Can synodality turn out to be a deeper element of Catholic life in america? Our current process may prove this to be so. One in all the central sentiments expressed in our diocesan synodal consultations has been that the people of God have at times not been meaningfully heard and responded to within the institutional lifetime of the church, and so they fear that the synodal process is perhaps one other in a series of moments when hopes are raised only to be frustrated. But the present synod process offers a glimpse of a church yet to return. Tons of of 1000’s of Catholics have engaged with the church on their joys, their sorrows and their hopes for what the church might be today and tomorrow.
Across america, dioceses, parishes and non secular communities have undertaken intensive processes of consultation and dialogue with a purpose to help prepare for the worldwide synod on synodality that may happen in Rome in October 2023. Soon, each local church will forward to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops a proper report on their consultation, which can contribute to the work of the worldwide church.
The breadth of consultation inside dioceses across our nation provides real hope that synodality will turn out to be a deeper element of Catholic life in america.
The breadth of consultation inside dioceses across our nation provides real hope that synodality will turn out to be a deeper element of Catholic life in america. But there’s a structural dilemma embedded within the consultation process that threatens to undermine the pathway to deeper synodality. Paradoxically, the very success that ecclesial communities in our country have had in starting the technique of synodal consultation magnifies this dilemma.
The technique of consultation that we now have initiated has given participants a glimpse of what sustained synodality might mean. Some dioceses have already fashioned a process to proceed the constructing of synodality in the approaching months. But once the reports to Washington have been sent, there will probably be a powerful and natural institutional tendency in most dioceses to let the technique of synodality at local levels go dormant until after the pope’s apostolic exhortation on the universal synod is released in 2024. Understandably, many will need to wait until the deliberations of the universal church are accomplished before taking motion.
Embracing such a pathway will frustrate our people and stunt movement toward transformation. A two-year period of suspense in the event of synodality in our local churches, particularly regarding the parish- and diocesan-level questions that the consultation process has already yielded, will deeply reinforce these fears.
Fortunately, the theology and practice of synodality which have already emerged from the Second Vatican Council and the writings and actions of Pope Francis provide an architecture for us to proceed substantive synodal formation through the next two years. This architecture consists of three elements: the see-judge-act methodology that lies at the guts of the synodal process, the characteristics of a synodal church that Pope Francis has articulated, and the overwhelming imperative for constant and effective evangelization that has been an indicator of the pontificates of St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict and Pope Francis.
“See-judge-act,” the dynamic of engagement that Joseph Cardijn delivered to the world, became an electrifying construct for confronting injustice.
See-judge-act
Within the years following the First World War, Joseph Cardijn became a employee priest in Brussels, looking for to prepare working men and ladies in pursuit of justice. While doing so, he got here to know that true work on behalf of justice and solidarity required a technique of genuinely coming to know the true world situations that employees confronted, of judging these realities in the sunshine of the Gospel after which of selecting to act concretely to remodel the world they faced. “See-judge-act,” the dynamic of engagement that Cardijn delivered to the world, became an electrifying construct for confronting injustice—revealing its contradictions to Catholic faith and generating daring and sustained motion.
St. John XXIII brought this penetrating insight and framework to the world in his encyclical “Mater et Magistra.” The church of Latin America adopted this framework as a primary approach to engaging with the realities of human life and the renewal of the church. And the encuentro process that deeply enriched the church in america through the last decade placed “see-judge-act” at its very center. An understanding of the three steps of this basic framework within the context of our current synodal moment in america is useful in appreciating its potential for advancing synodal formation through the next two years.
1. See clearly.
One of the vital striking elements of “Laudato Si’” was its clear and daring evaluation of the empirical realities that threaten the earth, which is our common home. Seeing the situation clearly is the inspiration for the entire of the encyclical. In pursuing the synodal renewal of our church, we must engage comprehensively in only such a technique of evaluation, remark, listening and illumination. We should be attentive to “the signs of the times,” those conditions that structure our world and the probabilities for renewal. Outstanding amongst these are the church’s sinful legacy of sexual abuse in addition to secularism, the denial of spiritual freedom, the destruction of the earth, racism, abortion, and social and economic inequalities. We should always seek to delineate the world and our church as they really are, without pretense or obfuscation, paying particular attention to the transcendent elements of human existence.
Central to the church’s capability to see clearly is the humanization of truth. Pope Francis underscored this in his words to participants on the second world meeting of popular movements in Bolivia in 2015:
Once we look into the eyes of the suffering, after we see the faces of the endangered campesino, the poor laborer, the downtrodden native, the homeless family, the persecuted migrant, the unemployed young person, the exploited child…. We have now seen and heard not a chilly statistic however the pain of a suffering humanity, our own pain, our own flesh. That is something quite different from abstract theorizing or eloquent indignation.
The synodal process that we now have begun has invited a seek for such a humanized and transcendent truth. We have now initiated an effort to seek the advice of with men and women to see the challenges and the fun of religion, hope and justice through their eyes, to really see without limits or boundaries, and so to renew our church and our world. It is necessary to sustain and enlarge this technique of listening, remark and illumination by deepening our quest to find the ecclesial and societal reality that may provide a foundation for real renewal.
We should always seek to delineate the world and our church as they really are, without pretense or obfuscation, paying particular attention to the transcendent elements of human existence.
2. Judge by the sunshine of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The technique of seeing humanized truth inside the transcendent lifetime of the church leads us inextricably toward a second stage: judging by the sunshine of the Gospel of Jesus Christ how we’re called to remodel those realities. It is a technique of profound discernment and dialogue that seeks to uncover the challenge that our faith brings to renewing the church and world. It isn’t the work of people but of communities—local, regional and universal. And it has begun.
In the course of the next two years, the church in america can deepen this technique of judgment by specializing in necessary and addressable pastoral issues which have emerged within the initial consultation process. A practice of discernment and implementation centered upon such issues will embed a synodal culture more deeply in our faith communities and speak to the truth that synodality can’t be a sporadic process.
One in all the questions that has arisen through the synodal consultations which have taken place is: What are the boundaries to the topics and conclusions that the synodal process can legitimately engage with during this technique of judgment?
It is important for us all to know that Catholic doctrine and discipline reflect a deep and abiding heritage and claim within the lifetime of the church. Furthermore, many major questions which have arisen in our synodal consultations in america touch upon issues that should be addressed in union with the worldwide church and the See of Peter. This is particularly true since regional differences of culture, history and perspective create differences inside the church that should be reconciled in a standard faith.
Yet our synodal process mustn’t robotically reject certain topics or positions for dialogue and deliberation merely because they’re questions of long-held discipline within the lifetime of the church or reformable Catholic doctrine. The last three synodal processes testify to this reality. The synod on marriage and family life examined Catholic teachings and practice regarding divorce and remarriage. The synodal process for young adults pointed repeatedly to the alienation that the church’s stances on L.G.B.T. issues and the role of girls generate amongst young people. And the Amazon synod saw within the church of the Amazon’s devotion to the sacramental lifetime of the church a call to permit greater ordination of married men and the ordination of girls as deacons.
The willingness of the church in america to listen deeply to our people of their views on these and other questions which can be being raised within the synodal dialogues points to vital ecclesial questions: Can we genuinely regard the community of the faithful as a font of Catholic teaching? Can we see the lived reality of Catholic laymen and laywomen as a prism that may also help to reinvigorate Catholic doctrine and discipline in order that they’ll contribute more fully to the advancement of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
The deposit of religion isn’t an inert and abstract body of teaching that forms a straitjacket for Christian faith and practice. It’s the invitation to experience an encounter with the paschal mystery that formed our church at its birth and continues to form it today in authentic continuity. If we genuinely take heed to the voices of our individuals with openness in nowadays, we will reinforce that invitation whilst we forge greater unity within the church.
Can we see the lived reality of Catholic laymen and laywomen as a prism that may also help to reinvigorate Catholic doctrine and discipline?
3. Act on behalf of justice.
Having seen bluntly and penetratingly the realities that confront us within the church and the world, and having discerned where the decision of the Gospel is leading us to transformation, synodality demands sustained and unrelenting motion to attain the change that discernment has made clear for us. Transformative motion must be visionary, strategic, realistic and rooted within the various levels of life within the church and in society. As well as, a process of tolerating synodality within the lifetime of the church should be sustainable in order that it becomes deeply rooted within the hearts and souls of the people of God and within the evangelizing outreach of the church to the world.
That is the explanation that Pope Francis has always stressed the long-term nature and goals of this synodal process. It isn’t rooted in specific outcomes, irrespective of how necessary. It seeks nothing lower than a recasting of the culture of the church that may endure for generations. Because of this, the Holy Father has insisted, the synodal reflection and motion that we’re undertaking throughout the world should be regarded as a technique of conversion. Such a conversion is the prerequisite for sustained and Gospel-oriented motion on this historic moment.
It is that this ongoing technique of conversion that will probably be undermined if, after having undertaken the primary steps of synodality, we effectively accept a two-year hiatus from synodal renewal. We have now initiated the technique of seeing the humanized and transcendent truth that characterizes the truth of our church and our world. We have now asked our people within the synodal consultations to supply their judgment in the sunshine of religion about how we should always move toward reform and renewal. We have now delivered to people a glimpse of what synodal dialogue can mean.
This glimpse can turn out to be a much deeper reality through the coming two years if we undertake to use the technique of “see-judge-act” with a purpose to construct upon the inspiration that has been laid.
Probably the most penetrating and sustained sadness that men and ladies in countless synodal dialogues have pointed to is the truth that young people have drifted away from the church in a seemingly unstoppable way.
The marks of a synodal church
If the “see-judge-act” framework provides a process for our moving forward in the subsequent two years, the central elements that Pope Francis has articulated as marks of synodality provide the guideposts for our journey. These seven elements must be on the forefront of our deliberations:
- Synodality points to the truth that the entire of the people of God are journeying together within the lifetime of the church and in synodal motion. Which means that we cannot operate from a mindset of complacency or one which accentuates the differences among the many baptized.
- Synodality demands a relentless stance of discernment, of looking for the guidance of the Holy Spirit inside the lifetime of the community. It’s all too easy for us in ecclesial life, in any respect levels, to turn out to be focused on the perspectives that we bring to dialogue and decision making as a substitute of first pausing our own perspectives, interests and alignments and listening to the small whispering sound that Elijah recognized because the voice of God calling to him.
- Synodality is continually rooted in listening to the word of God and joyfully celebrating the Eucharist, which is the source and summit of the Christian life. These elements are each constitutive realities that form the church and supply vital nourishment for the community as a complete.
- Synodality demands a profound stance of authentic listening from every believer who seeks to take part in and contribute to the lifetime of the church. Listening is the respect we owe to others in recognition of their equal dignity. Listening flows from a recognition that we now have a lot to learn. Listening lies at the guts of true encounter with the opposite disciples we meet within the lifetime of the church. Correspondingly, synodality demands that Catholics speak out truthfully and forthrightly in our ecclesial lives, in order that the voices of the people of God might be authentically heard.
- A synodal church is a humble and honest church. It acknowledges and seeks to atone for the injuries it has delivered to others, particularly the sexual abuse of young people by priests. A synodal church genuinely seeks to discern its woundedness and embraces reform. Its holiness is exemplified by its humility, not by denial or the protection of its status.
- A synodal church is a discerning church, not a parliamentary one. It must empower the voices of all, but its seek for God’s will can’t be reduced to constructing majorities or forming coalitions. It is important to acknowledge that synodality is more concerned with nurturing a culture inside the lifetime of the church slightly than specific policy outcomes. It recognizes the necessary hierarchical dimensions of our ecclesial life and tradition and in addition finds its foundation within the equal dignity of all the baptized.
- Finally, synodality demands a participative, inclusive and co-responsible church. If missionary discipleship is to turn out to be a reality, it should be rooted in an ecclesiology and pastoral culture that genuinely promotes these concepts in practice. Church structures that stifle full-bodied participation by Catholics in every facet of the lifetime of the parish, diocese or universal church should be re-examined and reformed. Practices that effectively exclude individuals or groups from feeling welcome within the church should be rejected.
Every Christian community must ask itself how it could sustain and support its members of their efforts to bring the Gospel into the world.
An outward-looking church
If the marks of synodality that Pope Francis has outlined provide a transparent road map for synodal formation through the next two years, the imperative of evangelization provides a commanding reason for moving forward. The entire of synodality is oriented toward evangelization.
Because the preparatory document chartering the synodal process states:
The Church exists to evangelize. We will never be centred on ourselves. Our mission is to witness to the love of God within the midst of the entire human family. This Synodal Process has a deeply missionary dimension to it. It is meant to enable the Church to raised witness to the Gospel, especially with those that continue to exist the spiritual, social, economic, political, geographical, and existential peripheries of our world.
The notion of missionary discipleship constitutes the guts of synodality. Every disciple must ask how she will bring the sunshine of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to her family life, her life within the workplace and participation in society. And each Christian community must ask itself how it could sustain and support its members of their efforts to bring the Gospel into the world.
Probably the most penetrating and sustained sadness that men and ladies in countless synodal dialogues have pointed to is the truth that young people have drifted away from the church in a seemingly unstoppable way. And the best hope that emerges from these same dialogues is that the church will discover a option to bring our young people home. It is a profound imperative of evangelization that can’t wait two more years to be addressed.
Synodal formation provides a pathway for renewing the inner lifetime of the church and going to the peripheries of our world to proclaim the Gospel. We must effectively bring the message of salvation that is available in the person of Jesus Christ to those that haven’t heard the Gospel, and, just as necessary, to those that have heard the message but haven’t found it engaging.
Synodality is a technique of conversion that requires nurturing and constancy. We have now invited our people to this deep lifetime of renewal. They’ve responded by sharing their deepest loves and hardships within the lifetime of the church, and so they have pointed to specific areas for change in parochial and diocesan life. By deeply continuing synodal formation through the next two years, we will construct synodality, reform necessary elements of our ecclesial life and be stronger witnesses to a participatory vision of the church. We may embody the “healthy decentralization” that synodality envisions. By adopting such a pathway, we’ll sustain the synodal impulse in our nation in order that the fruits of the universal synod will enrich and construct upon an already growing reality of synodal life.