Flores, who led the US bishops' national consultation process for the synod, says the bishop delegates spoke out when they were in Rome.

They wanted to show the synod that they recognised "how the Church has not, in her leadership or in the way it works ... appreciated the sacrifice and that in so many parts of the world what continues to make the Church viable is the work of women."

Considering how to make the Church "a more perfect communion where we do work more cohesively in a mutual recognition of gifts" was a particular synod aim, he says.

The delegates hoped the synod would enable us to "model to the world, imperfect as we are, that there is a way to relate to each other that's not all about power and all about control".

The synod's "final document" however reports that action on the possibility of ordaining women as deacons is being postponed.

The interim "final document"

The October synod's concluding document is an interim report pending further investigation, Flores explains.

It is not the final word on the synod's decision, he added. The synod assembly delegates see the agreed final text as "an interim document".

"We need some time to go more deeply into what's marked there."

Between now and the second synod assembly planned for October 2024, "we need to think more about this [text], but we need to think about it together and also think about it in context of our local communities.

"I think there's some theological thinking that has to go on, at least initially, during this year to help us frame the questions" he says.

Source

• NCR Online

The fractures are most obvious on social media where even priests, bishops and cardinals preach from cyber pulpits all along the theological (or, more correctly, the ideological) spectrum.

Pope Francis recently moved against the latest online episcopal celebrity from the doctrinally rigid end of that spectrum when he relieved Bishop Joseph Strickland from his duties as head of the Diocese of Tyler.

Appointed to the small Texas see in 2012 by Benedict XVI, Strickland has been one of the most vocal critics of the current pope, whom he has publicly accused of undermining the Deposit of the Faith.

Francis like John Paul II and Benedict XVI

The bishop marked his 65th birthday on Halloween by joining other like-minded traditionalists at a conference in Rome where he quoted a letter accusing Francis of being an "usurper".

Using the words of someone else to even suggest the current pope is illegitimate is huge, even by Texas standards. Doing so in the pope's own diocese was a huge and lethal mistake.

Strickland has since gained a few more supporters from among the various anti-Francis critics and crackpots, including non-Americans who probably had never heard of him before he was removed from Tyler on November 11th.

If anybody in the pope's inner circle thought this might in any way lead to a cessation of hostilities towards Francis, they miscalculated.

The pro-Strickland crowd that uses social media as its preferred battleground, have called the pope every name in the book. Dictator is one of their favorites.

Interesting how they have forgotten that Benedict XVI and John Paul II also removed a number of bishops in their days.

The snipers have also attacked Francis and his "magic circle" - including the papal nuncio to Washington, Cardinal Christoph Pierre - for lack of transparency and for refusing to state the reasons why Strickland was removed.

The Roman Pontiff is under no obligation to do so. Benedict and John Paul never did so, either.

No one can hold a candle to Archbishop Viganò

Bishop Strickland is only the most recent high profile Catholic to rail against the current temporal head of the Catholic Church. But he is certainly not the only one.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the former nuncio to the United States, was one of the first to really veer off the reservation.

And he did so in a spectacular and unprecedented way in August 2018 when he issued an excoriating open letter urging Francis to resign, accusing him of covering up abuse committed by the former cardinal and now defrocked priest Theodore McCarrick.

No one (at least up till now) can hold a candle to the 82-year-old Viganò, who lobs his deranged rantings and conspiracy theories like bombs in order to discredit the Jesuit pope.

He does this from a secret hiding place, no less, so much does he have the courage of his convictions. It's not too difficult for most reasonable people to see that the attention-seeking Viganò is more than a bit of a "nutter".

We'll have to see if Bishop Strickland, who also seems to like the limelight, intends to follow him down that same road.

After all, he was the first bishop to publicly vouch for Viganò's credibility the very morning the former nuncio issued his open letter attacking the pope.

More credible critics of the pope

But if a loose cannon like Viganò can be easily dismissed, other fierce critics of Francis cannot be.

Cardinal Gerhard Müller immediately comes to mind.

The German theologian and former bishop of Regensburg, who turns 76 on New Year's Eve, is not stupid.

One can disagree with his theological and ecclesiological views, but he represents some of the most classic positions on issues concerning Catholic faith and morals, issues that Francis — legitimately — has opened up for review and reformulation.

Müller, of course, is also the former head of what is now called the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF). Benedict XVI appointed him to the post in July 2012, just months before resigning the papacy.

Francis kept him as head of the doctrinal office after being elected pope in March 213, made him a cardinal in February 2014 at the first consistory of the new pontificate, but then decided not to reappoint him DDF prefect in 2017 when Müller completed his first five-year term of office.

The German cardinal has criticised Francis openly and publicly, most thoroughly in a book-length interview with Italian journalist Franca Giansoldati of the Rome-based daily, Il Messaggero.

He's been more or less respectful in tone, while not hiding his bewilderment at the way the Argentine pope has broken with longstanding Vatican protocols and business-as-usual practices - the same reason why many Francis supporters express their jubilation.

The Synod's way of describing the divisions

There are arguably scores (or more) of bishops and untold numbers of priests who are more sympathetic with some variation of Müller's point of view than with the pope's.

And the lay faithful are all probably over the board. It is difficult, if not impossible, to quantify the divisions. But, for sure, the Church is deeply divided.

However, you probably would not draw that conclusion if your first introduction to present-day Catholicism was the "Synthesis Report" that the Synod of Bishops issued on October 28 at the end of the first session of its two-pronged assembly on synodality.

Just take the 42-page text and do a simple word search.

You will find "division" only once in the context of the Church. It's in a section that is listed as number 8, "Church is Mission". In paragraph "f", one finds the following:

In all contexts, there is a danger, that was expressed by many at the Assembly, of "clericalising" the laity, creating a kind of lay elite that perpetuates inequalities and divisions among the People of God.

It would be a stretch to say this is any sort of reference to the current divisions mentioned above.

Similarly, words like "disagreements", "fractures", and "factions" do not appear.

And, for obvious and good reasons, the Synthesis Report - which is inspirational in many ways, but also rather anodyne - avoids naming any sort of "liberal" ("progressive") vs. "conservative" ("traditionalist") tensions or divisions that are, perhaps with the use of more appropriate "labels", a glaring reality in the Church today.

"Labels" is actually found in a section 15 on "Ecclesial Discernment and Open Questions" where it states that, in the Gospels, Jesus "never begins from the perspective of prejudices or labels, but from the authenticity of relationship...".

Meanwhile, the word "controversial" is found six times - three times in reference to "matters", twice regarding "issues", and once for "questions".

Bishops, cardinals, and the next conclave

As for the divisions with the hierarchy the document says this:

"Some bishops express discomfort when they are asked to speak on matters of faith and morals where full agreement within the Episcopate is lacking.

"Further reflection is needed on the relationship between episcopal collegiality and diversity of theological and pastoral views (section 12, paragraph "h")."

Our Catholic leaders, we're told, don't feel comfortable talking about matters about which they disagree.

Once again, this does not seem to properly reflect the reality of what is happening in the Church right now. And that, in and of itself, is alarming.

But divisions there are and, in fact, not a few bishops are publicly giving voice to them, from one side or another (and everywhere in between).

So... what will all this mean when the cardinals are finally called together to elect Pope Francis' successor?

Will they adopt the method of the Synod assembly's Synthesis Report and refuse to acknowledge straightforwardly and descriptively the divisions that exist?

More importantly, on what side of the divide (or where along the spectrum) do the cardinals who will be casting ballots for the next pope line up?

Francis, who will be 87 in a few weeks' time, has named more than 70 percent of the cardinal-electors.

But don't be fooled into thinking they will pick someone who will continue leading the Church along the path he has mapped out.

It may sound strange, but a good number of these cardinals could hardly be called "Francis bishops" in the sense that this term has come to mean.

It is more than likely that they will be forced to choose a compromise candidate. Whether that will be enough to heal the Church's divisions, however, is anyone's guess.

• Rome-based Robert Mickens is La Croix International Editor. He regularly comments on CNN, the BBC and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and writes a weekly column, Letter from Rome.
• First published in La Croix International. Republished with permission.

That sums up the synod and the state of the Catholic Church's attitude toward change.

In October, hundreds of bishops, joined by lay men and women, priests, deacons, religious sisters and brothers met for nearly a month in Rome for the Synod on Synodality.

At its end, the synod released a synthesis report brimming with the hope and the promise that the church would be a more listening church.

Some 54 women voted at the synod. Back home, women are still ignored.

Why?

It is not because women quote the Second Vatican Council at parish council meetings. It is because too many bishops and pastors ignore parish councils.

It is not because women of the world do not write to their pastors and bishops. It is because without large checks, their letters are ignored.

The Synod on Synodality was groundbreaking in part because it was more about learning to listen.

It was more about the process than about results. Its aim was to get the whole church on board with a new way of relating, of having "conversations in the Spirit," where listening and prayer feed discernment and decision-making.

Even now, the project faces roadblocks. At their November meeting this week in Baltimore, U.S. bishops heard presentations by Brownsville, Texas, Bishop Daniel Flores, who has led the two-year national synod process so far.

His brother bishops did not look interested.

To be fair, some bishops in some dioceses, in the U.S. and other parts of the world, are on board with Pope Francis' attempt to encourage the church to accept the reforms of Vatican II, to listen to the people of God.

Too many bishops are having none of it

The synod recognized the church's global infection with narcissistic clericalism.

It said fine things about women in leadership and the care of other marginalized people. Yet the synod remains a secret in many places. Its good words don't reach the people in the pews.

Ask about synodality in any parish, and you might hear "Oh, we don't do that here." You are equally likely to hear "When I" sermons ("When I was in seminary," "When I was in another parish"), and not about the Gospel.

Folks who were excited by Francis' openness and pastoral message just shake their heads.

The women who want to contribute, who want to belong, are more than dispirited.

They have had it.

And they are no longer walking toward the door — they are running, bringing their husbands, children and chequebooks with them.

In the Diocese of Brooklyn, it was recently discovered that Mass attendance had dropped 40 percent since 2017.

It is the same in too many places.

The reason the church is wobbling is not a lack of piety.

It is because women are ignored.

Their complaints only reach as far as the storied circular file.

What do women complain about?

Women complain about bad sermons, as discussed. Autocratic pastors. And the big one: pederasty.

If truth be told, women do not trust unmarried men with their children.

Worldwide, in diocese after diocese, new revelations continue. Still.

Many bishops and pastors understand this.

Francis certainly does, but he is constrained by clerics who dig their heels into a past many of them never knew.

More and more young (and older) priests pine for the 1950s, when priests wore lace and women knew their place. That imagining does not include synodality.

Will the synod effort work?

Francis' opening to women in church management is promising. Where women are in the chancery, there is more opportunity for women's voices to be heard. No doubt, a few more women there could help.

Getting women into the sacristy is trickier.

While it seems most synod members agreed about restoring women to the ordained diaconate as a recognition of the baptismal equality of all, some stalwarts argued it was against Tradition.

Still, others saw the spectre of a "Western gender ideology" seeking to confuse the roles of men and women.

So, they asked for a review of the research. Again.

Women know the obvious: Women were ordained as deacons.

There will never be complete agreement on the facts of history, anthropology and theology. Women have said this over and over.

If there is absolute evidence that women cannot be restored to the ordained diaconate, it should be presented, and a decision made.

The women have finished speaking about it.

• Phyllis Zagano is an author at Religion News Service. She has written and spoken on the role of women in the Roman Catholic Church and is an advocate for the ordination of women as deacons.

But hidden in the synod participants' 40-page synthesis are some surprising gems that could lead to significant reform in the church.

The hidden gems

The first is a new stress on lay involvement.

Compared with other Christian churches, the Catholic Church is very hierarchical. This synod, especially the conversations at roundtables, was structured so that lay voices, including women and young people, were heard and respected.

"Synod path called by the Holy Father is to involve all the baptized," the report notes. "We ardently desire this to happen and want to commit ourselves to making it possible."

Secondly, the synod promotes "Conversation in the Spirit."

The term refers to a practice that "enables authentic listening in order to discern what the Spirit is saying to the Churches," the report explains.

It adds that "‘conversation' expresses more than mere dialogue: it interweaves thought and feeling, creating a shared vital space."

Third, the report acknowledges disagreements and uncertainties.

In the past, the hierarchy tended to cover them up, presenting a united front to the faithful and the world.

But on its first page the synod's report acknowledges "The multiplicity of interventions and the plurality of positions voiced in the Assembly,".

It admits "that it is not easy to listen to different ideas, without immediately giving in to the temptation to counter the views expressed."

In each following chapter, any disagreements and uncertainties are listed under "matters for consideration" that "require deepening our understanding pastorally, theologically, and canonically."

The report also acknowledges its divides.

"The Church too is affected by polarisation and distrust in vital matters such as liturgical life and moral, social and theological reflection," it reads.

"We need to recognise the causes of each through dialogue and undertake courageous processes of revitalising communion and processes of reconciliation to overcome them."

Fourth, the report addresses the concerns of women.

"Women cry out for justice in societies still marked by sexual violence, economic inequality and the tendency to treat them as objects," it says.

"Women are scarred by trafficking, forced migration and war. Pastoral accompaniment and vigorous advocacy for women should go hand in hand."

The church must "avoid repeating the mistake of talking about women as an issue or a problem.

Instead, we desire to promote a Church in which men and women dialogue together, in order to understand more deeply the horizon of God's project, that sees them together as protagonists, without subordination, exclusion and competition."

The synod concluded that in the church "It is urgent to ensure that women can participate in decision-making processes and assume roles of responsibility in pastoral care and ministry."

Fifth, it did not forget the poor, "who do not have the things they need to lead a dignified life."

Instead it insists on their dignity, cautioning the church to avoid "viewing those living in poverty in terms of ‘them' and ‘us,' as ‘objects' of the Church's charity.

Putting those who experience poverty at the center and learning from them is something the Church must do more and more."

Sixth, it charges the church with combating racism and xenophobia, saying it must take action against "a world where the number of migrants and refugees is increasing while the willingness to welcome them is decreasing and where the foreigner is viewed with increasing suspicion."

In addition, "Systems within the Church that create or maintain racial injustice need to be identified and addressed. Processes for healing and reconciliation should be created, with the help of those harmed, to eradicate the sin of racism."

Seventh, abuse in the church must be dealt with.

It suggests that the church explore the possibility of setting up a juridical body separate from the bishop to handle accusations of clerical abuse, saying, "It is necessary to develop further structures dedicated to the prevention of abuse."

Eighth, the synod participants called for reforming priestly formation.

"Formation should not create an artificial environment separate from the ordinary life of the faithful," the report said.

It called for "a thorough review of formation programmes, with particular attention to how we can foster the contribution of women and families to them."

It recommended joint formation programmes for "the entire People of God (laity, consecrated and ordained ministers)."

It also called on episcopal conferences to "create a culture of lifelong formation and learning."

Ninth, the synod called for a regular review of how bishops, priests and deacons carry out their ministry in their diocese.

This would include "regular review of the bishop's performance, with reference to the style of his authority, the economic administration of the diocese's assets, and the functioning of participatory bodies, and safeguarding against all possible kinds of abuse."

Tenth, the report took on liturgical language.

It says the texts used in Catholic rites should be "more accessible to the faithful and more embodied in the diversity of cultures."

It later suggested that liturgy and church documents must be "more attentive to the use of language that takes into equal consideration both men and women, and also includes a range of words, images and narratives that draw more widely on women's experience."

Eleventh, it raised the possibility of offering Communion to non-Catholics, or what it called "Eucharistic hospitality (Communicatio in sacris)."

Saying it was a pastoral issue as much as an ecclesial or theological one, the report noted that such hospitality was "of particular importance to inter-church couples."

Twelfth, the report took aim at what it means to be a deacon in the church.

As it is, the deaconate is largely seen as a steppingstone to priesthood.

The report questions the emphasis on deacons' liturgical ministry rather than "service to those living in poverty and who are needy in the community.

Therefore, we recommend assessing how the diaconal ministry has been implemented since Vatican II."

Thirteenth, the reform of the Roman Curia must continue.

The synod affirmed Pope Francis' statement in the Apostolic Constitution "Praedicate evangelium," released in March of 2022, that "the Roman Curia does not stand between the Pope and the Bishops, rather it places itself at the service of both in ways that are proper to the nature of each."

The synod called for "a more attentive listening to the voices of local churches" by the Curia, especially during periodic visits of bishops to Rome.

These should be occasions for "open and mutual exchange that fosters communion and a true exercise of collegiality and synodality."

The synod also asked for a careful evaluation of "whether it is opportune to ordain the prelates of the Roman Curia as bishops," implicitly suggesting that laypeople might hold top Vatican positions.

Fourteenth, the report said canon law needs updating.

"A wider revision of the Code of Canon Law," it reads, "is called for at this time" to emphasise the synodality of the church at all levels.

For example, it suggests, pastoral councils should be mandatory in parishes and dioceses. It also held up for imitation a recent plenary council of Australia.

Lastly, the synod wants to promote small Christian communities, "who live the closeness of the day-to-day, around the Word of God and the Eucharist" and by their nature foster a synodal style.

"We are called to enhance their potential," the synod's members said.

You will not find these gems written about in the media, but if we let the media tell us what to see in the synod, we might miss important opportunities for church reform.

• First published in Religion News Service
• Thomas J. Reese, a Jesuit priest, is a Senior Analyst at RNS. Previously he was a columnist at the National Catholic Reporter (2015-17) and an associate editor (1978-85) and editor in chief (1998-2005) at America magazine.

The meeting was light on bishops though. Eight of Germany's 27 diocesan bishops were marked absent.

Four chose to boycott the meeting: Cologne's Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, Eichstätt's Bishop Gregor Maria Hanke, Passau's Bishop Stefan Oster, and Regenburg's Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer.

They signaled their intention in June when they vetoed plans for the committee to be paid for using a fund which Germany's diocesan bishops control.

Four others had engagements elsewhere.

The synodal way

Germany's synodal way meetings ended formally in March.

Its committee intended a permanent "synodal council" of 74 bishops and lay people to be established in 2026.

However Rome objected to synodal council plans back in January.

It would undermine the role of bishops, according to the Second Vatican Council teachings.

No bishop was obliged to take part in the committee's deliberations, the Vatican said.

Meeting went ahead

The inaugural synodal committee meeting was "scheduled deliberately" to follow the synod on synodality's first Vatican session.

President of the German bishops' conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing and most other invitees attended the planned meeting.

Addressing the four boycotters' absence, Bätzing said: "We have known for a long time that even among us bishops our images of the Church and the future are very different. I want to expressly say that this is good.

"We have to fight for the future of the Church and the question of the right path has accompanied the Church since its beginnings; the letters from the New Testament are full of these disputes..."

The meeting expected to feature sensitive discussions about the body's statutes and rules of procedure.

Debate was anticipated, focusing on whether synodal committee meetings should be open to the public like the synodal way's plenary assemblies.

Discussion time was earmarked to decide whether the committee should continue insisting two-thirds of bishops must approve resolutions.

The Central Commission of German Catholics (ZdK) favours public meetings. It wants decisions to require only a two-thirds majority of all committee members.

Change needed

ZdK leader Irme Stetter-Karp alluded to the record numbers of German Catholics formally leaving the Church. Change needs to happen soon, she warned.

"Given the challenges we have also faced in recent months, I can only note with regret that in the eyes of those who are leaving the Church we are moving too slowly."

Referring to Pope Francis' 1 November motu proprio calling for a "paradigm shift" in theology, she said:

"We need the turning point that Pope Francis calls for ... starting from theology for the entire Church...it is time to ‘interpret the present prophetically and seek new paths for the future.' That's what we're here for."

The four bishops' decision to block funds for the synodal committee "shows how urgently we need changes in the decision-making structures" she commented.

Bätzing, who attended the Rome assembly, said: "There must be and can be different ways of structuring synodality at different levels and in different regions of the world.

"Different traditions and cultural differences lead to different forms of synodality. We can also learn from each other. And yet we must live and continue to search for a form of synodality that is suitable for us."

Source

• The Pillar

Conservatives warn that the Church is being 'warmed up' to major changes in doctrine, while progressives are complaining their issues have not been addressed or the document does not go far enough.

The synthesis report outlines key proposals discussed between some 450 participants worldwide.

It covers areas of convergence, matters for consideration and proposals that are expected to set the stage for further debate throughout the year ahead of next year's assembly.

The document was initially only available in Italian.

The Synod Synthesis report is now available in English to download and read on the screen or print.

It is also available as a word-processed document. The English translation and formatting is 'as provided'.

The report reflects the stage one of the Synod. The second stage of the Synod takes place in October 2024.

The Synod Synthesis report is the next stage in the global conversation undertaken by the Church. It is the reflection of the Synod members.

Moving forward, the synthesis report will be used to develop 'convergences' already reached and serve as a source for further discussion and clarification.

Pope Francis rarely intervened at the Synod; however, on Wednesday 25 October, he commented on the Letter of the Holy Faithful People of God.

"One of the characteristics of this faithful people is its infallibility; yes, it is infallible in credendo [in belief]. (In credendo falli nequit, says LG 12). Infallibilitas in credendo. [Infallible in belief.]

"And I explain it like this: "when you want to know what Holy Mother Church believes, go to the Magisterium because its task is to teach it to you. But when you want to know how the Church believes, go to the faithful people".

Sources

• Synod.va
• L'Osservatore Romano

Actually, once the members of the October 4-29 gathering have voted on a final document (Saturday evening) and then celebrated the concluding Mass in St. Peter's Basilica (Sunday morning), they will not have ended the Synod assembly on synodality.

They will only have ended the first session of that assembly. Pope Francis, the Synod's president, has scheduled a second session for 11 months from now - in October 2024.

What happens in the liminal space between now and then is anybody's guess.

That's because there are numerous issues and events - both in the Church and in the world - that will pose serious challenges to advancing the momentum of the synodal "conversations in the Spirit" that many participants said they so positively experienced.

The Marko Rupnik saga

Let's start with the issue that is no longer the elephant in the room, as it was just a few days ago.

Obviously we're talking about the likely role the pope played in the way the Vatican and the Diocese of Rome dismissed the testimonies of more than 20 women who accused the famous ex-Jesuit mosaic artist, Marko Rupnik, of sexually abusing them.

The Jesuits believed the women, however. And they slapped tight restrictions on Rupnik's work, ministry, and travel.

When the celebrity priest-artist brazenly flouted them, his religious superiors kicked him out of the order.

Demands for full transparency in how Rupnik abuse cases were handled at the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) were always ignored.

And not a single Vatican official, including anyone at the Holy See Press Office, has ever addressed the issue - until last week when it was revealed that Rupnik was recently incardinated in the Diocese of Koper (Slovenia) as a priest in good standing.

Under intense media pressure, and with emerging signs on social media that many Catholics - including some the pope's most loyal supporters - were scandalised and angered by this new development in the ongoing Rupnik saga, the Vatican said Francis had instructed the DDF to re-open the Slovenian priest's abuse case.

Naturally, it did not acknowledge that the pope decided to do so because of the above-mentioned pressure and outrage. It does not matter.

It's regretful to have to say this, but we are long past expecting any real transparency in this pontificate - at least across the board and on a consistent basis.

You are probably asking what all this has to do with the Synod assembly and the next 11 months before its second session.

At least three issues seem to be at play here:

• the lack of transparency in the Church, especially from its leaders;
• the commitment of the Church, and especially the pope, to continue making the clergy sex abuse crisis a top priority;
• and how women are treated by an all-male clergy and hierarchy.

Priests sexually assaulting minors and vulnerable adults

The members of the Synod assembly could not even acknowledge in their "Letter to the People of God" that hundreds, certainly tens of thousands and perhaps even millions of people - minors and vulnerable adults - have been sexually abused by Catholic priests over the past 70 or so years alone.

The best they could muster in their anodyne text was to mention "victims of abuse committed by members of the ecclesial body".

Seriously? This was not a tough one. And it is extremely worrying that they could not even agree that the issue at hand is about priests sexually assaulting vulnerable people.

As for transparency, there was little of that from this first session of the Synod assembly.

Those of us who were not given access to the closed-door gatherings inside the Paul VI Hall - all but about 400 of the Catholic Church's reportedly 1.3 billion members - have no real idea how the discussions were even conducted.

Yes, the "method" was explained to us, but we were not able to witness even a few moments of it actually taking place.

The only things shared with the public were the occasional spiritual reflections, witness talks, theological mini-lectures and general introductions by the assembly's rapporteur.

It was very difficult to get the "feel" or sense of what was really going on in the discussions. We had to rely on participants who shared their "experiences" at press briefings.

And then there's the issue of women and the Church - what type of responsibility and ministry they are allowed to exercise and how they are treated by the male clerics.

This, in the minds of many serious Catholics, is the most crucial issue in the Church today, right up there with the clergy sex abuse crisis.

And, of course, the hierarchy's response to the Rupnik allegations (not believing or meeting with the women he allegedly abused and then putting him back in ministry after the Jesuits dismissed him) hits both issues!

The pope also did his part deflect attention away from the women's issue and focus it, instead, on the way the Church treats gays and lesbians, one of the other hot topics going into the October 4-29 assembly.

It did this by holding much-publicised private meetings with James Martin SJ and Jeannine Gramick SL, two icons of Catholic outreach to the LGBTQ+ community. Fine people, both of them.

And, yes, Jeannine is a woman, but the pope met her and two male officials of her organisation, "New Ways Ministry". It wasn't about her gender.

Trickle down synodality?

How all the above will affect the next 11 months, which Timothy Radcliffe OP - one of the assembly's spiritual directors - has likened to a gestation period or a pregnancy, is hard to say.

The final document is supposed to highlight themes that will require further and more in-depth reflection and discussion, as well as - one supposes - issues that are not on the table.

And where will such discussions take place? In universities, parishes, diocesan chanceries?

The two-session model of this Synod assembly - which actually began in October 2021 with a series of consultations that were held (theoretically) with all the members of the Church at the local, national and regional levels - has, at times, been likened to the process that unfolded during the Second Vatican Council (1962-65).

Preparations got under in various places around the world, beginning in early 1960.

Then the first session was held in autumn 1962 at the Vatican.

Between that and the next three sessions there were those liminal periods when the Council Fathers returned to their dioceses or religious communities and the theologian returned to their universities, academies or research centers.

It has been recognised that this helped bring the Council to the local level and engage Catholics in the work and spirit of Vatican II as it was unfolding.

The Synod fathers and mothers and all the other participants at this year's assembly will also return home for the next 11 months before returning in October 2024 for Round II of the "Synod on synodality", as the two-pronged assembly is often called.

But they will not be able to bring their experience from Synod assembly or engage local Catholics with it in the same way that those who participated in the Council were able to do.

For one thing, it's numerically impossible.

In theory, all the bishops of the world were at Vatican II. Most of them said they were transformed by their experience at the Council and they enthusiastically brought its vision and decisions back home to their priests and people.

Only a tiny percentage of the world's bishops are part of the Synod assembly.

Therefore, the vast majority of the world's dioceses have no direct personal connection to what happened in the Paul VI Hall this past month.

And because of the pope's insistence on a virtual media blackout, they have not had much other connection, either.

You may have heard the old saying "Will it play in Peoria?" It's often used in the United States to ask whether a product, idea or person will appeal to the mainstream, as it is reflected in so many places like this small, typically average city in Illinois.

We might ask the same question regarding the work of the Synod assembly.

The problem is that it can't play in the countless Peorias of the worldwide Church if it's never taken back to the people there.

And how likely is that to happen if their bishops - like the one in the real Peoria - are not part of the Synod assembly?

• Robert Mickens, LCI Editor in Chief, has lived, studied and worked in Rome for 30 years. His famous Letter From Rome, brings his unparalleled experience as senior Vatican correspondent for the London Tablet and founding editor of Global Pulse Magazine.
• First published in La Croix. Republished with permission.

One programme has an American host who smirks at the concept of spiritual conversation.

On the other side of the street, more liberal Catholic media focus on questions of including people in the church, be they gay, poor, Indigenous, female, migratory or divorced.

Some are more interested in only one position; a few cover them all.

To feed the stories, various lobbying efforts set up in Rome join one side or the other, presenting conferences, position papers and books on their topics.

For example, in a public theatre at an event called "The Synodal Babel," American Cardinal Raymond Burke, a fierce critic of Pope Francis, read a long argument against the synod itself.

Meanwhile, at an event billed as "Spirit Unbounded," Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister and former President of Ireland Mary McAleese called for equality in all areas of church life and practice.

And then there are books to add to the excitement.

One, by two Latin American activists and printed in eight languages by The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property, or TFP, calls the synod a Pandora's box.

The English edition's foreword is by Burke. The book recounts with horror that women have asked to join church governance and ministry.

A book called "Credo" by another Francis critic comes with an imprimatur from American Bishop Peter Libasci, who is currently the subject of an abuse investigation.

Written by Athanasius Schneider, an auxiliary bishop in Kazakhstan, who has written against both Muslims and Jews, it aims to replace the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Unsurprisingly, it presents demonstrably false information about the history of women ordained as deacons and denies the authority of the pope to admit women to official lay ministries.

The back-and-forth is dizzying, and it will not end soon.

The synod is the synod. Parts of the Catholic world are involved. Some are not.

More speeches and more documents will create more controversy.

More anger and more division will cause louder calls for or against one or another issue, which is the opposite of what the synod is supposed to do, which is to resolve differences and make plans to move forward in peace.

Above all the noise, Pope Francis looks outside Vatican walls to a suffering world.

He calls for prayer and fasting for world peace.

He asks for warring nations to stop fighting, to peacefully resolve their differences. He even phoned American President Joe Biden the other day to press the point.

And that is what Francis wants for the church.

• Phyllis Zagano is an author at Religion News Service. She has written and spoken on the role of women in the Roman Catholic Church and is an advocate for the ordination of women as deacons
• First published in Religion News Service. Republished with permission.

While Synodality will not happen overnight, indeed there is a part two of the Synod in October 2024, CathNews spoke with some ‘synod watching' Catholics about tasking the Church with this responsibility.

"It's a huge responsibility for the New Zealand delegates; they're going to need a good process," said Julian, one of those questioned.

"Francis' request goes far beyond merely changing the words of the Mass. It's about transforming an ingrained culture."

While the popular view of Synodality is interpreted as 'power to the people' or akin to a political party changing its policy on a matter, the details of what Synodality means remain unclear.

The methods for implementing these changes are arguably more critical and unclear.

Archbishop Gintaras Grušas of Vilnius, Lithuania says that changing our personal habits and routines is one thing, but trying to change an entire diocese is Herculean.

"With yourself, you can do it. When you try to bring a whole diocese or a whole nation or a whole continent with you, it takes a lot more work," said the archbishop, who is also president of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences.

Synodality vs closed doors

Julian says that while he understands the need for closed doors at the Synod, closed doors actually create a synodal problem.

"Closed doors make it difficult for those on the outside to understand what actually happened on the Synod floor, how it operates and what we need to emulate and how we go about it" he said.

"The paradox is striking. Synodality, a process designed to encourage involvement, often excludes people.

"I admire Pope Francis, but sometimes his Jesuit background dominates a little too much.

"For synodality to work, someone needs to translate 'Jesuitical' into plain English."

Mr Manuel Bazley - Auckland diocese Vicar for Maori, Fr Dennis Nacorda - Parish Priest of Levin, Archdiocese of Wellington, Archbishop Paul Martin - Archbishop of Wellington

Pressure on New Zealand delegates

The responsibility for implementing these changes weighs heavily on the shoulders of New Zealand's synod delegates.

These synod delegates are now tasked with modelling a synodal response in a New Zealand context.

Through no fault of their own, New Zealand's synod delegates are two clerics from the Archdiocese and one Maori layman.

They were selected offshore from a group of New Zealand men and women.

Some argue their responsibility to model a synodal response doesn't start with a synodal look since all three delegates are male.

Archbishop Paul Martin and Fr James Martin SJ in their Synod group.

Listening a key change

"I support the idea of change", said Abbey, another of those spoken to by CathNews.

"I'm right behind our making a change, but perhaps if he, the person who selected New Zealand's delegates, listened to New Zealand culture, I think there might have been room for a woman in the mix."

She pointed out that listening is a key challenge.

"It's our Church and our faith but the priests make it feel like theirs.

"Our bishop has been unresponsive to discussions about reconfiguring our parish and, as a result, our people are voting with their wallets."

"I'm hanging in, but it's very easy to feel disenfranchised" she said.

Laity infallible

Abbey said that to her, Pope Francis' comment to the Synod hit home.

"One of the characteristics of this faithful people is its infallibility — yes, it is infallible in 'credendo' - in belief, as the Second Vatican Council taught.

"I explain it this way: When you want to know 'what' Holy Mother Church believes, go to the magisterium because it is in charge of teaching it to you, but when you want to know 'how' the Church believes, go to the faithful people."

However Mary, another questioned by CathNews, has some concerns.

"It sounds good, but it's blimmin' scary; handing everything over to the community is a cool idea in theory" she told CathNews.

"We've had 'devolution' of social responsibility in NZ since the late 80s, and the results are sad because nobody really knows what to do or feels like giving up their time to do it."

A Parish perspective

Fr Joe Grayland, a Parish Priest in the Diocese of Palmerston North says some parishes have tried synodal processes and encountered limitations.

Grayland, currently lecturing at the University of Tübingen, says people and some clergy resist change.

He told CathNews that Synodality has an added complexity when multiple nationalities have different expressions of faith.

"The New Zealand Catholic Church is not just one culture, one expression of faith" he said.

Highlighting the role of the parish priest, Grayland says that parish leadership and the role of the parish priest probably needs clarification.

He suggests there may be cause for priests to be retrained in a synodal leadership style.

"Change is difficult when it is not effectively led.

"There is an implicit challenge in synodality that the Church has ordained men into a hierarchical model with different ideas about leadership."

Manuel Bazley and Pope Francis greet each other.

Reality bites

When asked about her involvement in parish synodality, Trish, a very involved parishioner, replied, "Good grief."

"I'm fairly involved in the life of the parish, but they met for a month and nothing seems to have happened!

"Is the Church creating a professional synodal class of Catholics?

"I go to church, I pray, I'm involved in my community, I give my adult family a break and look after my grandchildren. It's all part of the mission of the Church.

"I'm a full-time Catholic as it is."

Synodality is possible

Cardinal Leonardo Ulrich Steiner who runs a synodal diocese in Manaus, Brazil believes in the power of community-led change.

"Synodality is beneficial because it allows the communities to guide us in being a Church rather than a bishop dictating terms" he told CNS.

Archbishop Faustino Armendáriz of Durango, Mexico has seen synodality work and acknowledges there are difficulties. But he remains optimistic.

"Achieving synodality is not easy, especially when people come from diverse backgrounds and hold different ideas.

"However, I've seen firsthand that consensus can be reached. It's challenging, but it is possible."

Source

• UCA News
• Catholic Culture
• America
• Catholic News Agency
• UCA News
• CathNews NZ
• Eurasia Review

The synthesis report summarises synodal discussions about how a synodal Church's ministries and structures can give a wider role for laity which is more in line with the vision of Vatican II.

Big issues discussed at the synod were identified in its two-year lead-up, and besides reporting on the past month, the report also lays the foundation for the second part of the Synod scheduled for October 2024.

At the time of CathNews publication, the report was only available in Italian!

• Note: The report is now available in English as a PDF document.

The synthesis report

The synthesis report outlines key proposals discussed between some 450 participants from around the world.

It covers off areas of convergence, matters for consideration and proposals that are expected to set the stage for further debate throughout the year ahead of next year's assembly.

For the first time ever at a Synod of Bishops, voting members included lay women, laymen and other non-bishops.

Voting on the document was taken paragraph by paragraph on Saturday.

A two-thirds majority vote threshold was set for passing each paragraph.

Although the report makes 81 proposals, many are open-ended or general.

Further theological or canonical study, evaluation or consideration is called for at least 20 times.

Yes and No votes

More than 80 proposals were approved in the synod vote.

These include establishing a new "baptismal ministry of listening and accompaniment," initiating discernment processes for decentralising the Church and giving lectors a preaching ministry.

The most 'no' votes - accounting for about a fifth of the delegates - were given to two primary paragraphs addressing the possibility of women deacons.

One passed by a vote of 277-69; the other by 279-67.

"That means that the resistance [to women's leadership] is not so great as people have thought" the Vatican's Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich said.

A paragraph addressing the question of clerical celibacy also received substantial No votes, but passed at 291-55.

Women

The synthesis report does not call immediately for the ordination of women as deacons. Nor does it mention calls for priestly ordination for women.

It does include however, a "clear request" from the assembly that women's contributions "would be recognised and valued, and that their pastoral leadership increased in all areas."

The synthesis report also questions how the Church can include more women in existing ministries.

"If new ministries are required, who should discern these, at what levels and in what ways?" it asks.

The Church must address employment injustices and unfair remuneration for women in the church "especially for women in consecrated life."

Liturgical text and church document reviews will ensure language is considerate to both men and women and draws more widely on women's experience.

Archbishop Paul Martin and Fr James Martin SJ in their Synod group.

LGBTQ Catholics

The report seemed to largely glosses over the tensions that emerged over how the Church should respond to LGBTQ Catholics.

Jesuit Fr James Martin, editor of the LGBTQ Catholic publication Outreach, says he was "disappointed but not surprised" by the result for LGBTQ Catholics.

"There were widely diverging views on the topic," says Martin, who was a synod voting member.

"I wish however that some of those discussions, which were frank and open, had been captured in the final synthesis."

It is a point emphasised by Cardinal Blaise Cupich in a conversation with America Magazine.

No one should feel excluded and we have to get to know people, Cupich said.

However he admitted that while trying to pick up on what people said perhaps the document could have expressed the nuances a little better.

Cupich said there was explicit reference to LGBTQ issues in the groups he was in and the lack of explicit reference does not mean we're not going to return to it again next year.

He said there was greater discussion about LGBTQ issues than there was about polygamy, yet polygamy was named in the document.

Cardinal Mario Grech says the assembly felt a need to "respect everyone's pace" regarding LGBTQ questions.

"It doesn't mean if your voice is stronger it will prevail."

Clergy abuse

The synthesis report proposes creating further structures to prevent abuse.

These include the possibility of establishing a new body to review abuse cases that does not rely on bishops.

"The appropriateness of assigning the judicial task to another body, to be specified canonically, should be explored."

The report also recommends women receive formation "to enable them to be judges in all canonical processes."

Other key proposals

In a move signalling shift within the Catholic Church, the synod's final document outlines several key proposals aimed at fostering inclusivity and unity among its diverse communities. Among the recommendations:

• The development of "new paradigms" for pastoral engagement with Indigenous communities, emphasizing a collaborative journey rather than actions imposed upon them
• The formation of a "permanent council" comprising leaders from Eastern Rite Catholic Churches, tasked with advising the pope on challenges facing these communities
• An expanded invitation to delegates from other Christian denominations for the October 2024 assembly, in a bid to foster ecumenical dialogue
• A strong expression of desire from the assembly for the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations to establish a common date for the celebration of Easter

Source

• NCR Online
• Catholic News Agency
• America Magazine

Every single one of them offered encouraging words of hope.

But if one wants to know what is happening at this synodal assembly, those words of hope are pretty much all we have for now, given that Pope Francis has chosen a policy that limits the media's access to what is going on behind the closed-door meetings.

Paul VI instituted the Synod of Bishops in 1965 and the next year issue its first Ordo, the set of regulations and procedures.

It made clear his desire that the Synod assemblies would be a hortus conclusus, a protected moment shielded from the press and public scrutiny.

Only later did Synod assemblies gradually become more open to the press and the public.

Francis' current policy therefore marks a strange return to the past - but not to the days of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

Ironically, compared to "Synod 2023", the various assemblies that were held during those two pontificates actually featured more openness in revealing the contents of the discussions that took place in the Synod Hall.

There could have been other methods

The new lack of openness is problematic, because it could hamper the Synod assembly from becoming the spark that ignites synodality in the global Church.

Journalism has been called "the first draft of history", and without more openness and less secrecy it will be difficult, in years to come, to write a history of this synodal assembly.

Historiographical accounts of ecclesial events are different - but not separated - from the continuous making of the tradition in a community, including the Church.

Pope Francis has not been precise (to say the least) in outlining his expectations of the role journalists should play in the Church.

For example, there are some differences between the Church's relationship with journalists, per se, and its relationship with Catholic journalists.

The Synod is not a conclave; there could have been other methods to preserve the freedom of synodal members (such as some version of the "Chatham House Rule").

It's not just Francis' fear of what journalists, of whom he has always tried to make a very attentive and strategic use, could say that could perturb this retreat-like assembly of the Synod.

In fact, the assemblies held during previous pontificates were not just of a different kind.

They were also carefully controlled by the Roman Curia and, in some sense, already scripted to achieve a specific outcome.

And this Synod has been structured more as a retreat of a small ecclesial community than a meeting of delegates of the global Church.

More photos to look at than texts to read

This is also a different era in the history of the mass media and of the use and misuse of the media in the Church and by Catholics.

The "culture war" narratives have changed the role of the media with polarising effects in the ecclesial conversation.

But there is also a change in the technology that this Synod assembly is evidencing.

In the more than two weeks that it's been in session, we have been given more photos to look at than written texts to read! There's a real temptation to call this the "Synod of selfies".

It is true that photos provide a narrative as well. But they can also be very misleading.

Our culture today is one of images in ways that the culture of twenty years ago was not. That was before smartphones and social media changed our daily relationship with reality, including ecclesial reality.

There's now a whole new iconography - not paintings of dead saints, but self-made instant icons of living ecclesial leaders in our ubiquitous celebrity culture.

There is a whole psychology and spirituality of selfies (especially selfies taken by and with Catholic celebrities - the pope, cardinals, bishops, etc.) that the policies of the Synod and self-discipline of Synod members could and should take into account.

On the other hand, this policy and the world media's relative silence about the Synod are strangely fitting in this moment when so many lamps are going out in our world.

It makes sense that news on the Synod is being overshadowed by other world events such as those in Israel and Gaza, without forgetting Ukraine and the situation in the Caucasus.

Moreover, the policy concerning the media and the Synod is also a failure to understand or appreciate that if synodality is to work the Church must engage the media's quest for news-making narratives in ways that are different from the recent past - especially from the time of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65).

The pope's big gamble

Synodality entails redefining the roles of the characters on the stage of the religious and spiritual drama that should be at the center of the Christian story.

In its coverage of the Catholic Church, the media will always place much attention on the ecclesiastical game, that is, on Church politics.

But this does not mean that the Church should provide the media with the usual script.

At the same time, it is also important to note that in the Synod assemblies that preceded Francis, there was greater separation between those who are members of the assembly and those who craft a media narrative on the Synod.

Among those whom the Jesuit pope has appointed as members of the current assembly, are individuals well known for their ability to influence narratives on the Church in both the Catholic and mainstream media.

They have been quite visible in these days.

There are also elderly and eminent theologians at this assembly - some of them octogenarians who have been real fathers of the theology of synodality since the 1970s.

But, since they don't take selfies like those in the hall who are savvier with social media, we don't see many (if any) photos of them participating the Synod. It's almost as if they are not even there.

Francis' new policy concerning the Synod and the media must also be seen in light of the relationship between the news and the truth. We are now at a new stage of the "post-truth" age.

It's not they we are uninterested in truth, it's that many now believe it is impossible and futile to know the truth, or to trust the media - and other institutions, the Church included - in their presentations of the truth.

Through his new Synod-media policy, the pope has taken a huge gamble on what type of reception synodality among the world's Catholics during the long period between the current session of Synod assembly and its second session in October 2024.

It's also big gamble for the papacy, which has come to rely more and more on mainstream media to tell its story - not the Church's, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

• Massimo Faggioli is a Church historian, Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University (Philadelphia) and a much published author and commentator. He is a visiting professor in Europe and Australia.
• First published in La Croix. Republished with permission.

I have covered almost every synod since.

It has never been easy.

Meetings of the synod are usually closed, and the information released to the press is carefully controlled.

The Vatican wishes to project an image of prayerful harmony in which the bishops exchange ideas with no conflict.

The media, on the other hand, thrives on conflict. You will never read a headline saying, "Participants love one another; everything is fine."

Covering the Synod on Synodality has been especially difficult.

Pope Francis does not like the press, especially the Western media, which, he believes, only writes about issues of concern to the Global North.

Thus, at the 2015 Synod on the Family, the coverage focused on Francis' intentions for divorced and remarried Catholics.

• Can they get annulments?
• Can they go to Communion?
• And can married couples practice birth control?

There was little concern for the plight of

• refugee families,
• human trafficking,
• forced marriages of families broken by the need for men to migrate to find work to support their families.

Likewise, at the Synod on the Pan-Amazon Region, in 2019, the Western media's focus was on the possibility of ordaining married men to deal with the shortage of priests in rural communities in the Amazon.

And many thought might open the door to married priests everywhere.

Little attention was given to the Indigenous people in the region who were being displaced and killed in order to provide beef, lumber and minerals to the industrialised world.

Nor did the importance of the Amazon rain forest as a consumer of carbon dioxide get much attention.

At the current synod, the media is no less fascinated by hot-button issues put on the agenda by Catholics in the Church's global listening sessions that kicked off the synod:

• blessings for gay couples,
• the prospect of married priests
• and women priests and deacons.

For Francis, the synod is about a new way of being a Church, a path for overcoming divisions through conversations in the Spirit and a new way of making decisions in the Church through discernment.

Secrecy - not great communication

Every synod has had an antagonistic relationship with the media.

Journalists are suspicious by nature.

The media suspects people are hiding something, and the less you give reporters, the more suspicious they become.

Francis has acknowledged that the Vatican has tightly controlled earlier synods.

At the 2001 synod on the role of the bishop, called by John Paul II, Francis was named a "relator" — a papal-appointed coordinator — and he recalled being told what topics could not be discussed.

If they were discussed, he was told, they should be left out of the public reports. At the first synod he oversaw as pope, he encouraged the members to speak boldly and not worry about what people thought.

Despite the general gag order, information about the synods generally got leaked to the Italian press.

Many observers see in this a method for officials of the Roman curia, the bureaucrats of the Church, to control the narrative of the synod. Stop the bishops from talking to the press while at the same time secretly giving stories to the curia's favourite journalists.

There is some logic to confidentiality for synodal discussions. Secrecy promotes free debate and allows members to speak without fear of retribution from their hostile government.

How much material is made available to the press has varied from synod to synod.

At some, nothing was made public except the final report.

At others, speakers could release part of their addresses but not the full texts.

Some American bishops have responded by dropping the first sentence, the one greeting the pope and the synodal members, then publishing the rest.

Some synods even released the reports from the small group discussions. These reports gave a summary of the discussions but never told who said what.

I found them very helpful in writing stories on the synod.

Vatican's pots and pans communication strategy

At the Synod on Synodality, major addresses have been open to the press, but, sadly, the reports from the small group discussions remain secret.

In addition, the major addresses have been more on process than substance, which gives the media little to talk about.

Without access to the small group discussions, the press is not able to get a feel for what is going on in the synod.

The Vatican approach to the press is the equivalent of telling people what pots and pans are in the kitchen without letting them watch the chef cook the meal.

Eventually, the synod may serve a delicious meal, but no one will know how they did it. No one will learn how to cook.

Since releasing the reports from the small groups in the past did not harm the synodal process, it is incomprehensible why Francis refuses to allow it for this synod.

Without anything to write about, the media is giving attention to the sideshows and demonstrations happening outside the synod.

I have chosen to look elsewhere, writing about

• Laudate Deum, the pope's new document on global warming,
• or to cover the byplay leading up to the synod: the "dubia,"
• or questions raised by five conservative cardinals,
• and the retreat talks given to the synodal members by the Dominican Timothy Radcliffe prior to the synod.

Francis does not 'get' Western media

Francis does not understand when it comes to the media, you either feed the beast or the beast eats you.

You either control the narrative, or the narrative is controlled by anyone who grabs the media's attention.

In the past, it was the progressive press that saw conspiracies everywhere.

Today, it is the conservative Catholic media that believes that everything is being controlled by a cabal of liberal theologians and officials.

Perhaps the pope should lock up the press and force them to do a month of prayer, conversation in the Spirit and discernment. That would be fun to watch.

• Thomas Reese SJ is a senior analyst at Religion News Service, and a former columnist at National Catholic Reporter, and a former editor-in-chief of the weekly Catholic magazine America. First published in RNS. Republished with permission.

Current and former lay leaders from 33 countries - many in the Global South - all endorsed and are signatories to a joint statement "Contribution to the First Assembly of the Synod on Synodality".

Lay apostolate group concerns

Australian Cardijn Institute secretary, Stefan Gigacz, says the statement aims to draw Synod participants' attention to several concerns identified by the lay apostolate groups.

These include:

Needing a clear focus on promoting the lay apostolate of lay people

The statement asks for the lay apostolate to be promoted as envisaged in Lumen Gentium §31, Gaudium et Spes §43 and Apostolicam Actuositatem, when the notion of lay apostolate groups was initially developed.

Better representation among participants in the First Assembly of the Synod of international Catholic (lay) Movements

Lay movements were extensively represented in the later Sessions of Vatican II, the statement points out. This was also the case at the Synod on the Laity in 1987. Many were pioneers in promoting the laity and a synodal way of working.

A fresh look at the Apostolicam Actuositatem §26 provisions is necessary

Otherwise known as the "Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity", the §26 provisions clearly call for more representative and participative structures. These involve grassroots lay movements and organisations from local to global level.

The statement addresses a series of longstanding concerns dating back to the Second Vatican Council, Gigacz notes.

"During the Council, the lay apostolate movements also known as Specialised Catholic Action movements, successfully advocated for representative Church structures."

These were to involve lay movements at parish, diocesan, national and international levels, he says.

The Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, Apostolicam Actuositatem, adopted these proposals in its §26.

"But to the great disappointment of Cardijn and the leaders of the lay movements, these reforms were not implemented when the first Vatican Council of the Laity was established in 1967.

"Today, the current Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life is still not a representative body.
​
"This is surely an issue that needs to be addressed by the Synod on Synodality;" he says.

Regrets and hope

The signatories say in the statement:

"We regretfully observe that the Vatican II teaching on lay apostolate ...

"The role of the lay movements appears not to have been received to the extent that the Council Fathers - and the lay auditors who assisted in the drafting of the Council documents - would have envisaged and desired."

They also say:

"We believe that there is an urgent need for a renewed attention to and reception of the teachings of the Council on lay apostolate.

"We call on participants at the Synod on Synodality to reflect deeply ... [and we hope for] ... much broader representation of international lay movements, communities and organisations at the Second Assembly of the Synod."

Source

• Australian Cardijn Institute

According to The Pillar news outlet, the records contain vital information. This includes rosters of synodal participants and their working group assignments.

Reports filed by these working groups at the conclusion of the first segment of the synod's discussion were also available.

Anyone with the correct web address could access the records openly without requiring a password.

The security failure has sent shockwaves through the Vatican and calls into question the level of confidentiality within the Synod.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni has started an investigation into the matter.

Vatican embarrassed

The Pillar, in compliance with Pope Francis' request for restraint in press coverage of the synodal process, has refrained from publishing the names of members of individual working groups.

However, the revelation has left the Vatican embarrassed. It also exposed an extraordinary breach of the supposed wall of secrecy surrounding the Synod's proceedings.

One of the major concerns arising from this breach is the question of who else might have been spying on these confidential deliberations.

Additionally, the availability of the Synod's working group assignments raises doubts about the organisers' decision not to share this information with the media.

One journalist reported that Paolo Ruffini, president of the synod's information commission, said this week he did not have access to the names. He added he would be unwilling to obtain and share them with the media.

Inclusivity questioned

That such information appears to be withheld even from senior synodal participants but freely available on an unsecured server raises significant questions about the synodal secretariat's approach to internal information sharing and security.

Moreover, the reports reveal discrepancies with Synod leaders' claims that the assembly would focus on inclusivity rather than Church teaching.

Some working groups emphasised doctrinal fidelity, while at least one report proposed reconsidering doctrine on sexual morality.

The breach highlights a significant communication blunder. It undermines Pope Francis' emphasis on maintaining the confidentiality of Synod proceedings.

This secrecy is crucial to enabling Synod members to "express themselves freely."

Vatican representatives are yet to confirm the security status of the server. They have also refrained from outlining the action they intend to take in response to The Pillar's report.

Sources

Catholic News Agency

The Pillar

CathNews New Zealand

Organised by the International Reform Network, Spirit Unbounded is a virtual assembly running in parallel to the current Synod on Synodality, attracting participants from all over the world.

Keep Mother Earth in good heart

Drawing on the almost universal Mother Earth concept, McGowan compared puny human life to Kauri or Totara trees.

He told the assembly the trees have been on earth for tens of millions of years without changing at all. Individual human beings, by comparison, are here for just a short while.

"From a Maori perspective, we're all children of Tane. (God of forests and birds.)

"We are one of the most recent species that have come into being. Everybody else is more senior (tuakana) to us and in a Maori world when the junior, (teina) oversteps the senior, things go wrong, things get all messed up.

"We kept taking and take and take and now we've got a mess."

McGowan's solution is found in mauri, defined as "an essential life force" found in the connections that give life and which is intrinsic to humanity and nature.

When those connections are strong, the mauri is strong, and life thrives.

McGowan says that when connections are strong then the mauri is strong and life thrives.

He says mauri is intrinsic to humanity and nature.

"When the water's well, when it's full of fish, all of those things that give life to it are well, then the people that live on its banks they will be well.

"When the river deteriorates, well so do we.

"And so our big job as people is to look after those connections that give life."

As the youngest of Tane's children, we are charged with looking after the world gifted to us, he told the virtual global assembly.

It is important for humanity to find its rightful place in the order of things.

That means we'll have to change our thinking, reorder our priorities and put the earth and its care first.

"When Papatuanuku and Mother Earth is well, everything else will be well. So that's our first priority and there are no exceptions to that.

Addressing Spirit Unbounded McGowan said that if we duck looking after Mother Earth we are actually punishing ourselves.

We also have to remember we are not the most senior members of creation.

"When we act like small brats, you know, the youngest of the big family, we are actually hurting ourselves as well as the whole of creation."

This is the subject of the third module, dedicated to section B2 of the Instrumentum laboris, or working document, which is being addressed starting today.

B2 reads: "Co-responsibility in Mission: How can we better share gifts and tasks in the service of the Gospel?"

In his reflection, the relator general concluded that "in this module, we touch on some of the key points of our Synod" and thus asked those present not to give "hasty answers that do not consider all the aspects of these difficult questions."

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"A synodal Church is a listening Church… but it needs to go a step further: a synodal Church is an accountable Church and an accountable Church needs to be synodal," said Myriam Wijlens, (pictured) a canon law professor at the University of Erfurt, Germany.

The synodality and accountability in Catholic Church are deeply interconnected, Wijlens, a member of the Coordinating Commission of the Synod on Synodality, said during a wide-ranging interview with Polish Catholic quarterly Wiez.

The first phase of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops started in the Vatican on 4 October and is scheduled to end on 29 October.

The second phase will be held next October.

The bishops' synod is part of the ongoing global Synod on Synodality which was started by Pope Francis on Oct. 10, 2021.

The synod in the Vatican "is a meeting within the larger Synod. It is a special moment within the Synod of the Church," Wijlens said.

Pope Francis's suggestion to bishops' conferences to reflect on the accountability aspect of its members in 2019 was due to the inefficient response from bishops towards abuse allegations, she said.

"The Church became aware that there was the abuse of minors by clergy, but there was also a severe problem in that those in leadership had not acted in accordance with the responsibility flowing from their office as bishop," Wijlens said.

The "Instrumentum laboris" - the guiding document for the synod had questions that discussed the accountability of bishops and the role of women in it, she pointed out.

The document has questions such as "How can bishops be more accountable?" and a separate section on women which asks, "How women [can] assist the Church in being more accountable?"

Wijlens said that the priority was to "complete the work of making accountability well seated in theory, in theology and canon law."

In 2020, Pope Francis through a motu proprio, a papal document personally signed by the pope, titled "Vos estis lux mundi" (You Are the Light of the World) ordered bishops worldwide to report cases of clergy sex crimes to the police even when not legally bound to do so.

The Vatican's manual for bishops and religious superiors details the process for conducting in-house investigations into allegations of priests who rape and molest minors and vulnerable adults.

Wijlens suggested that independent judges who take a neutral approach toward the evaluation of abuse cases are better suited than local bishops as there is a possibility of bias when they may have to investigate each other.

"We need independent judges not only because the bishops might need to investigate each other and that would not help the issue of credibility.

"We also see that those who conduct these investigations need to have expertise in collecting evidence, weighing it, etc," she said.

She recommended the engaging of laity or "judges in civil courts who have special training," to investigate abuse cases.

She also pointed out that the implementation of any changes related to accountability or women's participation in the Catholic Church cannot be achieved at a uniform scale globally.

"A challenge is certainly that not all places go with the same speed and that thus not all are at the same point in implementing being an accountable Church," Wijlens said.

Based on her experience in the Synodal consultations in Europe, Wijlens said that a desire for transparency was exhibited by the Church leadership.

She referred to the synodal meeting in Prague which was open to journalists.

"Their presence gave expression to the desire to be transparent. That too had an impact on the meeting," she said.

Wijlens pointed out that the meeting had 49 women as participants in contrast to only 42 bishops among the total 200 participants, showing increased participation of women in Church reforms.

She also called for the need to develop various structures of accountability based on the "context of where people live."

"We should strengthen diocesan pastoral councils, parish pastoral councils and search for ways how this participation may be better developed," Wijlens said.

She pointed out that one of the key needs is to create an awareness among the Catholic clergy "to bring the laity as the center of the Church."

"We first need a change of mentality. Because we may have rules and procedures for everything, but it will not stop people from not implementing them. Internal awareness is absolutely crucial," she said.

"This change will not happen overnight, but things are developing already. A synodal process is a journey in this direction. The train has begun to ride, and we won't be able to stop it," she added.

• Professor Myriam Wijlens is a Dutch theologian and professor of canon law at the University of Erfurt (Germany), a clerical sexual abuse expert in civilian courts regarding Church liability, a canonical delegate for penal investigations and a policy writer.
• Republished from UCANews.com

Blair is a barrister and women's rights advocate.

She spoke by video at a parallel Synod event, Spirit Unbounded, an assembly organised by the international reform network

Blair began her speech praising Pope Francis' Synod on Synodality as a step toward Church reform.

"It can only be a good thing that efforts are being made to hear and to listen to the voices of people in the Church, not least the voices of women," said Cherie Blair, speaking of the Synod.

Discussing her personal faith journey, Blair credited her early experiences with the Church, particularly her grandmother Vera and the nuns at Seafield Convent School in Crosby, Liverpool as being "instrumental in her academic success and career in the law".

Church does not do enough for women

However Blair criticised the Church's track record on women's issues as "at best mixed".

She pointed out that while women increasingly have roles in theology, aid agencies and even in some Vatican positions, "there remains a strong sense that the Church does not do enough for women."

She added that the Church's teachings and priorities, particularly on birth control, "do not always serve women well."

No need to fear change

Drawing on working documents from the 2022 synod, Blair said consultations revealed that many women feel their lives are "often not well understood, and their contributions and charisms not always valued.

"The Church needs to change and should not fear change," said Blair.

She said the synod demonstrated what can be accomplished.

"Where there is a will…" she said.

Church reinvigoration

Blair stressed the importance of "listening to women's voices" and understanding the broader social and cultural context in which we all live.

"Women have continually proven that they can shatter glass ceilings and create opportunities where none existed before" and she is urging the Church to harness this energy to "reinvigorate" itself.

Reflecting on the success of the Cherie Blair Foundation, Blair was passionate about the rise of women in entrepreneurship.

The rise of women "is not just a story of empowerment. It is a story of innovation, resilience and the power of diversity. It's a story that's changing the world for the better" she said.

"We need to harness and replicate that story in our quest to reinvigorate the church."

A moral issue

She argued the Church is well-positioned to join the cultural shift toward true equality of opportunity.

Blair labels the cultural shift towards true equality a deeply moral issue.

"If it makes it much more apparent that it is on the side of women and that the dignity of women is of vital importance as a deeply moral issue, then it will have profound consequences for all women, both within and without the Church," she said.

Men too

Blair also urged the Church to be more supportive of parents, criticising its tendency to "idealise motherhood" while neglecting the role of fathers.

She said, "An involved fatherhood means men take their responsibility too for childcare and everything that involves bringing up the next generation."

Blair concluded that a long-overdue debate on birth control and family needs should occur and be transformed into action.

"I hope and pray that together we can finally not only have that debate but also see it transformed into action," she said.

Source

As the 364 attendees gathered at 35 round tables in the grand Paul VI Audience Hall, the initial three days were an intriguing mix of experimentation and camaraderie.

"If we act like Jesus, we will testify to God's love for the world" said Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich. Hollerich is one of the principal coordinators of the 2023 Synod.

"Failing to do so will make us look like an identitarian club."

Incredible diversity

One innovative approach that took centre stage was "conversation in the Spirit," a method that the organisers extolled for its ability to give every participant a voice, alternating between speaking and silence.

This fresh perspective stirred a range of initial reactions from the attendees.

Some were quick to praise the "incredible diversity" of the members. However, others whimsically compared the round table setup to a wedding banquet and even a cabaret.

Some seemed sceptical at the outset, with one participant remarking "Some came dragging their feet."

However as time passed, attitudes seemed to evolve.

"Some of the bishops present had not participated in the synodal process in their own countries and came here as if they were being punished" one noted, then added "But it seems things have taken off. They understand."

Process change

Significantly, Vatican Synod organisers pointed to establishing friendly bonds among participants with differing views.

Inside the assembly hall, discussions aim to foster a state of unity.

It is not only the 'hot' content of the debates but the synod forma that t is unfamiliar to Catholic bishops. These men are used to having the final word, usually in private, and sharing only what they wish.

However as Müller noted in his interview with EWTN, laypeople can vote on the church's future, so the synod's nature has changed.

Covid outbreak?

Earlier in the week a Vatican News article momentarily caused some confusion when it mistakenly stated that 118 synod participants had tested positive for Covid-19.

This statement was attributed to Cardinal Mario Grech, the secretary general of the Synod of Bishops.

Later, Cardinal Grech clarified that only "four people" had reported testing positive for Covid.

Sources

La Croix International

Catholic News Agency

One of the meditations focussed on the meaning of ‘Authority' and another on 'The Spirit of Truth'.

Authority

There can be no fruitful conversation between us unless we recognize that each of us speaks with authority. We all are baptized into Christ: priest, prophet, and king.

The International Theological Commission on the sensus fidei quotes St John: ‘You have been anointed by the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge', ‘the anointing that you received from [Christ] abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you', ‘his anointing teaches you about all things' (1Jn 2:20, 27).

Many lay people have been astonished during the preparation of this Synod to find that they are listened to for the first time.

They had doubted their own authority and asked, ‘Can I really offer something?' (B.2.53). But it is not just the laity who lack authority.

The whole Church is afflicted by a crisis of authority.

An Asian archbishop complained that he had no authority. He said: ‘The priests are all independent barons, who take no notice of me.'

Many priests too say they lost all authority.

The sexual abuse crisis has discredited us. Read more

The Spirit of Truth

The disciples see the glory of the Lord and the witness of Moses and Elijah. Now they dare to come down the mountain and walk to Jerusalem.

In today's gospel (Luke 9. 51 - 56) we see them on the way. They encounter the Samaritans who oppose them because they are going to Jerusalem.

The immediate reaction of the disciples is the call down fire from heaven and destroy them. Well, they have just seen Elijah and this is what he did to the prophets of Ba'al!

But the Lord rebukes them. They still have not understood the journey on which the Lord is leading them.

During the next three weeks, we may be tempted to call down fire from heaven on those with whom we disagree! Our society is filled with burning rage.

The Lord summons us to banish such destructive urges from our meeting.

This pervasive rage springs from fear, but we need not be afraid.

The Lord has promised the Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth. On the night before he died, Jesus said, ‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.' (John 16. 12 - 13). Read more

• Father Timothy Radcliffe, OP, is an English Catholic priest and Dominican friar who served as master of the Order of Preachers from 1992 to 2001. These are two of the reflections he shared with those about to attend the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which began last Wednesday.