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Lay people and synodality

Sr Nathalie Becquart, xmcj,

Unders-Secretary to the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops

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Introduction

The context of the pandemic
The crisis of the Church
The plenary Council in Australia
The opening of the synod 2021-2023 on synodality

The urgency of synodality
The key role of lay people

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Synod 2021-2023�XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops

“For a synodal Church :

communion – participation – mission”

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Starter

When you think about your experience of synodality, which word or image comes to your mind?

Pop-up : Please write one word/image in the chat

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Synodality is a call of God

“The world in which we live, and which we are called to love and serve, even with its contradictions, demands that the Church strengthen cooperation in all areas of her mission. It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium.”

Pope Francis

Address at the Ceremony Commemorating the 50 ^th Anniversary

of the Institution of the Synod of Bishops, October 17 2015

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Synodality is the key

To journey with people
To transmit the faith today
To meet the current missionary challenges

FD121 http://www.synod.va/content/synod2018/en/fede-discernimento-vocazione/final-document-of-the-synod-of-bishops-on-young-people--faith-an.html

The Synodal form of the Church

121. The experience they shared has made the Synod participants aware of the importance of a synodal form of the Church for the proclamation and transmission of the faith. The participation of the young helped to “reawaken” synodality, which is a “constitutive element of the Church… as Saint John Chrysostom says, ‘Church and Synod are synonymous’ – inasmuch as the Church is nothing other than the ‘journeying together’ of God’s flock along the paths of history towards the encounter with Christ the Lord” (Francis, Address for the Commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the institution of the Synod of Bishops, 17 October 2015). Synodality characterizes both the life and the mission of the Church, which is the People of God formed of young and old, men and women of every culture and horizon, and the Body of Christ, in which we are members one of another, beginning with those who are pushed to the margins and trampled upon. In the course of the exchanges and the testimonies, the Synod brought out certain fundamental traits of a synodal style: this is the goal of the conversion to which we are called.

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The challenge of putting synodality into practice

“What the Lord is asking of us is already in some sense present in the very word ‘synod’. Journeying together — laity, pastors, the Bishop of Rome — is an easy concept to put into words, but not so easy to put into practice”

Pope Francis

Address at the Ceremony Commemorating the 50 ^th Anniversary

of the Institution of the Synod of Bishops, October 17 2015

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The challenge to put synodality into practice

A style : discernment and fraternity
Modus vivendi et operandi

A vision and a practice
A culture and a spirituality
Processus and reform of the structures
The key role of leaders and protagonists

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Called to walk together as brothers and sisters in Christ

« we are on the same boat »�Interconnectedness and fraternity
Laudato Si and Fratelli Tutti

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The experience of the last 2 synods

The very positive experience of lay people in the last two synods of bishops in which they played a major and recognized role
Women and youth are the driving force to foster synodality
Clericalism/synodality
The role of the laity, the sensus fidei and the common priesthood of the baptized

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Synodality as an experience of conversion and renewal

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Becoming a synod

“Synodality. Being Church is being a community that walks together. It is not enough to have a synod, you must be a synod. The Church needs intense internal sharing: a living dialogue between the Pastors and between the Pastors and the faithful.
Three aspects revive synodality.

First of all, listening –
A second aspect: co-responsibility –
Third aspect – Synodality also means involvement of the laity: as full members of the Church, they too are called to express themselves, to give suggestions. “ Pope Francis, Address for the Audience with the Major Archbishop, the Metropolitans and the Permanent Synod of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, July 5 2019

Francis, Address for the Audience with the Major Archbishop, the Metropolitans and the Permanent Synod of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, July 5 2019

https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2019/07/05/190705a.html

I would like to add a third word to prayer and closeness, which is so familiar to you: synodality. Being Church is being a community that walks together. It is not enough to have a synod, you must be a synod. The Church needs intense internal sharing: a living dialogue between the Pastors and between the Pastors and the faithful. As an Eastern Catholic Church, you already have a marked synodal expression in your canonical order, which calls for frequent and regular recourse to the assemblies of the Synod of Bishops. But every day we must be a synod, striving to walk together, not only with those who think in the same way – this would be easy – but with all believers in Jesus.

Three aspects revive synodality. First of all, listening: listening to the experiences and suggestions of the bishops and priests. It is important that everyone within the Synod feels they are heard. Listening is all the more important as you rise in the hierarchy. Listening is sensitivity and openness to the opinions of brothers, even those who are younger, even those who are considered less experienced. A second aspect: co-responsibility. We cannot be indifferent to the errors or the carelessness of others, without intervening in a fraternal but convinced way: our confreres need our thoughts, our encouragement, as well as our corrections, because, precisely, we are called to walk together. You cannot hide what is wrong and move on as if nothing had happened to defend your good name at all costs: charity must always be lived in truth, in transparency, in that parrhesia that purifies the Church and keeps it going. Synodality – third aspect – also means involvement of the laity: as full members of the Church, they too are called to express themselves, to give suggestions. Participants of ecclesial life, they should not only be welcomed but listened to. And I emphasize this verb: to listen. Whoever listens can then speak well. Those who are used to not listening, do not speak: they bark.

Synodality also leads to broadening horizons, to living the wealth of one’s own tradition within the universality of the Church: to deriving benefits from good relations with other rites; to considering the beauty of sharing significant parts of one’s theological and liturgical treasure with other communities, also not Catholic; to weaving fruitful relationships with other particular Churches, as well as with the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia. The unity in the Church will be far more fruitful, the more the understanding and cohesion between the Holy See and the particular Churches will be real. More precisely: the greater the understanding and cohesion between all the bishops and the bishop of Rome. This certainly “must not imply a diminished awareness of their own authenticity and originality” (Orientale lumen, 21), but rather form it within our Catholic, that is, universal, identity. Inasmuch as it is universal, it is endangered and can be worn away by attachment to particularisms of various types: ecclesial particularisms, nationalistic particularisms, political particularisms.

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Ormond Rush, “Inverting the Pyramid: The Sensus Fidelium in a Synodal Church,” Theological Studies (March 2017)

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A key article on Pope Francis’ reception of the Council in a sinodal key�

“In this essay I would like to examine

how what Pope Francis means by synodality is deeply rooted in the debates and documents of Vatican II,
and how for Francis the sensus fidelium, and listening to the sensus fidelium, is fundamental for a church that is genuinely synodal, if it is to be not only a church more pneumatologically balanced in its self-understanding, but also a church more effective in the contemporary world of the twenty-first century.” (303)

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An understanding of Pope Francis’ ecclesiology of synodality and emphasize on laity �rooted in the Council

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“It has been said that by inverting the chapter, initially planned as the third, to make it the second, that is to say, by dealing first with the Church as a whole, as the People of God, and then with the hierarchy at the service to this people, we have made a Copernican revolution. I think it is true: this inversion imposes on us a kind of constant mental revolution, the consequences of which we have not yet finished measuring”

—Card. Suenens, “Algunas tareas teológicas de la hora actual”, Concilium, Vol. extra, 1970

“The sequence of the LG: Mystery of the Church (Ch. 1), People of God (Ch. 2), Hierarchical Constitution of the Church (Ch. 3), emphasizes that the ecclesiastical hierarchy is placed at the service of the People of God so that the mission of the Church is actualized in conformity with the divine plan of salvation, in the logic of the priority of the whole over the parts and of the end over the means.

—Comisión Teológica Internacional, La sinodalidad en la vida y en la misión de la Iglesia

“The Pope is not, by himself, above the Church, but within it as a baptised person among the baptised and within the episcopal college as a bishop among the bishops”. This presupposes the “conversion of the papacy” and a necessary “decentralization” in the Church. (Evangelii Gaudium 32)

—Francisco, Discurso en la Conmemoración del 50 Aniversario de la institución del Sínodo de los Obispos, 2015

The copernician turn

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Church as People of God

"Everything that has been said about the People of God

is addressed equally to laity, religious and clergy"

(LG 30)

"Each member is at the service of the other members ... [so that]

the Pastors and the other faithful are linked to each other

by mutual need" (LG 32)

"In the People of God, functions, tasks, ministries, states of life and charisms are organically united in a multiform network of structural ties and vital relationships (LG 13)”

Cardinal Leo Joseph Suenens, La coresponsabilité dans l’Eglise d’aujourd’hui, 1969

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From the hierarchical “Pyramid-Church” �to the synodal “Maté-Church”��

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From the hierarchical “Pyramid-Church” �to the synodal “Maté-Church”��

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With Pope Francis “synodality now means “not some of the bishops some of the time but all of the Church all of the time(304)

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The dream of an inclusive church �“Young people and elder together in a synodal church ” �Men and women together�Lay, consecrated, clergy, all baptized missionary disciples

The meeting between generations can be extremely fruitful for giving rise to hope. The prophet Joel teaches us this – I reminded young people at the pre-Synod meeting – and I consider it the prophecy of our time: “Your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions” (2:28) and they will prophesy.

Address of Pope Francis at the opening of the synod on youth, 3 October 2018

Cf CV Chapter 6 “Young People with Roots”

The profecy of Joël in Act 2, 17 🡪 CV 192 « The old dream dreams and the young see visions. How do we complement each other? »

CV 199 “If we journey together, young and old, we can be firmly rooted in the present, and from here, revisit the past and look to the future. (…) Together, we can learn from one another, warm hearts, inspire minds with the light of the Gospel, and lend new strength to our hands. “

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Together on the same canoe !

An image from Christus Vivit 201

During the Synod, one of the young auditors from the Samoan Islands spoke of the Church as a canoe, in which the elderly help to keep on course by judging the position of the stars, while the young keep rowing, imagining what waits for them ahead. Let us steer clear of young people who think that adults represent a meaningless past, and those adults who always think they know how young people should act. Instead, let us all climb aboard the same canoe and together seek a better world, with the constantly renewed momentum of the Holy Spirit.

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An understanding of the Church and its mission with this new synodal key �rooted in the Second Vatican Council

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Lumen Gentium

§32 - “if by the will of Christ some are made teachers, pastors and dispensers of mysteries on behalf of others, yet all share a true equality with regard to the dignity and to the activity common to all the faithful for the building up of the Body of Christ.”

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A focus on baptism

Lumen Gentium – Chapter 2 on the People of God 🡪 Sensus fidei
The totality of the Faithful « cannot err in matters of belief. They manifest this special property by means of the whole peoples’ supernatural discernment in matters of faith when « from the Bishops down to the last of the lay faithful » they show universal agreement in matters of faith and morals » (LG12)

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(Re)learning synodality, �the key role of lay people

The challenge of discovering the face and form of a synodal Church, in which “everyone has something to learn. The faithful people, the college of bishops, the Bishop of Rome: all listening to each other, and all listening to the Holy Spirit, the ‘Spirit of truth’ (Jn 14:17), in order to know what He ‘says to the Churches’ (Rev 2:7).” FRANCIS, Address at the Ceremony Commemorating the 50^th Anniversary of the Institution of the Synod of Bishops.

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From domination/competition �to reciprocity/cooperation

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From a clerical church to a synodal church

A relational church
An inclusive church
A dialogal church
A discerning church
A generative church
A pluricultural church

Communion – Participation – Mission

Protagonism – Joint responsibility - Discernment

Structure/Static 🡪 dynamism

Monolithic 🡪 polyedric

Being seated 🡪 walking together

Earth 🡪 sea

Cathedral 🡪 boat

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Synodality is rooted in the Trinity and sourced in the Eucharist

« The practice of synodality, traditional but always to be renewed, is the implementation, in the history of the People of God on their journey, of the Church as a mystery of communion, in the image of Trinitarian communion. As you know, this theme is very close to my heart: synodality is a style, it is walking together, and it is what the Lord expects of the Church in the third millennium » Pope Francis, Address to members of the International Theological Commission, November 29 2019

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Synodality, a style, a call to live the Church in the breath of the Trinity.�

Synodality is a modus vivendi et operandi: “This modus vivendi et operandi works through the community listening to the Word and celebrating the Eucharist, the brotherhood of communion and the co-responsibility and participation of the whole People of God in its life and mission, on all levels and distinguishing between various ministries and roles.” ibid

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Synodality, a style, a call to live the Church in the breath of the Trinity.�

" Synodality denotes the particular style that qualifies the life and mission of the Church, expressing her nature as the People of God journeying together and gathering in assembly, summoned by the Lord Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel.”

International theological commission, Synodality in the life and mission of the Church, March 2 2018, §70a

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Pilgrims together in a pilgrimage Church in this land

A "walk together" listening to the Spirit
A path of spiritual and pastoral conversion
An open path: accepting not to know in advance, not everything can be foreseen or framed, remaining open to the unpredictability and newness of the Holy Spirit.
We are in a transition phase and a learning process of synodality.

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Jesus, model of synodality

CV 29. “(…)Hence we can understand why, when Jesus returned from his pilgrimage to Jerusalem, his parents readily thought that, as a twelve-year-old boy (cf. Lk 2:42), he was wandering freely among the crowd, even though they did not see him for an entire day: “supposing him to be in the group of travellers, they went a day’s journey” (Lk 2:44). Surely, they assumed, Jesus was there, mingling with the others, joking with other young people, listing to the adults tell stories and sharing the joys and sorrows of the group. Indeed, the Greek word that Luke uses to describe the group – synodía – clearly evokes a larger “community on journey” of which the Holy Family is a part. Thanks to the trust of his parents, Jesus can move freely and learn to journey with others.”

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A process of decision-making

An ancient principle Quod omnes tangit ab omnibus approbari debet « Which touches upon all must be approved by all »

A process articulating All-Some-One
No synodality without primacy : « the synodal dimension of the Church expresses the character of active subject of all the baptized and, at the same time, the specific role of the episcopal ministry in collegial and hierarchical communion with the bishop of Rome. » ITC
The final decision is the result of a process of discernment in common. Whoever presides is the guarantor of the synodal framework and process.

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The notion of Conspiratio

An image first developed by Cardinal John Henry Newman in the 19^th century: the conspiratio fidelium et pastorum, literally the “breathing together of the faithful and the pastors”
The minister who leads and accompanies the synodal process then makes the final decision based on this whole spiritual process of listening and discernment which can be understood through the important notion of conspiratio

International theological commission, synodality in the life and mission of the Church, march 2018

64. It is possible to go deeper into the theology of synodality on the basis of the doctrine of the sensus fidei of the People of God and the sacramental collegiality of the episcopate in hierarchical communion with the Bishop of Rome.

This ecclesiological vision invites us to articulate synodal communion in terms of "all", "some" and "one". On different levels and in different forms, as local Churches, regional groupings of local Churches and the universal Church, synodality involves the exercise of the sensus fidei of the universitas fidelium (all), the ministry of leadership of the college of Bishops, each one with his presbyterium (some), and the ministry of unity of the Bishop of Rome (one). The dynamic of synodality thus joins the communitarian aspect which includes the whole People of God, the collegial dimension that is part of the exercise of episcopal ministry, and the primatial ministry of the Bishop of Rome.

This correlation promotes that singularis conspiratio between the faithful and their Pastors[78], which is an icon of the eternal conspiratio that is lived within the Trinity. The Church thus "constantly moves forward toward the fullness of divine truth until the words of God reach their complete fulfilment in her"[79].

« La valeur de la décision synodale, où la responsabilité ultime est laissée à une seule personne (pape, évêque, prêtre) est quelque chose de plus qu’un simple « conseil », elle doit être au contraire envisagée dans le contexte d’une décision spirituelle commune, raison pour laquelle le résultat final n’est pas l’œuvre d’une seule personne qui se fait conseiller de l’extérieur par d’autres personnes, mais est le fruit d’un effort commun, le résultat de la koinonia/communio » Antonio Spadaro (dir.) « Des chemins de réforme », Klaus Schatz, sj ,La synodalité comme caractéristique essentielle de l’Eglise p. 107, Parole et Silence 2018

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Breathing together

In the synodal church, the pastor mingles with the community in which he walks and of which he is the servant. He is that close shepherd, immersed in the midst of his flock, who smells the scent of the sheep. And depending on the time and circumstances, he may walk in front of, in the midst of, or behind the flock with which he is united.

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Under the agency of the Spirit

Episcopalis Communio §7

« In the Church the purpose of any collegial body, whether consultative or deliberative, is always the search for truth or the good of the Church. When it is therefore a question involving the faith itself, the consensus ecclesiae is not determined by the tallying of votes, but is the outcome of the working of the Spirit, the soul of the one Church of Christ” »

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Key attitudes for synodality

Faith and trust in God
Listening
Humility
Prayer
Dialogue and sharing.
Confidence in others
Inner freedom

🡪 A spirituality of synodality

Pope Francis, Address at the opening of the synod of bishops, October 3rd 2018

http://www.synod.va/content/synod2018/en/news/address-by-pope-francis-at-the-opening-of-the-synod-of-bishops-.html

The Synod we are living is a moment of sharing. I wish, therefore, at the beginning of the Synod Assembly, to invite everyone to speak with courage and frankness (parrhesia), namely to integrate freedom, truth and charity. Only dialogue can help us grow. An honest, transparent critique is constructive and helpful, and does not engage in useless chatter, rumours, conjectures or prejudices.

And humility in listening must correspond to courage in speaking. I told the young people in the pre-Synod Meeting: “If you say something I do not like, I have to listen even more, because everyone has the right to be heard, just as everyone has the right to speak”. This open listening requires courage in speaking and in becoming the voice of many young people in the world who are not present. It is this listening that creates space for dialogue. The Synod must be an exercise in dialogue, above all among those of you participating. The first fruit of this dialogue is that everyone is open to newness, to change their opinions thanks to what they have heard from others. This is important for the Synod. Many of you have already prepared your intervention beforehand – and I thank you for this work – but I invite you to feel free to consider what you have prepared as a provisional draft open to any additions and changes that the Synod journey may suggest to each of you. Let us feel free to welcome and understand others and therefore to change our convictions and positions: this is a sign of great human and spiritual maturity.

The Synod is an ecclesial exercise in discernment. To speak frankly and listen openly are fundamental if the Synod is to be a process of discernment. Discernment is not an advertising slogan, it is not an organizational technique, or a fad of this pontificate, but an interior attitude rooted in an act of faith. Discernment is the method and at the same time the goal we set ourselves: it is based on the conviction that God is at work in world history, in life’s events, in the people I meet and who speak to me. For this reason, we are called to listen to what the Spirit suggests to us, with methods and in paths that are often unpredictable. Discernment needs space and time. And so, during the work done in plenary assembly and in groups, after five interventions are made, a moment of silence of approximately three minutes will be observed. This is to allow everyone to recognize within their hearts the nuances of what they have heard, and to allow everyone to reflect deeply and seize upon what is most striking. This attention to interiority is the key to accomplishing the work of recognizing, interpreting and choosing.

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Key attitudes for synodality

Dialogue and sharing.
Speaking with courage and frankness, integrating freedom, truth and charity. Honesty and transparency
And to the courage to speak must correspond the humility of listening.
Interiority and attention to the movements of the Spirit
An act of faith for an ecclesial exercise in discernment

Pope Francis, Address at the opening of the synod of bishops, October 3rd 2018

http://www.synod.va/content/synod2018/en/news/address-by-pope-francis-at-the-opening-of-the-synod-of-bishops-.html

The Synod we are living is a moment of sharing. I wish, therefore, at the beginning of the Synod Assembly, to invite everyone to speak with courage and frankness (parrhesia), namely to integrate freedom, truth and charity. Only dialogue can help us grow. An honest, transparent critique is constructive and helpful, and does not engage in useless chatter, rumours, conjectures or prejudices.

And humility in listening must correspond to courage in speaking. I told the young people in the pre-Synod Meeting: “If you say something I do not like, I have to listen even more, because everyone has the right to be heard, just as everyone has the right to speak”. This open listening requires courage in speaking and in becoming the voice of many young people in the world who are not present. It is this listening that creates space for dialogue. The Synod must be an exercise in dialogue, above all among those of you participating. The first fruit of this dialogue is that everyone is open to newness, to change their opinions thanks to what they have heard from others. This is important for the Synod. Many of you have already prepared your intervention beforehand – and I thank you for this work – but I invite you to feel free to consider what you have prepared as a provisional draft open to any additions and changes that the Synod journey may suggest to each of you. Let us feel free to welcome and understand others and therefore to change our convictions and positions: this is a sign of great human and spiritual maturity.

The Synod is an ecclesial exercise in discernment. To speak frankly and listen openly are fundamental if the Synod is to be a process of discernment. Discernment is not an advertising slogan, it is not an organizational technique, or a fad of this pontificate, but an interior attitude rooted in an act of faith. Discernment is the method and at the same time the goal we set ourselves: it is based on the conviction that God is at work in world history, in life’s events, in the people I meet and who speak to me. For this reason, we are called to listen to what the Spirit suggests to us, with methods and in paths that are often unpredictable. Discernment needs space and time. And so, during the work done in plenary assembly and in groups, after five interventions are made, a moment of silence of approximately three minutes will be observed. This is to allow everyone to recognize within their hearts the nuances of what they have heard, and to allow everyone to reflect deeply and seize upon what is most striking. This attention to interiority is the key to accomplishing the work of recognizing, interpreting and choosing.

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Synodality is passing from the “I” �to the “us”

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Synodality is a process that "ecclesializes" us.

"This stimulates the generation and implementation of processes that build us as the People of God rather than the search for immediate results with quick consequences. “

Letter of Pope Francis to the Church in Germany on the synod's journey

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A spirituality of the ecclesial "we".

Synodality emphasizes the equal dignity of all the baptized, all inhabited by the Spirit, all called and all missionary disciples. It calls for taking the sensus fidei seriously and therefore listening to each one, taking into account the diversity of voices in the Church. " The same dispositions that are required to live and bring to maturity the sensus fidei, with which all believers are endowed, are also required to put it into use on the synodal path.”

International theological commission, Synodality in the life and mission of the Church, March 2 2018, §108

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Rediscovering the primacy of the ecclesial "we" to serve the common good

QA 20 "Life is a community journey in which tasks and responsibilities are distributed and shared according to the common good.
Synodality awakens and strengthens the ecclesial "we".
Synodality aims at and produces communion at the service of the "common home".

Articulation Synodality &LaudatoSI/#FratelliTutti

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The images of synodality

The « invert pyramid »
The polyedron
The Church as a family
The road of Emmaüs
A new Pentecost
The « tent of meeting » Ex25

« In this way the Church presents herself as the “tent of meeting” in which the Ark of the Covenant is preserved (cf. Ex 25): a dynamic Church, in movement, which accompanies while journeying, strengthened by many charisms and ministries. Thus does God make himself present in this world

Final Document 131

The life of the community

A mosaic of faces

131. A synodal and missionary Church is manifested through local communities with a variety of faces. The Church has never been rigidly monochrome, but she has developed as a polyhedron of persons with varying sensitivities, origins and cultures. In this way she has carried in the earthenware vessels of human frailty the incomparable treasure of Trinitarian life. The harmony that the Spirit gives does not abolish differences, but it makes them resonate together, generating a symphonic richness. This encounter between different persons in the one faith is the fundamental condition for pastoral renewal of our communities. This has a bearing on proclamation, on celebration and on service, that is, on the fundamental spheres of normal pastoral activity. Popular wisdom says that “it takes a village to rear a child”: this principle applies to all spheres of pastoral activity today.

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A dynamic church on the move�« A dance together »�

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The challenge of synodality

The challenge to deal with the difference
The challenge to listen
The challenge to empower
The challenge to implement co-responsability

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Three key issues for synodality

Empowerment of the lay people
Formation to discernement
A new style of leadership

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The rights and duties of lay people

Can. 212

§2. The Christian faithful are free to make known to the pastors of the Church their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their desires.
§3. According to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which they possess, they have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful, without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals, with reverence toward their pastors, and attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons.

Can. 208 From their rebirth in Christ, there exists among all the Christian faithful a true equality regarding dignity and action by which they all cooperate in the building up of the Body of Christ according to each one’s own condition and function.

Can. 209 §1. The Christian faithful, even in their own manner of acting, are always obliged to maintain communion with the Church.

§2. With great diligence they are to fulfill the duties which they owe to the universal Church and the particular church to which they belong according to the prescripts of the law.

Can. 210 All the Christian faithful must direct their efforts to lead a holy life and to promote the growth of the Church and its continual sanctification, according to their own condition.

Can. 211 All the Christian faithful have the duty and right to work so that the divine message of salvation more and more reaches all people in every age and in every land.

Can. 212 §1. Conscious of their own responsibility, the Christian faithful are bound to follow with Christian obedience those things which the sacred pastors, inasmuch as they represent Christ, declare as teachers of the faith or establish as rulers of the Church.

§2. The Christian faithful are free to make known to the pastors of the Church their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their desires.

§3. According to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which they possess, they have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful, without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals, with reverence toward their pastors, and attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons.

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Women in a synodal Church

Final Document Synod on Youth
§148. A Church that seeks to live a synodal style cannot fail to reflect on the condition and role of women within it, and consequently in society more generally. Young men and women ask this question forcefully. The fruits of such reflection need to be implemented through a courageous change of culture and through change in daily pastoral practice.

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Women in a synodal Church

§148 (…) A sphere of particular importance in this regard is the female presence in ecclesial bodies at all levels, including positions of responsibility, as well as female participation in ecclesial decision-making processes, respecting the role of the ordained minister. This is a duty of justice, which draws inspiration both from the way Jesus related to men and women of his day, and from the importance of the role of certain female figures in the Bible, in the history of salvation and in the life of the Church.

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The challenge of creating a new leadership style

A “synodal” leadership
Servant leadership
Collaborative leadership
Accountability

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Church in history

“...history teaches that, if the structure of the Church is hierarchical by the will of its Founder, the modalities of the exercise of this authority vary in the course of the centuries. One could trace a long series of such variations caused by a thousand historical and contingent factors, whether it be the election of Popes, the appointment of bishops or so many other practices. All this has occurred in the course of history according to the conditions of each epoch

Cardinal Leo Joseph Suenens,

La coresponsabilité dans l’Eglise d’aujourd’hui, 1969

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Recovering a synodal governance

“From a historical viewpoint, traditional Church governance was synodal governance”.
“On both the local and the church-wide level, traditional church governance was synodal, that is, collegial”.
O’Malley, John, When Bishops Meet: an essay comparing Trent, Vatican I, and Vatican II, Cambridge, Massachusetts 2019, 58

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Light from the Southern Cross Report : �Promoting Co-Responsible Governance in the Catholic Church in Australia

For a Church seeking to be a loving mother in the face of clergy sexual abuse, four orientations, rooted in synodality, must shape every structural, legal and institutional reform designed to meet the enormous challenge which the reality of sexual abuse by clergy represents at this moment.

One: Radical Listening
Two: Lay Witness
Three: Collegiality
Four: Accompaniment

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5.2 Ecclesial governance�in the global Church�

Subsidiarity
Stewardship
synodality,
Dialogue
Discernment

Synodality involves the active participation

of all members of the Church in its processes

of discernment, consultation and co

Operation at every level of decision-making

and mission

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Strengthening synodal institutions

The Synod of Bishops or the Diocesan Synod
a Pastoral Council of the diocese or parish, a Presbyteral Council
A local, provincial or general chapter for religious communities
General assemblies and councils of church movements
Synodality requires a meeting

Ekklesia « Convened Assembly”

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The experience of the synod �The most striking elements

The presence and voice of young people

Listening to the « others »

The presence and inspiration of Pope Francis

A role model for synodal leadership

Synthesis of my survey

The most important and striking elements

The presence of the young people as observers: very positive, most outstanding feature, they gave a very important contribution, it has changed the synod face. The first time in a synod that the auditors have played such an active role. And it was full of energy, joy and hope. They were rather well chosen and brought interesting inputs and concrete realities. Almost all of these young observers were very involved in the church, some with great responsibilities in their local churches and communities. A few SF deplore there were no young people from the “grassroots” or further away from the Church. Most of the SF underlines their experience of listening to the youth, hearing their cries and learning from them. They have discovered better the concrete reality of the youth through this synod. And many young people express how they were touched to see the passion of the pastors for young people.

The presence and inspiration of Pope Francis: all respondents talk spontaneously about Pope Francis, they were truly impressed by him. His example was very strong for them as he was available for everybody, close to the participants, every morning and afternoon before the work and during the breaks. They mention how he was a “Father” for all, a “role model” for the bishops as pastors through his attitude of listening carefully, his patience, his simplicity and humility, his proximity and also his great inputs in his few key speeches.

The pilgrimage at the end of the synod: walking together along the medieval route to the tomb of St Peter has been an important and striking moment for the participants. Journeying together, talking and praying together with a great simplicity among bishops and young people has been the true metaphor of the synod experience and meaning. The impact of this initiative proposed and organized car Bishop Fisichella has been a very fine and positive moment. That should be part of the next synods.

The small groups (Circuli minores); most of the participants talked about the importance and wonderful experience of their small language group: a place of true dialogue, where everybody could contribute in a synodal approach. They have experienced enriching and deep sharing, trust and fraternity. They also mention the importance of the role of the moderator and secretary to create this atmosphere of dialogue and collaboration. In many groups, the young people and other auditors, especially the women, have played a major role writing most of the modi. Only one SF interviewed was disappointed with his group as some cardinals took the lead and had a stronger voice than the others.

Others : the canonization of Mgr Romero and Paul VI in the middle of the synod, the impact of the testimonies of faith and martyrdom from some local persecuted churches (India, Pakistan, Middle-East), some very emotional moments, some prayers or celebrations, some encounters…

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A new style of leadership

Co-responsability and participation
Accompaniement and empowerment
A new relationship to the power
An exercise of the authority as an empowerment to liberate the liberty.
Cf Synod on Youth Final Document §71 on The true sense of authority :

A generative force to activate and liberate the freedom.

The true sense of authority

71. In order to undertake a true journey of maturation, the young need authoritative adults. In its etymological meaning, auctoritas indicates the capacity for enabling growth; it does not express the idea of a directive power, but of a real generative force. When Jesus encountered the young, in whatever state and condition they might find themselves, even if they were dead, in one way or another he said to them: “Arise! Grow!” And his word brought about what he was saying (cf. Mk 5:41; Lk 7:14). In the episode of the healing of the possessed epileptic (cf. Mk 9:14-29), which evokes so many of the forms of alienation experienced by young people today, it seems clear that Jesus stretches out his hand not to take away freedom but to activate it, to liberate it. Jesus fully exercises his authority: he wants nothing other than the growth of the young person, without a trace of possessiveness, manipulation or seduction.

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The call for teamwork

Vision of collaborative leadership rooted in a conciliar theology of ministry articulated with the vision of synodality
Re-positioning of the leader as part of the community, bonded to and not separated from the people he/she serves

🡪 « copartners with the Spirit »
🡪 accountability, reflection and supervision

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The call for teamwork

“It is worth noting, finally, that among the characteristics of our “being Church” that the young particularly appreciate are a readiness and a capacity for working collaboratively: in this way the formation of the young can be more significant, effective and incisive. The skill required for working collaboratively involves cultivating specific relational virtues: the discipline of listening and the capacity to give the other person space, readiness to forgive and willingness to “put oneself on the line”, according to a genuine “spirituality of communion.”

Final Document Synod on Youth §103

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Synodality as an art�The art of the mosaïc - A poetic vision of synodality

Francis’ Government: What is the driving force of his pontificate?

Antonio Spadaro, SJ / Pope Francis / CIVILTA CATTOLICA; 5 September 2020

This way of proceeding is called “discernment.” It is the discernment of God’s will in life and history. Although it is done in the realm of the heart, of interiority, its raw material is always the echo of reality that reverberates in inner space. It is an interior attitude that urges us to be open to dialogue, to encounter, to find God wherever He is found, and not only in predetermined, well-defined and fenced-in perimeters.

And above all, there is no discernment regarding ideas, even ideas of reform, but on the real, on stories, on the concrete history of the Church, because reality is always superior to the idea.^[9] For this reason the starting point is always historical and consists primarily in recognizing that “God works and labors for me in all things created on the face of the earth.”^[10] Actions and decisions, therefore, must be accompanied by a careful, meditative, prayerful reading of experience. And the life of the spirit has its own criteria. For example, when a proposal for reform is made, for Francis it is not only the proposal itself that is important, but also the spirit – good or bad – that carries it forward. This emerges not only from what is proposed, but also from the way, the language in which that proposal is expressed. The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, after all – as the semiotician Roland Barthes^[11] had well understood – generate a language that gives priority to discernment note from the pope shared with La Civiltà Cattolica

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The need to inculturate synodality

Interaction between synodality and a socio-political culture
No unique way or process, no unique technique, pedagogy or practice for synodality
Each local church, organization, community… has its own culture/charism/spirituality and has to discern how to implement synodality

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The process for the next synod

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The process for the next synod

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The process for the next synod

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To be part of the synodal process

To promote and support it
To name a referent/contact person-synodal team in each diocese
To share best practices of discernment in common,
To contribute to a spirituality of synodality
To train people to discernement and synodality
To foster a collaboration with pastors
To bring the voices of all, especially women, youth, children, poors

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References

All documents on the official website of the synod http://www.synod2018.va/

Key Documents on Sinodality

A key short text of Pope Francis Oct 2015 http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2015/october/documents/papa-francesco_20151017_50-anniversario-sinodo.html
For a deeper exploration a new document of the International theological commission March 2018 http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_cti_20180302_sinodalita_en.html
New Apostolic Constitution on the synod of bishops Sept 2018 http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_constitutions/documents/papa-francesco_costituzione-ap_20180915_episcopalis-communio.html

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Nathalie Becquart’s publications on the synod on youth and synodality�https://bc.academia.edu/NathalieBecquart

Lo Spirito rinnova ogni cosa : Une pastorale giovane con i giovani, Nathalie Becquart, LEV (Libreria Editrice Vaticana), Marzo 2020
L’Esprit qui renouvelle tout : une pastorale des jeunes avec les jeunes, Nathalie Becquart, Salvator, Février 202O
Exploring Christus Vivit, a study guide, edited by Gerard Gallagher, Veritas Publication, October 2020 Chapter On Christus Vivit’s chapter 2: Jesus, Ever young - The deep connection between Jesus, young people and the Church
“The synod of bishops on young people as an act of reception of the second Vatican Council” in Itinere laete servire Domino. Miscellanea di scritti offerti al Cardinale Lorenzo Baldisseri nel suo ottantesimo compleanno (San Paolo, Cinisello Balsamo 2020)
The Synod on Young People, a Laboratory of Synodality International Bulletin of Mission Research 1–16, 2020 DOI: 10.1177/2396939320951566
Il Sinodo dei giovani, laboratorio di sinodalità - Una riflessione sul testo chiave di Papa Francesco sulla sinodalità nell'ultimo Sinodo dei Vescovi. Note di Pastorale Giovanile, gennaio 2020
Marcher ensemble, chapitre sur « le synode des jeunes, laboratoire de synodalité » : Commentaire pastoral et théologique du Discours du Pape François pour le 50^ème anniversaire de l’Institution du synode, Salvator 2019
Les jeunes et la vie fraternelle, Sequela Christi (Periodica Vaticana Congregationis pro Institutis Vitae Consecratae et Societatibus Vitae Apostolicae) « Il futuro della fraternita », gennaio 2019/01

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Thank you !