You may recall that Pope Francis called a Synod of Bishops, entitled For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission; it opened in the Vatican on 9 October 2021 and will conclude in October 2024. Its aim is to discern how the Holy Spirit is moving through and with the Church. Listening sessions were held throughout the dioceses around the world – including ours – in the spring of 2022. The question asked at those listening sessions was: “How does this ‘journeying together,’ which takes place today at different levels (from the local level to the universal one), allow the Church to proclaim the Gospel in accordance with the mission entrusted to her; and what steps does the Spirit invite us to take in order to grow as a synodal Church?’’ Results of those listening sessions were submitted to the Vatican and a working document, called an Instrumentum Laboris, was prepared last June to guide the discussions at the first global assembly which started in the Vatican this past Wednesday and will continue until 28 October. The questions for discernment of this assembly are:
“Walking together means not leaving anyone behind and remaining alongside those who struggle the most. How are we building a synodal Church capable of promoting the belonging and participation of the least within the Church and in society?”
“What steps can a synodal Church take to imitate ever more closely its Master and Lord, who walks with all in unconditional love and proclaims the fullness of the Gospel truth?”
“How can each local Church, the subject of mission in its context, enhance, promote and integrate the exchange of gifts with the other local Churches within the horizon of the one Catholic Church? How can the local Churches be helped to promote the catholicity of the Church in a harmonious relationship between unity and diversity, preserving the specificity of each one?”
“How can the experience and fruits of the ecumenical journey help to build a more synodal Catholic Church; how can synodality help the Catholic Church to better respond to Jesus’ prayer: ‘that they may all be one…that the world may believe’ (Jn 17:21)?”
“How can we proclaim the Gospel effectively in different contexts and cultures, in order to foster the encounter with Christ for the men and women of our time? What bonds can we establish with the adherents of other religions to build a culture of encounter and dialogue?”
“How prepared and equipped is the Church today to proclaim the Gospel with conviction, freedom of spirit and effectiveness? How does the perspective of a synodal Church transform the understanding of mission and enable its different dimensions to be articulated? How does the experience of accomplishing mission together enrich the understanding of synodality?”
“How can we move towards a meaningful and effective co-responsibility in the Church, in which there is a fuller realization of the vocations, charisms and ministries of all the Baptised in a missionary key? What can we do to ensure that a more synodal Church is also an ‘all ministerial Church’?”
“What concrete steps can the Church take to renew and reform its procedures, institutional arrangements and structures to enable greater recognition and participation of women, including governance, decision-making processes and in the taking of decisions, in a spirit of communion and with a view to mission?”
“How can we promote in the Church both a culture and concrete forms of co-responsibility such that the relationship between baptismal Ministries and ordained Ministry is fruitful? If the Church is wholly ministerial, how can we understand the specific gifts of ordained Ministers within the one People of God from a missionary perspective?”
“How do we understand the vocation and mission of the Bishop in a synodal missionary perspective? What renewal of the vision and exercise of episcopal ministry is needed for a synodal Church characterized by co-responsibility?”
“How can authority and responsibility be understood and exercised such that it serves the participation of the whole People of God? What renewal of vision, and forms of concrete exercise of authority, responsibility and governance, are needed in order to grow as a missionary synodal Church?”
How can we imagine decision-making processes that are more participatory, which give space for listening and community discernment supported by authority understood as a service of unity?”
A synodal Church needs to live co-responsibility and transparency. How can this awareness form the basis for the reform of institutions, structures and procedures so as to strengthen change over time?”
“In light of the synodal experience so far, how can synodality find better expression in and through institutions involving groups of local Churches, such as the Synods of Bishops and the Councils of Hierarchs of the Eastern Catholic Churches, Episcopal Conferences and Continental Assemblies, so that they are seen as ‘subjects of specific attributions, including genuine doctrinal authority’ (EG 32) in a missionary perspective?”
“In light of the dynamic and reciprocal relationship between the Church’s synodality, episcopal collegiality and Petrine primacy, how should the institution of the Synod be perfected so that it becomes a secure and guaranteed space for the exercise of synodality that ensures a full participation of all – the People of God, the College of Bishops and the Bishops of Rome – while respecting their specific functions? How should we evaluate the experiment of extending the participation of non-bishops in the first session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops?”
You can well imagine that these questions will generate lively and widely-divergent discussion so please pray for all of the participants! I invite you to join in praying for the success of this Synod, using the prayer Pope Francis has written for this occasion.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, in you we contemplate the splendor of true love, to you we turn with trust. Holy Family of Nazareth, grant that our families, too, may be places of communion and prayer, authentic schools of the Gospel, and small domestic churches. Holy Family of Nazareth, may families never again experience violence, rejection, and division; may all who have been hurt or scandalized find ready comfort and healing. Holy Family of Nazareth, may the approaching Synod of Bishops make us once more mindful of the sacredness and inviolability of the family and its beauty in God’s plan. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, graciously hear our prayer. Amen.