"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

The clarification followed a recent interview given by German Cardinal Gerhard Müller to EWTN, raising questions about Pope Francis's call for a media 'fast'.

Italian layman Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for Communications, addressed journalists during an October 6 press briefing.

"It's an assembly of brothers and sisters who have been given this time" to pray and reflect together, "then there is personal discernment in all of this.

"We are not speaking of punishment or not, but a personal discernment the pope asked of the members, and the discernment is left to each individual person," Ruffini said.

The Synod, titled "For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission" opened on October 4 and is set to run until October 29. It is part of a multi-year process initiated by Pope Francis in October 2021, culminating in a second discussion in October 2024.

"Fast" from publicity

Pope Francis had urged the 464 participants to refrain from media engagement to prioritise listening and maintain a certain "fast" from publicity.

"A certain asceticism" is needed for the synod, the pope said. He asked forgiveness from journalists trying to cover the month-long meeting.

Still, Pope Francis insisted "a certain fasting from public words" would be needed to ensure the proper spiritual atmosphere for the synod members.

While there would be no punishment for breaking pontifical secrecy, the guidelines for the synod stressed the importance of confidentiality and discretion among participants throughout the gathering.

Ruffini provided insight into the discussions, mentioning topics such as seminary formation, the role of the laity and women, the liturgy, welcoming the marginalised, and prioritising the poor.

The role and status of young people, women's participation and clericalism were also discussed.

Participants called for greater co-responsibility between pastors and the people, addressing clerical abuse and emphasising that the church is not just for the perfect but for all, especially those on the margins.

Synodality itself was a topic of discussion, with calls for active collaboration between pastors and the people.

Sources

CruxNow

UCA News

Catholic New Agency

CathNews New Zealand

But one delegate, German cardinal Gerhard Müller, immediately defied the pontiff's request.

Müller, a former head of the Vatican's doctrinal office, is known as a vocal critic of Francis's synod on synodality.

During an Eternal Word Television Network's (EWTN) nightly news programme, the German cardinal presented a more positive attitude, however.

When the interviewer asked him if he was still concerned about the synod being a "hostile takeover" of the Church as he had previously commented, Müller spoke of "a certain form of optimism" and good conversation.

"... but at the end we must wait in what direction it will go and what will be the decisions behind the scenery. That is always the problem," he said.

Müller went on to criticise a fellow delegate - his successor in the Vatican's doctrinal office, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández.

Müller said Fernández had erred when speaking in a recent interview about Francis's "magisterium".

"That doesn't exist," Müller said. "The pope does not have his own doctrine.

"Surely the pope has a special authority in the church according to our Catholic Church, but he is not a person who receives a new revelation."

Vatican media caution

Müller's EWTN interview came one day after the Vatican published its formal set of conduct rules (regolamento) for synod members.

These stated that delegates are bound by "confidentiality and discretion regarding both their own interventions and the interventions of other participants."

In an October 5 press briefing, the head of the Vatican's Dicastery for Communications said synod delegates were encouraged to "take time to discern, take time to listen to each other" rather than speaking to the press about the proceedings.

During his opening remarks on October 4, the Pope also told the 450-plus synod participants to abstain from media interviews.

Past synods have been reduced to one or two hot button issues, he said.

He noted that in anticipation of this synod he had seen press coverage focus on the possibility that the Catholic Church might ordain women as priests.

This synod's rules mark a departure from procedures used at four synods Francis has hosted in the past.

During those gatherings, participants were largely free to give interviews to members of the press.

They were also frequently invited to take part in daily press briefings the synod office had organised. This enabled delegates to give interviews from firsthand experience about their experiences of the synod process.

NCR newspaper claims "multiple sources" say Müller did not attend the September 30 - October 3 spiritual retreat for synod delegates.

Source

• NCR Online

A new book, "The Synodal Process Is a Pandora's Box: 100 Questions and Answers," addresses the "serious situation" brought on by the synod, Cardinal Raymond Burke (pictured, centre) says.

Pope Francis is risking confusion and even schism in leading the upcoming Synod on Synodality in Rome, Burke writes in the book's preface.

"Synodality and its adjective, synodal, have become slogans behind which a revolution is at work to change radically the Church's self-understanding, in accord with a contemporary ideology which denies much of what the Church has always taught and practised," he continues.

It should concern all Catholics "who observe the evident and grave harm" that it has brought on the church.

The word synodality, the cardinal added, is "a term which has no history in the doctrine of the Church and for which there is no reasonable definition."

It leads to "confusion and error and their fruit — indeed schism," he says in the preface.

He backs this view citing the German Synodal Path, where church leaders consulted with lay and religious Catholics in Germany between December 2019 and March 2023.

Female ordination and blessing same-sex couples were among the issues the German consultation explored.

"With the imminent Synod on Synodality, it is rightly to be feared that the same confusion and error and division will be visited upon the universal Church. In fact, it has already begun to happen through the preparation of the Synod at the local level," Burke wrote.

The only way to uncover the "ideology at work" within the Vatican and "undertake true reform," was to turn to the "unchanging and unchangeable doctrine and discipline of the church," Burke's preface says.

He entrusted to the Virgin Mary his prayer that "the grave harm which presently threatens the Church be averted."

The synod on synodality

Francis's aims for the synod are to promote inclusivity, transparency and accountability in the Church.

After three years of world-wide consultations with Catholics, bishops and lay Catholics will gather in Rome in October under the rubric of "Synodality: Communion, Participation and Mission."

Agenda items drawn from concerns Catholics raised in diocesan forums include LGBTQ Catholics' inclusion and female leadership.

Those topics have convinced conservative Catholics that the synod will lead to changes in Catholic doctrine on questions of morality and sexuality.

The authors, the publisher and Burke

Co-authors José Antonio Ureta and Julio Loredo de Izcue are South American scholars and activists.

The publisher Tradition, Family and Property says "despite its potentially revolutionary impact, the debate around this synod has been limited primarily to ‘insiders' and the general public knows little about it."

Burke has long been a vocal opponent of Pope Francis's vision for the church.

He and three other cardinals publicly questioned Francis's decision in "Amoris Laetitia" for divorced and remarried Catholics to receive the Eucharist. Burke has also criticised efforts in the church to promote the welcoming of LGBTQ faithful.

Source

• Religion News Service
• America Magazine

Burke documents the church's history of legislating against giving Communion to persons "obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin." It begs the question of what comprises such sin.

A San Diego group, Catholic Action for Faith and Family, has reprinted, packaged and mailed the 64-page booklet, which retitles Burke's essay as "Deny Holy Communion?"

Founded by Thomas J. McKenna, who acts as Burke's scheduler and is involved with several other lay Catholic organizations, Catholic Action for Faith and Family's two episcopal advisers are Burke himself and San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone.

Determining what comprises "manifest grave sin" seems uppermost in the mind of Cordileone, who last year banned then-Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi from Communion in his archdiocese.

In an April 2022 letter, Cordileone wrote to the speaker, who professes to be a devout Catholic, "You are not to present yourself for Holy Communion … until such time as you publicly repudiate your advocacy for the legitimacy of abortion and confess and receive absolution of this grave sin."

Therein lies the rub, and the confusion. On the other side of the country, Washington Archbishop Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory has said he would not deny Communion to President Joe Biden, another Catholic politician on the wrong side of Cordileone's reading of the law.

Late last month, Bishop Thomas J.J. Paprocki of the diocese of Springfield in Illinois, a canon lawyer who has banned legislators in his state who voted to allow abortion, threw mud into the larger equation with an ungentlemanly critique of San Diego's bishop, Cardinal Robert McElroy, who had published an article in America magazine advocating a more pastoral approach to related questions.

In the middle of all this, the Vatican — in the person of Pope Francis — opposes using Communion as a political weapon.

What does double effect have to do with the fracas? Well, President Biden and the former speaker say they are "personally opposed" to abortion even as they back measures to keep it legal and accessible.

The stretch here is their argument that legalized abortion prevents a worse result. It is a stretch. Does this rise to the level of "manifest grave sin" requiring canonical penalties?

The lawyer-bishops say yes.

The pastoral bishops say no.

Which brings us to the other morality police, the Catholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal, a Denver group headed by a former employee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which reportedly spent millions of dollars to track clerical use of Grindr, advertised as "the world's largest social-networking app for gay, bi, trans and queer people."

Despite canon law's insistence on not damaging individuals' reputations, the Catholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal does not see its spying as wrong. Founded in response to the scandal surrounding former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, they say their aim is to protect the church.

From what?

Here, the argument of Military Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the bishops' conference, rises: He connects priest pederasty with homosexuality.

For Catholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal, then, tracking and sharing clerics' use of hook-up apps has a good intent.

In July 2021, after the group shared its findings with various bishops and others about clerics' use of Grindr and its findings were published by the online newsletter The Pillar, Msgr Jeffrey Burrill was forced to resign as general secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

It did not affect his future ministry, however. He is now the administrator of a Wisconsin parish.

The result of all this?

Are Catholics any better evangelized on the problem of abortion as a moral and political issue?

Are the people of God better served when errant clerics are publicly excoriated?

Catholicism does not allow abortion or same-sex relations.

That is well known.

But is this evangelization?

Is anyone even paying attention?

Or have the church and Catholicism in general become ignored footnotes to the news?

• Phyllis Zagano is an internationally acclaimed Catholic scholar and lecturer on contemporary spirituality and women's issues in the church.
• Republished with permission from the author.

It will not.

The synod is projected to be a new-old way of being "church," a permanent recovery of how the church began and grew. Francis plans it as a change that will outlast his papacy.

Even so, too many Catholics still have no idea what "synodality" means. No matter what the naysayers say, it is not a parliamentary event to vote on doctrinal matters of faith and morals. Rooted in the teachings and process of the Second Vatican Council, synodality is understood as "walking together" — a coming to consensus — about the renewal begun following Vatican Two.

Of course, synodality means nothing if a national conference of bishops, individual bishops, or pastors ignore the whole idea. Some of them believe that if they ignore the synodal process, they will be able to recover the past. They are the clerics who prefer the fiddle-back vestments and Latin Masses of their real or imagined pasts. They want women kept out of the sanctuary. They want lay people kept in their place.

These men simply hope the synod will go away. They may have paid it lip service, with secret invitation-only synod meetings and perfunctory reports. They may have thought they only had a year or so until a new pontificate would erase all this business about consulting the laity.

They are wrong.

Of course, a new pontificate is precisely what Francis' opposition hopes for. No doubt, the electioneering has begun. Leading the charge, or at least leveling the greatest charges against synodality, are Australian Cardinal George Pell and German Cardinal Gerhard L. Müller, (pictured) both retired. Each has a palatial apartment from which to conspire just outside one of the Vatican's gates.

Pell is a Rome-educated former archbishop of Sydney and for a while the Vatican's economic overseer. In a recent "National Catholic Register" essay, he dismissed current synodal processes, presenting the Church's 21 councils as "examples of the Holy Spirit at work." His point: Only clerics can discern and decide. He calls the German synod process "suicidal."

Müller, whose term as head of the Vatican's doctrinal body ended as its document on synodality was being written, has long been critical of Francis' concept of synodality. Venting his ire in EWTN's Alabama studio with news anchor Raymond Arroyo recently, Müller called the synod a "hostile takeover of the Church of Jesus Christ," adding: "We must resist."

Müller took aim at synod secretary Cardinal Grech, whom he said had "no importance in academic theology," accusing him of "presenting a new hermeneutic of the Catholic faith." He underscored his argument, saying that only cardinals knew what they were doing in the Curia, and lay persons should not be involved in choosing bishops.

Why all the controversy?

The synod's issues are well known — women in ministry, a married priesthood, the status of divorced-remarried persons and considerations about homosexuality. These are the concerns of Catholics around the world. These are the synod opponents' concerns as well. They hope for a new pope.

However, although Francis turns 86 this coming December, members of the opposition are also aging. Pell at 81 is too old to vote in a conclave; Müller is 74. But while they keep their apartments, they are well situated to gather like-minded cardinals in the sort of conspiratorial meetings not known since the Middle Ages.

Consider this: Both Müller and Pell were among 13 reported cardinal signers of a letter opposing the work of the 2015 Synod on the Family. Six of their fellow cardinal signers are still alive.

They are not kidding. They genuinely want to cancel synodality. They seem willing to lead their followers into schism just to get away from dealing with questions of the laity.

And their followers, a tiny portion of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics, happily support them through their media outlets and, more importantly, with their money. Francis, meanwhile, depends on the Holy Spirit.

• Phyllis Zagano is senior research associate-in-residence and adjunct professor of religion at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. Her most recent book is "Women: Icons of Christ." The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.

More recently, on 11 October, Müller told the Tagespost that "not even the Pope can abolish priestly celibacy".

In the final days of the Amazon Synod, quotations from a 1992 German text by Müller were circulated among the Synod participants in Rome.

Writing in 1992, when he was professor of dogmatics at Munich University and had not yet become a bishop, Müller looked back to a trip he made to the Andes in Peru in 1988. "On the Feast of the Assumption (in 1988), we experienced expressions of a deeply felt Indian religiosity which in our eyes could be understood as an expression of genuine faith and trust in God," he wrote.

In his "Reflections on a Seminar", held in 1988 on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the 1968 Medellin General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops, (CELAM) which were published in the Catholic Academy for Youth Issues - Akademie für Jugendfragen - Müller then advocated ordaining viri probati, that is, proven married men.

"Celibate priests are necessary for the priesthood. It must, however, be possible to ordain religiously proven and theologically educated family fathers, not only in remote areas but also in huge city parishes, so that basic pastoral and liturgical practices can continue to be celebrated," Müller emphasised.

He explained: "A new concept of this kind would not contradict the Church's tradition, as loyalty to tradition does not mean that the Church is only committed to past history but, on the contrary, far more to future history."

He then warned: "If the Church insists on holding on to obligatory celibacy under all circumstances, it must state the reasons as to why both the spiritual meaning and the assets of celibacy are of such importance to the Church that it is even prepared to hazard a decisive deformation of its constitution on account of the lack of priests."

These views on celibacy stand in strong contrast to views he expressed during the Amazon Synod.

Asked what he thought of ordaining viri probati by Paolo Rodari in an interview in La Repubblica on 10 October, Müller replied: "Ordaining viri probati is wrong. The celibacy rule is not just any rule that can be changed at will. It has deep roots in the Sacrament of Holy Orders. The priest represents Christ and has a living spirituality that cannot be changed. ... No Pope and no majority of bishops can change dogma or Divine Law according to their taste".

And on 11 October, Müller told Bavarian Radio that the discussions on the possible introduction of viri probati at the synod looked like "European Catholics' wishes in an Amazonian wrapping".

"Celibacy as the normal priestly lifestyle in the Latin-rite Church cannot be called into question," he underlined. Continue reading