.

Clericalism, the belief by clergy and faithful that those who are ordained have more authority, is "poised to derail the entire process if the voice of the people is not heard through official channels."

Of course, unofficial channels for women's voices to be heard have always existed in the church, through religious and lay movements and organizations, she added.

It's "part of people's DNA" today to expect women to be part of making decisions, said Ethna Regan, professor of theology and philosophy at Dublin City University, in an interview with RNS.

According to the theologian, the synod on synodality is an opportunity for the church "to really do something new in terms of consultation, and if they do not seize that moment, they have no faith in the Holy Spirit!"

"Either you believe the Holy Spirit is operative through the people of God and we can learn from each other, or you don't. It's as simple as that," she said.

• Claire Giangravé is an author at Religion News Service.

The Catholic Church had adopted a top-to-bottom approach that stripped local churches of any decision-making power, and the synod of bishops was reduced to nothing more than a stamp of approval for prepackaged conclusions made in Rome.

When Bergoglio emerged as Pope Francis in the 2013 conclave, the synodal process was high on his list for reform.

"There was a cardinal who told us what should be discussed and what should not," Francis said about his experience at the 2001General Synod in an interview with the Argentine newspaper La Nation in 2014. "That will not happen now," he added.

On Oct. 9 and 10, Pope Francis will inaugurate a three-year preparation process for the 2023 Synod, which will focus on reforming the synodal process.

The preparation process and the 2023 Synod, with the theme "For a Synodal Church: communion, participation and mission," have the potential to revolutionize the way decisions are made in the Catholic Church and promote a more decentralized structure of authority.

"If people just think about this as a meeting on meetings, they are so missing the point," said the Rev. David McCallum, executive director of the Program for Discerning Leadership of the Gregorian University in Rome and a member of the Synod Commission on Methodology, in an interview with Religion News Service.

The three-year synodal review process will take place in three phases: a local phase at the diocesan and parish level, a continental phase engaging bishops' conferences around the world and a universal phase, when bishops and lay people will convene in Rome to discuss the findings and topics developed in the first two phases.

To coordinate and guide the entire process, Pope Francis created a five-member steering committee flanked by two commissions on methodology and theology.

The hierarchical structure Pope Francis eschewed at the Vatican in 2001 is currently reflected in Catholic dioceses around the globe.

Throughout history "it became very natural that bishops, who were often the most educated and prepared leaders in the particular region where the church was, exercised their leadership as a mayor would," McCallum explained.

Speaking to La Nation, Francis said church governance "is in my hands, after I receive the necessary advice."

Far from an authoritarian imposition, synod organizers say the role of the pope is that of guaranteeing unity, which helps distinguish synodality from a parliamentary debate.

The goal of the methodology commission in the first phase is to provide dioceses and parishes with guidelines that promote spaces for dialogue among all members of the community — lay, religious and the disaffiliated.

Bishops will be asked to appoint a reference person whose job it is to facilitate and create opportunities for encounter. By instructing people on individual and communal discernment "the synod will have a formational quality to it before people enter it," McCallum said.

In Venezuela, Rafael Luciani, full professor at the Andrés Bello Catholic University in Caracas and extraordinarius at the School of Theology and Ministry of Boston College, tackles synodality in the Latin American context.

Luciani is a lay theologian and a member of the synod's Commission for Theology.

His job, ahead of the inauguration of the synodal process in Rome, is to coordinate seminars that engage the whole Latin American church.

By placing a magnifying glass on local parishes, Luciani hopes to find an engaging model that can then be applied to dioceses and bishops' conferences worldwide.

Ultimately, the 2023 Synod will likely change power dynamics and relationships in the Catholic Church, but the change "has to come from local churches, not from Rome," Luciani told RNS.

Inverting the pyramidal structure of the Catholic Church may be frightening for some, proponents admit, raising concerns the Vatican will become nothing more than a bureaucratic step in the church's decision-making process or — worse still — akin to a nongovernmental organization.

Instead, the new synodal process is "a spiral," Luciani explained, where at every phase the decisions are sent from the dioceses to the episcopal conferences to Rome and then back again.

"For the first time there is an interaction, it is not a linear way of proceeding," he added.

This "new ecclesial culture" is the real novelty of the synod, according to Luciani, but doubts remain in the local churches, where the "biggest question," according to Luciani, "is the question of authority."

Authority is closely tied to clericalism, a "perversion of the priesthood" as Pope Francis puts it, which also induces lay people into believing those who have received the priestly ministry are above the fold, especially in the exercise of power. Financial corruption, immorality and sexual abuse by clergy are just a few examples of the consequences of an untouchable clergy.

With synodality, Pope Francis hopes to break from a tradition that has inexorably tied power in the Catholic Church to members of the clergy.

Synodality sets out to renew the power structures that have characterized the Catholic Church for centuries, but to do so it must achieve a far more ambitious goal: teaching faithful, lay and religious, to come together in dialogue at a time when entrenchment and polarization have turned Pope Francis' "culture of encounter" into a quasi-utopian and — ironically — divisive concept.

In this effort, the synod "goes beyond Pope Paul VI's vision and Pope John Paul II's and Pope Benedict XVI's different ways of proceeding and even beyond the first synods of Pope Francis," Luciani said.

Nation-states also struggle to reconcile the differences of local realities with an increasingly centralized world. Countries such as Hungary, Poland, Brazil, Russia, the Philippines and even the United States have shifted "toward a more authoritarian way by trying to establish order as a defence against chaos and uncertainty," McCallum said.

"The church, an organization rooted in faith, needs to have a better track record than resorting to top-down authority," he added.

Members of the synod commissions are hesitant to say which structural changes will take place at the October Vatican summit. It would defeat the purpose of coming together if there wasn't "a sense of unpredictability and also of possibility," McCallum said.

Pope Francis understands the synod is more about "starting processes" than getting immediate results. Reforming seminaries is essential to promote the formation of clergy capable of overcoming differences and finding common ground, according to McCallum.

"We realize it's a generational process," he said.

While this conclusion may seem underwhelming, the synod is not the first step in this process. It builds on the Eastern Orthodox experience of the Synod of Jerusalem in 1672 and the transformations set in motion at the Second Vatican Council of 1962-1965, as well as the latest synods under the last three popes.

Synodality has already worked before. "It has been the witness of bishops already that they change," Luciani said, citing examples of prelates who were transformed in their beliefs during the synods at the Vatican on Young People in 2018 and the Pan-Amazonian region in 2019.

The Latin American bishops' conference, CELAM, has a head start in its application of synodality.

Since before the 2007 Aparecida meeting, where the cardinal Bergoglio played a key role, the church in Latin America has engaged lay people and local communities in lively consultations aimed at promoting shared responsibility and dialogue. Luciani, an expert adviser to CELAM, said this synodal process offers profound insight on how to "go back to a model of the church as the church of churches."

"It's not just about who takes that decision," Luciani said, "but about how do we reach that decision together."

Pope Francis' gamble to act as an Ignatian spiritual director to 1.2 billion Catholics in the world — if successful — could become a countercultural statement for a new way of reaching decisions that other institutions might take note of.

Synodality "needs to demonstrate to the world that we have faith that the ultimate truth and goodness that God calls us to is not going to be established by secular power, the kind of power of unilateral control," McCallum said.

"It's going to be manifest when we express our love and affection for one another with authenticity when we live with the integrity of our values and behaviours."

• Claire Giangravé is an author at Religion News Service
• First published by RNS. Republished with permission.

Myanmar, once known as Burma, spiralled into violence when military forces took over the country on Feb. 1, interrupting the democratic process set in motion by its previous state counsellor, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

Democratic protests have sparked all over the country, with some Catholics taking centre stage in opposing the violence of the armed forces. Almost 1,000 people have reportedly been killed in Myanmar since the military coup and many more have been displaced by raids and airstrikes.

"Every dictatorship must find someone to oppress. So we always have a target on our back," said the Rev. Maurice Moe Aung of the Missionaries of Faith, speaking online from Myanmar with a pool of Vatican journalists.

"Probably, if this difficult situation continues and as it's already happening in Buddhist monasteries, the military forces will also enter Catholic churches to control the situation," he added.

Aung said protests continue all over the country, with many arrests putting further pressure on a population already struggling due to the pandemic and a crumbling economy. According to the missionary, time is running out for the international community to intervene and prevent further bloodshed in Myanmar.

"The international community must lend its voice. It must be stronger and more determined. We cannot wait!" Aung said, adding that Southeast Asia has had its share of turmoil since the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, the war in Vietnam and the Japanese invasions.

"Now it's up to Myanmar," he said, "so we must act quickly or there will be many, many more deaths."

The United Nations has already intervened by asking for an immediate halt to the violence and restoration of the democratic process. Pope Francis and the local Catholic bishops have also been outspoken in promoting reconciliation in the country.

The pope made his first appeal shortly after the coup, offering his prayer for leaders in the country so they may strive toward "the common good, promoting social justice and national stability, for a harmonious, democratic coexistence."

Since then, Francis has often mentioned his closeness to the people of Myanmar, in particular its young people and clergy.

Christians represent roughly 5% of the country's population, which is 89% Buddhist, followed by a Muslim minority. Its Catholic population is spread over 16 dioceses, and Francis appointed the first red hat in Myanmar to Cardinal Charles Maung Bo.

Catholics have supported the peaceful protests and urged the military to adopt nonviolent measures and dialogue. In a public statement on Feb. 21, the bishops' conference in Myanmar joined other religious leaders in "pleading for restraint in the streets and a return to dialogue."

"The heartrending scenes of youth dying in the streets wound the conscience of a nation," they wrote.

"Let not its sacred ground be soaked in fraternal blood.

"The sadness of parents burying their children has to stop.

"Mothers' tears are never a blessing to any nation."

Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng of Myitkyina, the capital of the most northern region of Myanmar, made headlines in late February when she knelt before the armed forces to protect protesters, a gesture praised both by Bo and Pope Francis.

"I too kneel on the streets of Myanmar and say: Stop the violence! I too reach out my arms and say: May dialogue prevail!" the pope said during his general audience March 17.

Pope Francis visited Myanmar for three days in 2017, where he made appeals for peace and interreligious dialogue. The visit left a permanent mark in the country's society, Aung said, and "a source of celebration for interreligious dialogue in the country and a key for religious and social tolerance."

"His presence was important because we are viewed as the religion of the foreigners and we weren't welcomed even by the Buddhists," he added.

Things changed after the pope's apostolic visit, he said, but the military coup has put a halt to progress in the country and limited the activities of religious groups.

Pope Francis' celebration of Mass on Sunday is the latest effort from the Vatican to draw global attention to the growing tensions in Myanmar.

Starting in late 2016, the Myanmar military began a violent crackdown on the Rohingya Muslims, an ethnic minority in the country.

According to the United Nations, over 25,000 Rohingya have died as of 2018 in what it described as "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing."

When Pope Francis visited the country he was asked by Bo not to mention the word Rohingya, Aung said, "given the delicacy of the situation which could have affected the entire Catholic community."

The pope refrained from using the term in Myanmar but addressed the matter directly during the second leg of his trip.

"In the name of everyone, of those who have persecuted you, of those who have done you harm, above all for the indifference of the world, I ask forgiveness," the pope said in a meeting with Rohingya refugees in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Dec.1.

"The situation of the Rohingya has remained the same," Aung said. "They are trying to get them out of the country," he added, noting that the conflict is rooted in the animosity between the local Buddhist and Muslim communities.

Looming over the situation in Myanmar is China, which has several vested economic interests in the country and has been accused of backing the military junta. In April, Bo released a statement accusing the Chinese Communist Party of covering up the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It is the repression, the lies and the corruption of the CCP that are responsible," he said. The cardinal also openly condemned the CCP's "campaign against religion," which has led to the destruction of religious sites and "the incarceration of at least 1 million Uyghur Muslims in concentration camps."

This was the first and only time the cardinal openly criticized China, Aung said. "After all, we promote nonviolence. We don't have much more say than that."

Pope Francis and the Vatican have been wary of openly criticizing China, the home of roughly 12 million Catholics. The Vatican has brokered a provisional deal with Beijing regulating the appointment of bishops, which detractors believe will put a muzzle on the pope's ability to hold China accountable.

• Claire Giangravé is an author at Religion News Service.
• Republished with permission.

The Roman Catholic Church's mishandling of sexual abuse and a series of financial scandals had challenged the credibility of the institution and emptied its pews.

For Francis, the root of the church's problems was clericalism: the belief that religious people belong to a superior caste, insulated by favoritisms, which has helped promote an air of moral superiority among clergy.

"Clericalism is our ugliest pervasion," the pope told seminarians last year. "The Lord wants you to be shepherds; shepherds of the people, not clerics of the state."

The mentality behind clericalism, according to Francis, has helped spread corruption within the Catholic Church. Victims of sexual abuse were not taken seriously, and predator priests were moved instead of removed in order to save face. The belief that only those who are ordained have authority has helped marginalize laypeople in the Catholic Church, especially women.

Like activists in the United States and around the world trying to break the stronghold of systemic racism, the pope was faced with a malady that has its roots in centuries-old traditions and practices and structural sin.

To change it — or at least to start making a change — the pope needed a combination of big gestures and long-term strategy, to ensure that the changes he makes today resonate in the future.

According to Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the head of the Vatican think tank for matters promoting life, Pope Francis has tried to implement a "revolution of fraternity."

"This ‘fraternity' starts with paying attention to the excluded, with the care for existential and geographical peripheries," the archbishop told Religion News Service on Friday (June 12).

The first step involved changing the "style" of the papacy, Paglia said.

Francis' decision to live in Domus Sanctae Marthae instead of the traditional papal palaces sent a message of simplicity and humility. The Argentine pope opted for simple clothing, avoiding the colourful flourishes of his predecessors and helping to promote a public image that portrays the church and its clergy as closer to the people.

The pope also tries to use simplified language and communication to make the Catholic message more appealing, according to the archbishop.

Pope Francis "expresses the same gospel in a new language, understandable to the men and women of the 21st century," said Paglia.

While using a new language and public image is an important first step for Francis, the biggest challenge lay in changing the culture within the Vatican and its institutions.

That starts with the bureaucracy that makes up the Roman Curia.

In this case, the pope has chosen a "long process" aimed at "changing hearts and minds," Paglia said.

The 2013 papal document "Evangelii Gaudium" serves as a manifesto for Pope Francis' reform. It hoped to inspire "a new chapter of evangelization," rooted in care for the poor and a renewed sense of mission. The document also set out to change the centralization of power and doctrine within the Catholic Church in order to encourage "creativity and openness," Francis wrote.

"Pope Francis is drawing up a Curia that is ‘at the service' of local churches," Paglia said.

Francis' "green" encyclical, "Laudato Si'," changed the way the Catholic Church and the Vatican relate to society and the international community. It placed the message of the gospel in defense of the environment and the many migrants created by climate change and pollution, an approach that had already been proposed by previous popes but was brought to the masses by Francis.

Reform, as Francis says, is about "starting processes." It includes concrete steps as well as theological imagination.

Francis' words on creating a church that serves like a "field hospital" will be sterile if they don't permeate the culture of theologians and canon lawyers.

Pope Francis speaks during a news conference aboard the papal plane on his flight back from a trip to Thailand and Japan on Nov. 26, 2019. (Remo Casilli/Pool Photo via AP)
Theologians are called to be "men and women of compassion, touched by the oppressed life of many, by the slavery of today, by social wounds, by violence, by wars and from the enormous injustices suffered by so many poor," Francis told participants in a theology congress in the southern Italian town of Naples in June 2019.

Getting theologians and canon lawyers to buy into reform won't be easy. At the Vatican, there are rivalries between theologians and canonists at different pontifical universities that could jeopardize "any attempt at reform," said canon lawyer Claudia Giampietro.

"The changes proposed by the pontiff will have a future only if it inspires a process of reflection within the People of God, even among those who are dedicated to the study of ecclesial discipline," she told RNS in an email on Saturday.

Francis has also sought ways to foster conversation between church leadership and laypeople, often through the use of synods, where bishops from all over the world gather to address specific topics.

He overhauled the summit of bishops to promote a multitude of points of view, which allowed for conversations about priestly celibacy, homosexuality and distributing Communion to the divorced and remarried.

Those topics had been off-limits in the past.

"I was the relator general (chief secretary) of the 2001 synod and there was a cardinal who told us what should be discussed and what should not," Pope Francis told the Argentine newspaper La Nación in 2014. "That will not happen now."

Among Francis' biggest changes is the complete makeover of the cardinals.

To date, Francis has appointed 66 out of the 124 cardinals who will elect the next pontiff, which will likely cement his legacy into the future. Those new cardinals have come from a wide range of cultures, backgrounds and religious congregation.

"We need a new vision for the world," Paglia said. "We have seen it in these months of pandemic. We need hope. And hope runs on two inseparable rails. The first is to care for one another without discarding anyone, aware that people are a part of a single family. The second is to find a new relationship between humanity and creation."

• Claire Giangravé - Vatican Correspondent RNS. First published in RNS. Republished with permission.

Where the state was for the most part invisible, the Catholic Church has been the real, tangible reality in the country and nowhere more than Rome, where you can pass a dozen priests before seeing a single policeman.

But since the Italian government imposed drastic measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus on Monday (March 9), the situation has flipped.

Overnight, the state has made itself visible in full force while the Catholic Church is nowhere to be found.

All of a sudden, I found myself printing government papers detailing my personal information and explaining my reason for leaving the house.

Many friends and family discouraged me from going out, some even suggesting I was betraying my civic duty by exposing myself to the virus that has already claimed more than 800 victims from the over 10,000 infected in Italy.

In my reporting around the deserted city of Rome — the emptiness made even more striking by the sunny days of spring that would usually have drawn crowds to the piazzas and parks — I was stopped by the police three times.

They asked for my documents and, after I explained that I am a journalist, allowed me to go on my way.

Others were not so lucky.

"Don't stay out too long!" a policeman yelled to a young woman carrying a small pharmacy bag, who nodded before scurrying along.

The homeless are especially struggling.

Police attempt to move them from their usual haunts.

The ones I saw this morning seemed to respond with a "rage against the machine" mentality, yelling at anyone who came close or, in two cases, even purposefully coughing in the direction of unwanted strangers.

Only pharmacies and grocery stores remain open, with long lines to enter, while everyone else has been forced to close up shop. (People in queues must stand 3 feet apart to maintain social distancing.)

Public transportation is still functioning, but the barrier surrounding the driver is now sealed.

Policemen and carabinieri are present at all intersections, and even a few military trucks patrol the Eternal City.

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte brought the hammer down on Monday, making all of Italy a "red zone" and applying the world's harshest containment measures so far outside of China.

The motto is #Iorestoacasa, meaning "I stay home," which has been repeated by celebrities on social media and placidly accepted by Italian citizens.

After all, a widely circulated meme says, our grandparents were asked to risk their lives in a global war. We have merely been asked to stay home.

Even the statue of Pasquino, located not too far from the Pantheon and usually covered with notes in Roman dialect criticizing governments and clergy, seems to be at a loss for words.

The marble sentinel that's for centuries voiced the Roman malcontent has fallen silent.

Yet no silence is more striking than that of the Italian Roman Catholic clergy. Masses have been banned in the entire country, baptismal fonts are drained and even confessionals were empty in the numerous churches I visited.

A few people braved the virus to pray in the pews, dutifully kneeling 3 feet apart, of course. Only members of the clergy have access to St. Peter's Basilica and square.

As of Wednesday night, all churches will be closed in Italy.

As I crossed the Tiber away from the Vatican, I saw an elderly man clutching a rosary and, judging by the muttering of his lips, he seemed to be praying.

I called to him, but he seemed to quicken his step. I spotted a red sliver under his hat.

"Your Eminence!" I said, using the formal address reserved for cardinals.

He turned.

"I'm a journalist and I wanted to ask you about faith in these tryi…" I started, but the cardinal had already rushed away.

Two nuns wearing masks and another near a bus stop also dismissed me with a firm "No."

The numerous clergy members who are a fixture of the Roman streets have become scarce, and those who are still around are not in a chatty mood.

Serena Coronari, a young woman who only recently found her faith again, managed to attend one of the last Masses before the ban went into effect.

She's resigned now to watching Mass on television but told me on the phone Wednesday that she views this as a moment for "recollection."

"I have adopted the habit of praying when I am on my scooter or when I listen to music," she said, adding that part of being Catholic means not harming your neighbor and therefore following the law.

"Even though it's a Catholic congregation," she added, "it doesn't mean that we don't have to listen to the science."

She said confessions remain open in her church in the north area of Rome and there is a carefully distanced line to meet with the Salesian priests who administer there.

"Render unto Caesar" seems to be the approach taken by the Catholic Church in Italy, quoting Italian regulations in its documents and dispositions.

Even Pope Francis has called faithful "to a strong sense of responsibility and collaboration with the competent authorities," in a letter announcing the Via Crucis meditations on Monday.

Of course, the Catholic Church continues to be active in the field of charity and assistance to the sick.

The Catholic nonprofit charity Caritas and the movement of St. Egidio have been active since the beginning in bringing meals and spiritual support to those in need.

The current norms are supposed to be lifted on April 3, only a couple days before Palm Sunday, which ushers in the Easter celebrations. A friar I met on the Roman streets didn't seem preoccupied and rejected the notion that Easter could be postponed.

"Never," he said, "the worst is never certain!"

• Claire Giangravé - Vatican Correspondent RNS. First published in RNS. Republished with permission.

The country's Catholic bishops recently launched a two-year summit aimed at "newly assessing" long-held Catholic beliefs on sexuality, love and priestly life, including how women are included or excluded by the Church.

The "synodal process" began with an assembly held Jan. 30 through Feb. 1 in Frankfurt, Germany, setting the agenda of the controversial topics they aim to discuss for the next two years, from married priests to the recognition of same-sex couples.

But in a country with a long tradition of outspoken theologians, one of the most persistent voices challenging the Catholic Church's current position will come from outside the synod.

"We need a kind of woman church within our church where women can discover and live their own strengths, abilities and charisms — in the sense of empowerment," said Agnes Wuckelt, vice president of the German Association of Catholic Women (referred to as KFD), in a recent interview with Religion News Service.

She noted that in the absence of representation, many women are leaving the Catholic Church.

Wuckelt's KFD has submitted a proposal to the German bishops' assembly to promote the appointment of women to leadership positions at all levels of the local Catholic Church, with the goal of paving the way to female ordination to the priesthood.

Pope Francis needs to include women in his frequent calls for broader recognition of the rights of disadvantaged and disenfranchised people.

Wuckelt described this process as "a transition to a gender-appropriate church."

Though German bishops have already voted to increase the proportion of women in leadership positions in their dioceses to 30%, the KFD has demanded that it be increased to 50%.

But this is only a small part of what the theologian sees as necessary to promote gender equality in the Catholic Church. Wuckelt argues for women to be allowed to join the ranks of the diaconate, which would allow them to preach, distribute the Eucharist and officiate at weddings, baptisms and funerals — everything but hear confessions or consecrate the Eucharist.

"The biggest obstacle lies in the sacramental understanding of the diaconate," Wuckelt said, which the church views as an initial step toward becoming a priest, not as an independent ministry.

But ultimately, the theologian concedes, she hopes the effect of women deacons will be that "more and more bishops can imagine women as priests."

Four years ago, Pope Francis established a commission to study the female diaconate, but little apparent work has been done since, and the commission's discussions and conclusions have been kept private.

In "Querida Amazonia," a document released last week (Feb. 12) wrapping up last fall's Vatican synod on the Amazon region, Pope Francis made no mention of women deacons or married priests, even though these topics were strongly debated by bishops during the summit.

Francis' approach to women's issues has caused many Catholic feminists to regard Francis with ambivalence.

"On the one hand, he repeatedly emphasizes the high importance of women for the Church. He wants women to participate fully in all decisions in the Church," said Wuckelt.

"However, he rather represents a classic image of women, as it has been represented by Rome for decades."

Given the chance, Wuckelt said she would advise Pope Francis to include women in his frequent calls for broader recognition of the rights of disadvantaged and disenfranchised people.

This also means an "official and sacramental recognition," she said.

She would also encourage the pontiff to invite female and male theologians to counsel him on "finding a wise approach to the theological arguments for the priesthood of women."

Wuckelt quoted a reading by St. Paul, which states that "there are no more Jews and Greeks, not slaves and free people, not male and female; for all of you are one in Jesus Christ."

She said that while these words have "been forgotten time and again in the course of the Church's history," she believes that "it still challenges male and female Christians alike."

Wuckelt isn't the only one looking for more definitive signals from the pope.

A powerful lay group that is co-managing the German synodal process, the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZDK), said in a statement about "Querida Amazonia" that Francis showed a "lack of courage for real reforms."

But Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Münich, who recently announced his intention to not seek a second term as the head of the German episcopacy, took a more optimistic approach, saying that the papal document offers a "framework for reflection" and that the topics discussed during the synod are "by no means off the table."

Wuckelt agreed that "Querida Amazonia" is not "dismissive of the diaconate of women," adding that if the German bishops submit a very strong vote on the matter, the pontiff might "get involved."

The German bishops' deliberations have provoked mistrust among some Catholic conservatives.

Progressive bishops in Germany are viewed in some quarters of the Vatican as a sort of rogue episcopacy, threatening to send a theological and moral shockwave through the Catholic Church in the West.

Traditionalists are already working to minimize the impact of the German bishops' conclusions, arguing that, because Catholicism is a global reality, the bishops of all countries must reach a consensus on the issue of women before any decision is applied.

"In my opinion, this is just an excuse to protest against change and the sharing of power and a feeble means of self-defense," Wuckelt said.

Wuckelt argues that the future of the Catholic Church depends on expanding the role of women.

The German synod was born partly out of a reaction to a 2018 report showing thousands of cases of sexual abuse by clergy over the past six decades.

According to Wuckelt, appointing more women in decision-making positions might help tackle this epidemic and restore popular credibility to the Church.

"We need to discuss this issue from a gender perspective," she said, adding that studies must be made to discover whether female inclusivity could help prevent and detect abuse cases."

"In any case," she added, "it must be assumed that the just participation of women in all services and ministries will change the Church."

After two years of discussion, German bishops will vote on the hundreds of proposals, including the KFD's, and submit those that pass a majority vote to the Vatican and Pope Francis. While remaining hopeful, Wuckelt said that theological discussions are likely to "take a long time."

"Perhaps our great-granddaughters will achieve this goal," she said.

• Claire Giangravé - Vatican Correspondent RNS. First published in RNS. Republished with permission.

"As many other religious women, we believe we have come to the point that our superior generals can have a vote, same as a superior general of the brothers," said Sister Birgit Weiler during a news conference Friday (Oct. 11).

Weiler is a theologian with the Medical Missions Sisters, has been active in promoting the rights of indigenous communities in the Amazon and was tapped by Pope Francis to be an expert for the synod.

"There is no real reason why not," she added, stating that since "religious women are equal" to male religious orders, "it would be good" for both to be able to voice their opinion through their vote.

While the issue of gender equality has been a cause for constant criticism in the Catholic Church, the debate has escalated to a new level under Pope Francis.

During the 2018 synod of bishops on young people, faith and vocational discernment, for the first time Francis allowed mother superiors of religious orders to attend.

At that same bishops' summit, the male superior general of a religious order — though not a priest — was allowed to vote, raising the question of whether ordination was a necessary prerequisite for voting at the synod.

That question has resurfaced at the 2019 synod and has reinforced appeals that women who lead religious orders be allowed to vote.

"I am really grateful to Pope Francis and aware of the steps he is taking to make it possible," Weiler said, noting that 35 women, lay and religious, are attending the proceedings at the synod.

"This is already a significant step forward and I want to honor it."

She noted that "there is a very open atmosphere" at the synod, which during the second week will have participants divided into smaller working groups, called circoli minori, to allow deeper discussion and reflection on the topics addressed during the opening remarks and presented in the working document.

According to Weiler there is no "clerical attitude," and women are encouraged to speak about how they feel within the church. This same sentiment, she said, is shared by other women attending the synod in other groups who believe there "is a more open atmosphere, so more critical questions may be, respectfully, put on the table."

She also noted that many bishops and cardinals at the event "really understand us women" and "want things to change."

Pope Francis has fostered a synodal approach, which promotes an inclusive and all-encompassing dialogue within the church. For Weiler, "that means you also have to have more women in positions of leadership," which doesn't necessarily imply the ordination of women to the priesthood or the diaconate.

Women play an outsized role in the Amazon region; many religious sisters work closely with the cut-off indigenous populations that inhabit it.

There are many spaces, at an organizational or pastoral level, that could benefit from female leadership, she said, and to help determine the best policies going forward.

But as the number of priests dwindles in the Amazon, women might be called on even more.

The drop in vocations and the shortage of priests working in the Amazon forest, which extends over thousands of miles and nine countries, has contributed to a "religious transit" where many indigenous peoples choose evangelical churches over Catholic ones, according to Bishop Joaquín Pertíñez Fernández of Rio Branco, Brazil.

"There are many reasons why people go from one religion to another," he told journalists at the news conference. "Among the reasons is welcoming and care, the response to the needs of the faithful.

"Due to the lack of priests, we don't have the preconditions to be present everywhere. There are religious gaps that we as Catholics cannot fill, and others come to occupy them," he added.

Sources

• Claire Giangrave is Vatican Correspondent for Religion News Service.
  
• First published in RNS. Republished with permission.
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