“The path of synodality is the path that God expects from the Church of the third millennium,” Pope Francis has said. And so it is not surprising that in region after region Catholic bishops are embracing synodality. The Germans have embarked on a synodal path, the Australians a plenary council, the Irish a synod … Read more
A lay Venezuelan theologian says bishops at the upcoming synod on synodality need to realise lay people aren’t just called to implement but also to make Church decisions. Rafael Luciani is one of three Latin American theologians chosen as consultants on “synodality” for the Synod. He hopes he will be able to offer the synod Read more
Synods, seen by Pope Francis and many to be inclusive, have the possibility of becoming exclusive. The signs of hope that Synods hold for women and those within the Church who want to see change may deliver the opposite. The warning comes from involved and committed Catholic women in a conversation on Flashes of Insight. Read more
There are many ideas about what synodality means, says Pope Francis. “It’s not a walk in the park”. It is “an ecclesial journey that has a soul, which is the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, there is no synodality,” he explains. Francis is promoting a synodal process that involves the whole church. It will Read more
Pope Francis’ decision to postpone and widen the planned 2022 synod is extraordinary and invites everyone to stop and take a deep breath. The planned subject — “For a synodal Church: communion, participation and mission” — remains the same but the new means adopted are now more intrinsically suited to such a topic. The Synod Read more
When we mention the Spirit work in the creation we think his bringing unity, drawing together, and reconciliation: the Spirit is unifying. Any such stress carries with it twin dangers. First, that we then assume that somehow that is all the Spirit does, the Spirit is there – almost functionally – to produce unity and Read more
By now, you’ve probably heard that Pope Francis postponed the upcoming synod on synodality for a full year, from October 2022 to October 2023, and ordered every ecclesiastical jurisdiction and single member of the faithful to participate in an expanded “preparatory” process. If the incongruity of making the Church more synodalitous by papal diktat ever Read more
An idea hatched in Wellington last year and tested during COVID lockdown received international recognition on Saturday when Flashes of Insight was featured in the influential “Letter from Rome”. A weekly ‘must-read’ for informed Catholics, the Letter shapes and unravels the burning issues of the day in the Vatican and the Church. The conversation on 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