The Synod on Synodality which concluded in Rome on 27 October has not issued stunning documents quite like the Second Vatican Council in 1965 with ‘The Church in the Modern World’, or its Declaration on Religious Freedom. However, Pope Francis wanted to promote something just as significant; he wanted the Church everywhere to learn or relearn the processes of participation involved with synodality. In its ‘Final Document: For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission’ the Synod identified ‘three practices that are intimately connected: ecclesial discernment, decision-making processes, and a culture of transparency, accountability and evaluation.’ (#11).
If I may use an analogy, the Church can be compared to a motor vehicle in urgent need of repairs. Instead of sending the car off just for minor repairs, panel-beating and a service, it is as if Francis is pulling out the old petrol-guzzling engine entirely, and replacing it with the best of electric engines fitted with the latest electronics so that it runs more smoothly and without damaging the environment with carbon emissions.
Francis is promoting synodality to renew the inner workings of how the Church should operate today, carrying forward the vision of the Second Vatican Council. He wants every part of the Church to work through the implications in their different circumstances, while of course still remaining in communion with the wider Church.
Australia had a first run at learning this process with the Plenary Council during 2021-2022 with widespread consultation and discussion at parish, diocesan and national levels. Anyone could join in, have their say in the listening sessions, and make recommendations for action. The Australian experience was closely watched overseas, and helped in the design of the Synod, including the practice of having round-table meetings, with lay men and women sitting as equals in conversation with leading churchmen and theologians, even the Pope himself, along with representatives from other churches and observers.
Pope Francis did not expect the Synod to make dramatic doctrinal changes, though there was definite progress on many issues, particularly recommendations for
- support for expanding leadership roles for women: ‘There is no reason or impediment that should prevent women from carrying out leadership roles in the Church: what comes from the Holy Spirit cannot be stopped. Additionally, the question of women’s access to diaconal ministry remains open.’ (#60).
- enhancing the equality of women: ‘‘Inequality between men and women is not part of God’s design… The widely expressed pain and suffering on the part of many women from every region and continent, both lay and consecrated, during the synodal process, reveal how often we fail to live up to this vision.’ (#52).
- rejection of clericalism: ‘Clericalism is based on the implicit assumption that those who have authority in the Church are not to be held to account for their actions and decisions as if they were isolated from or above the rest of the People of God.’ (#98).
- wider participation: Participatory bodies must ‘include the baptised who are committed to living their faith in the ordinary realities of life’, and not just those who serve in Church ministries. It may also be appropriate to invite representatives from other churches or religions. (#106).
- Diocesan synods, parish and diocesan councils: ‘we insist that they be made mandatory, as was requested at all stages of the synodal process… in ways appropriate to their diverse local circumstances.’ (#104).
- an ecumenical journey: ‘The path of synodality, which the Catholic Church is travelling, is and must be ecumenical.’ (#23).
- openness to other Christians and religions: ‘A synodal church commits itself to walk this path alongside the believers of other religions and people of other beliefs wherever it lives.’ (#123). ‘Dialogue, encounter and exchange of gifts, typical of a synodal Church, are calls to open out to relation with other religious traditions, with the aim of “establishing friendship, peace, harmony and sharing moral and spiritual values and experiences in a spirit of truth and love.”’ (quoting the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, 9 March 2016). (#41).
- In dialogue with cultures: ‘Being in the world and for the world, they walk together with all the peoples of the earth, in dialogue with their religions and cultures, recognising in them the seeds of the Word, journeying towards the Kingdom.’ (#17).
- fuller recognition of the authority of episcopal conferences acting as a body. (#125).
The Synod asked local churches to continue using this ‘synodal methodology of consultation and discernment’ so they become the normal way of operating in the Church. This synodal process does not end with the Final Assembly, but can be implemented through the entire Church, bringing about a ‘tangible synodal conversion’, with ‘participation of all the baptised’. (#9).
'The Synod is possibly the most important event in the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council, and we have barely begun to look at its implications. Pope Francis sees synodality with new forms of participation, engagement and transparency as being decisive in equipping the Church for its central mission, helping prepare our world for the coming of God’s Kingdom, including through work for justice and peace.'
Nevertheless, the Synod acknowledged that the Church has failed badly at times: ‘We identified our sins: against peace; against Creation; against indigenous people, migrants, children, women, and those who are poor; against failures in listening and in building communion.’ (#6).
The Church has indeed been rocked in recent decades by the extent of sexual abuse by clergy and Church members, and the crisis loomed large at the Synod, which declared: ‘The Church must listen with particular attention and sensitivity to the voice of victims and survivors of abuse. This includes sexual, spiritual, economic and institutional abuse, as well as the abuse of power and conscience by members of the clergy…’ (#55). The Synod insisted it was ‘imperative’ that the Church everywhere ‘promotes a culture of prevention and safeguarding, making communities ever safer places for minors and vulnerable persons.’ This commitment must be strengthened, and safeguarding processes ‘constantly monitored and evaluated.’ (#150).
But is it an exercise in navel-gazing?
Some people were worried that the Synod was overly focused on internal Church matters and neglecting the wider social and cultural contexts. However the Synod was confident that by learning these new processes of synodality, the Church could more effectively engage with the great social and moral issues facing us – poverty, refugees, inequality, hunger, climate change and war.
Through his writings, diplomacy and personal connections Francis himself has been closely involved in efforts to end the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East especially. Some participants in the Synod came from these conflict zones. The Synod lamented the acute suffering in many countries, witnessing ‘the face of war-stricken terrorised children, weeping mothers… refugees who face terrible journeys, the victims of climate change and social injustice.’ The Synod joined with the Pope in ‘repeated appeals for peace, condemning the logic of violence, hatred and revenge and committing ourselves to promoting the logic of dialogue, fellowship and reconciliation.’ (#2)
‘We live in an age marked by ever increasing inequalities; growing disillusionment with traditional models of governance; disenchantment with the functioning of democracy; increasing autocratic and dictatorial tendencies; and the predominance of the market model without regard for the vulnerability of people and of creation. The temptation can be to resolve conflicts by force rather than by dialogue.’ (#47).
The Synod is possibly the most important event in the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council, and we have barely begun to look at its implications. Pope Francis sees synodality with new forms of participation, engagement and transparency as being decisive in equipping the Church for its central mission, helping prepare our world for the coming of God’s Kingdom, including through work for justice and peace.
The Synod summed up concisely: ‘The themes of the Church’s social doctrine, such as commitment to peace and justice, care for our common home and intercultural and interreligious dialogue, must also be more widely shared among the People of God so that the action of missionary disciples can influence the construction of a more just and compassionate world. The commitment to defending life and human rights, for the proper ordering of society, for the dignity of work, for a fair and supportive economy, and an integral ecology is part of the evangelising mission that the Church is called to live and incarnate in history.’ (#151).
‘The Church’s synodality, thus, becomes a social prophecy, inspiring new paths in the political and economic spheres, as well as collaborating with all those who believe in fellowship and peace in an exchange of gifts with the world.’ (#153).
At the conclusion of the Synod on 26 October, Francis said he would not write another document to accompany the Final Document, which he said was to be considered part of the magisterium (full teaching authority) of the Church.
Bruce Duncan is a Redemptorist priest who lectured on Catholic social thought and movements at Yarra Theological Union for many years.