Throughout the Catholic Church, something is stirring about the way we are governed. For many of us in the Church and across society, we don’t much care about that subject; we long ago made peace with being parts of communities, organizations, nations and even families where we just get on with our lives and leave Read more
Vatican officials are not saying whether women can vote in the 2023 synod of bishops on concrete proposals about the future of the Catholic Church. By 2023 the two-year synodal path process Pope Francis will formally open next month will be complete. For years, women, including nuns, have pressed to be able to vote at Read more
The Vatican has issued the world’s Catholic dioceses with synodal path guidelines as they prepare for the 2023 Synod of Bishops. The preparatory document and a “handbook” for dioceses focuses on the theme, ‘For a synodal church: communion, participation and mission’. “Pope Francis invites the entire Church to reflect on a theme that is decisive Read more
In a first-ever appointment of its kind, a lay Catholic will represent the Church in Poland at the official opening of the synodal process next month. The two-year synodal process is a consultative phase involving Catholic dioceses around the world. Chosen by the Polish bishops’ conference president Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, Professor Aleksander Bańka is the Read more
The Irish Catholic bishops have announced they will initiate what they call a synodal process and this move seems to have fairly widespread support. Many of us have only vague ideas as to what is involved but have experienced some different types of assemblies at diocesan level. The focus of these groups is the revitalisation Read more
The NZ Catholic Bishops’ Conference says the views of all New Zealand Catholics will be sought during an expanded Synod of Bishops’ process announced by the pope. “Pope Francis has frequently called for the bishops, priests and people to walk together in a common mission of the Church,” says Conference president Cardinal John Dew. “He Read more
The most critical shift emphasis since Vatican II is the appreciation and understanding of God’s calling for us laypeople. “They are the Church – co-responsible with bishops, priests, and religious for Christ’s mission on earth” writes Martin Work in “Laity” an introductory observation prefacing Apostolicam Actuositatem. (The decree on the laity). We are the People Read more
“There’s a short path that is long, and a long path that is short”. In the third seasons of the Netflix series “Shtisel,” an eminent ultra-Orthodox rabbi who heads a yeshiva in Jerusalem offers that bit of sage advice to a star student who is dealing with a life-and-death decision. Short paths tend to become Read more
Embracing a synodal model of the Church is “messy” but it offers the only path to a “future that’s worth having”, says a leading Australian bishop. Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane, the president of the Australian Bishops’ Conference, was speaking about the experience of the plenary council, the highest form of gathering for a local Read more
Pope Francis’ push for synodality inside the Church coincides chronologically with the rise of populist leaders and the crisis of democracy on the outside. Synodality, therefore, has an ad extra dimension. It is an ecclesial response to populist leaders who “hijack” religion by sowing division and exploiting the anger of those who feel excluded, as Read more