Archive for category Synod of Bishops
‘Excuse me, Your Eminence, she has not finished speaking’ / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, Clericalism, Synod of Bishops, Synod on Synodality, Voice of the Faithful, Women in Catholic Church on November 21, 2023
The synod recognized the church’s global infection with narcissistic clericalism. It said fine things about women in leadership and the care of other marginalized people. Yet the synod remains a secret in many places. Its good words don’t reach the people in the pews.
By Phyllis Zagano, National Catholic Reporter
“Without doubt, the best line to emanate from the synod on synodality is ‘Excuse me, Your Eminence, she has not finished speaking.’
“That sums up the synod and the state of the Catholic Church’s attitude toward change.
“In October, hundreds of bishops, joined by lay men and women, priests, deacons, religious sisters and brothers met for nearly a month in Rome for the synod on synodality. At its end, the synod released a synthesis report brimming with the hope and the promise that the church would be a more listening church.
“Some 54 women voted at the synod. Back home, women are still ignored.
“Why?
“It is not because women quote the Second Vatican Council at parish council meetings. It is because too many bishops and pastors ignore parish councils.
“It is not because women of the world do not write to their pastors and bishops. It is because without large checks, their letters are ignored.”
By Phyllis Zagano, National Catholic Reporter — Read more …
The synodal journey continues, but course corrections are needed
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in church reform, Future of the Church, Synod of Bishops, Synod on Synodality, Voice of the Faithful on November 13, 2023
This Synod doesn’t just differ institutionally. It’s also expressive of a concept of synodality that differs from earlier phases (especially in the post-1985 communio ecclesiology), when synodality was seen as a dimension of the life of local churches and the relations among them.
By Massimo Faggioli, Commonweal
“The first assembly of the Synod on Synodality in October left us with some important certainties as well as a few uncertainties. One of the certainties is that synodality is not an experiment (even if the form of the recent assembly is somewhat experimental). Indeed, synodality is a long-forgotten way for the Church to gather, listen, and make decisions in the service of the Gospel. It is a moment of ressourcement in the tradition of the Church—a reconnection with an important and very real part of its past.
“Another certainty is that this assembly differed fundamentally from the twenty-nine that the Bishops’ Synod have celebrated since 1967, after the creation of the new institution by Paul VI during the last session of Vatican II in September 1965. Not just because it’s part of the long ‘synodal process’ begun in 2021 and set to conclude with the second assembly in October 2024; it’s different as well because of the position the Synod occupies among the turning points in Catholic history in the last two centuries.
“In the nineteenth century, Vatican I (1869–1870) pushed back against liberal modernity and declared papal primacy and infallibility. In the twentieth century, Vatican II (1962–1965) balanced the ‘new’ papacy with episcopal collegiality, and did so in plainly parliamentary fashion: with debates (theological disputationes both in aula and in the commissions) leading to majorities and minorities and eventually converging on a quasi-unanimity in the votes on the final documents. The current synod is not like Vatican I or Vatican II; for one thing, it doesn’t have the same authority. But it’s the closest thing to those councils, and it is expressive of the global dimension of the Church with all its diversity and contrasts—the real challenge of the twenty-first century. Though bishops and superiors of religious orders were represented, so were other members of the Church; thus, global Catholicism supplemented the papal primacy of the nineteenth century and episcopal collegiality of the twentieth with ecclesial synodality. Instead of using the method of disputatio, it adopted “spiritual conversation” as a way to grasp the consensus fidelium. But whoever makes the decision on some of the issues at hand—the Synod or the pope—there will never be a 100 percent consensus. There will be a majority and a minority, as when Vatican II decided to reject anti-Semitism and to restore the permanent diaconate.”
By Massimo Faggioli, Commonweal — Read more …
The synod meeting in Rome is done. What now? / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in church reform, Future of the Church, Pope Francis, Synod of Bishops, Synod on Synodality, Voice of the Faithful on November 1, 2023
The document (A Synodal Church in Mission: Synthesis Report) makes clear that formation is not just for the ordained, nor something done only on Sunday at Mass.
By Michael Sean Winters, National Catholic Reporter
“What now? The first session of the two-year synod in Rome has finished its work and published a final document. It offers ideas to guide the church in the next 11 months before the second session gathers in Rome next autumn. What does the task look like for the church here in the United States?
“The final document has some very specific proposals, and the section on formation especially has some clues about how to proceed.
“The text gives us the model for formation. ‘The way in which Jesus formed the disciples constitutes the model we need to follow. He did not merely impart teaching but he shared his life with them,’ the document states. ‘Through the example of his own prayer, he drew from them the request: ‘Teach us to pray.’ By feeding the crowds, he taught them not to dismiss the needy. By walking to Jerusalem, he showed the way to the Cross.’ None of that is easy.
“In our busy world, making time to pray is a challenge. It requires us all, from bishop to ‘C&E Catholics,’ to be willing to be taught. In our self-centered, consumerized culture, showing people the way to the cross is never easy. It is impossible unless we encounter with compassion those whose crosses are many or especially burdensome, and learn from them.
“The document makes clear that formation is not just for the ordained, nor something done only on Sunday at Mass.”
By Michael Sean Winters, National Catholic Reporter — Read more …
Pope’s major Vatican summit ends without action on women deacons, mention of LGBTQ Catholics / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Synod of Bishops, Synod on Synodality, Voice of the Faithful on October 30, 2023
Participants voted on the final text paragraph by paragraph through the early evening of Oct. 28. The threshold for passage for each paragraph was a two-thirds majority of the voting members. The paragraphs that received the most no votes were two of the primary paragraphs addressing the possibility of women deacons.
By Christopher White and Joshua J. McElwee, National Catholic Reporter
“Pope Francis’ high-stakes summit on the future of the Catholic Church concluded on Oct. 28 by postponing action on the possibility of ordaining women as deacons and failing to acknowledge deep tensions that surfaced in a month of debates over how the global institution should care for its LGBTQ members.
“A 41-page report, approved and published that evening, called for the results of earlier papal and theological commissions on women deacons to be presented for further consideration at the next assembly of the Synod of Bishops, to be held in October 2024.
“The report, titled ‘A synodal church in mission,’ follows an intense month of debates at the Vatican among some 450 participants over a range of big issues, including the role of women in church ministries, clergy sexual abuse and better inclusion of LGBTQ Catholics.
“While previous documents leading up to the closely watched meeting were marked by candor and openness, the synthesis report for the Oct. 4-29 assembly takes a much more cautious tone. Although it makes 81 proposals, they are often quite open-ended or general, and the text calls for further theological or canonical study, evaluation or consideration at least 20 times.”
By Christopher White and Joshua J. McElwee, National Catholic Reporter — Read more …
General Assembly to the People of God: The Church must listen to everyone / Vatican News
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, church reform, Future of the Church, Synod of Bishops, Synod on Synodality, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on October 25, 2023
Participants in the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops have approved a Letter to the People of God giving thanks for their experience, detailing the work of the past few weeks, and expressing the hope that in the coming months, everyone will be able to ‘concretely participate in the dynamism of missionary communion indicated by the word ‘synod.’
Vatican News
Letter of the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to the People of God
Dear sisters, dear brothers,
As the proceedings of the first session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops draw to a close, we want to thank God with all of you for the beautiful and enriching experience we have lived. We lived this blessed time in profound communion with all of you. We were supported by your prayers, bearing with you your expectations, your questions, as well as your fears. As Pope Francis requested two years ago, a long process of listening and discernment was initiated, open to all the People of God, no one being excluded, to “journey together” under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, missionary disciples engaged in the following of Jesus Christ.
The session in which we have been gathered in Rome since 30 September is an important phase of this process. In many ways it has been an unprecedented experience. For the first time, at Pope Francis’ invitation, men and women have been invited, in virtue of their baptism, to sit at the same table to take part, not only in the discussions, but also in the voting process of this Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. Together, in the complementarity of our vocations, our charisms and our ministries, we have listened intensely to the Word of God and the experience of others. Using the conversation in the Spirit method, we have humbly shared the wealth and poverty of our communities from every continent, seeking to discern what the Holy Spirit wants to say to the Church today. We have thus also experienced the importance of fostering mutual exchanges between the Latin tradition and the traditions of Eastern Christianity. The participation of fraternal delegates from other Churches and Ecclesial Communities deeply enriched our discussions.
Our assembly took place in the context of a world in crisis, whose wounds and scandalous inequalities resonated painfully in our hearts, infusing our work with a particular gravity, especially since some of us come from countries where war rages. We prayed for the victims of deadly violence, without forgetting all those who have been forced by misery and corruption to take the dangerous road of migration. We assured our solidarity and commitment alongside the women and men all over the world who are working to build justice and peace.
Vatican City, October 25, 2023 — Read more …
Opening momentous Vatican summit, Pope Francis begs church to ‘not impose burdens’ / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, Future of the Church, Pope Francis, Synod of Bishops, Synod on Synodality, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on October 4, 2023
‘This is the primary task of the synod: to refocus our gaze on God, to be a church that looks mercifully at humanity,’ he (Pope Francis) said.
By Christopher White and Joshua J. McElwee, National Catholic Reporter
“Pope Francis on Oct. 4 officially opened a long-anticipated Vatican summit on the very future of Catholicism, encouraging its participants — bishops and lay people alike — to reject the temptations of doctrinal rigidity and to embrace a vision of the church that is open and welcoming to all.
“‘The blessing and welcoming gaze of Jesus prevents us from falling into some dangerous temptations: of being a rigid church, which arms itself against the world and looks backward; of being a lukewarm church, which surrenders to the fashions of the world; of being a tired church, turned in on itself,’ Francis said in a homily in St. Peter’s Square that marked the start of the monthlong Synod of Bishops’ synod on synodality.
“Some 450 delegates from all over the world have descended onto Rome for the occasion, representing a wide array of views and often sharp divisions on some of the hot button issues facing the church, such as clergy abuse, the role of women’s ministry, inclusion of LGBTQ Catholics and other questions surrounding the structure of church authority.”
By Christopher White and Joshua J. McElwee, National Catholic Reporter — Read more …
Is synodality just another word for collegiality? / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Future of the Church, Pope Francis, Synod of Bishops, Synod on Synodality, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on September 14, 2023
But synodality goes beyond collegiality as a practical vision for the church. The instrumentum laboris (“working paper”) prepared for the synod delegates describes synodality not as a theory but as “a readiness to enter into a dynamic of constructive, respectful and prayerful speaking, listening and dialogue.”
By Thomas Reese, National Catholic Reporter
“In October, the Catholic Church is going to have an international meeting in Rome on the topic of synodality. This is an unfamiliar term to most Catholics, except those of Eastern traditions, whose bishops regularly come together in synods to govern the church. In the Western church, we call such meetings ‘councils,’ not synods.
“What then is synodality?
“My own unsophisticated understanding is that it is another word for “collegiality,” a term that became popular after the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s.
“At the council, bishops became conscious of their collegial responsibility with the pope for the governance of the church. It was wrong, they realized, to view the church as an absolute monarchy with bishops as vassals of the pope. The college of bishops, as successors of the apostles, has an important role to play.
“After the council, the term “collegial” became an adjective describing a new style of church leadership that envisioned consulting the laity on important issues facing the church. It was applied to not only bishops and their conferences, but dioceses and parishes.
“This widespread use of collegiality soon came under attack from the Vatican, with then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) leading the charge. He insisted that collegiality in the strict sense applied only to the college of bishops under the pope. He made distinctions between ‘affective’ and ‘effective’ collegiality — the former saw bishops’ meetings as little more than mutual support; the latter considered them authoritative.”
By Thomas Reese, National Catholic Reporter — Read more …
Synod raises hopes for long-sought recognition of women in the Catholic Church / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in church reform, Future of the Church, Synod of Bishops, Synod on Synodality, Voice of the Faithful, Women Deacons, Women in Catholic Church on August 21, 2023
‘It’s remarkable the shared cry that came through in ‘Enlarge the Space of Your Tent’ around the deep connection between creating a new synodal path in the church and a church that more fully receives the gifts that women bring,’ (Casey) Stanton (co-director of Discerning Deacons) said.
By Claire Giangrave, National Catholic Reporter
‘When Pope Francis called two years ago for a worldwide discussion among rank-and-file Catholics about the main challenges and issues facing the church, the question of women’s ministry and leadership echoed loudly in parishes and bishops’ assemblies.
“The question is resounding more loudly as the summit of bishops and lay Catholics known as the Synod on Synodality, scheduled for October, draws near. Participants and observers alike recognize that any conversation about reforming church hierarchy or promoting lay involvement, Francis’ twin goals for the synod, has to include honest exchanges about the role of women.
“‘It’s not just one issue among others that you can tease out,’ said Casey Stanton, co-director of Discerning Deacons, a group committed to promoting dialogue about the female diaconate in the church. ‘It’s actually kind of at the heart of the synod and we need to take a step forward that is meaningful, and that people can see and feel in their communities.'”
By Claire Giangrave, National Catholic Reporter — Read more …
Joy and hope amid struggle at Women of the Church event / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in church reform, Future of the Church, Synod of Bishops, Synod on Synodality, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful, Women, Women Deacons, Women in Catholic Church, Women in the Church on August 2, 2023
‘Because we’re living through it, we can fail to see how radical and exciting a time this is in the church,’ she (Kristin Colberg, associate professor of theology at St. John’s School of Theology and Seminary) said.
By Heidi Schlumpf, National Catholic Reporter
“At the third Women of the Church conference for Catholic women leaders, a morning prayer service began with a reading of the Gospel account of Mary of Magdala witnessing the resurrected Jesus outside the tomb. Participants were then asked to call out a word from the scripture passage that spoke to them. The most frequently shared word was ‘weeping.
“Catholic women have much to weep about, and many at the conference expressed pain, frustration and hurt by experiences of sexism in the church. But the overall vibe at the three-day event was one of joy and hope — brought on not only by the opportunity to pray, network and celebrate together, but also by optimism about the church’s upcoming synod on synodality and what it might mean for women’s leadership in the church.
“Keynote speaker Kristin Colberg set the tone the first night of the conference with her presentation titled ‘Fruit and Seed: New Roles for Women in a Synodal Church.’
“‘What’s happening with women in the church is not just the beginning of something new, but it’s the realization of something that’s already happening,’ said Colberg, associate professor of theology at St. John’s School of Theology and Seminary.”
By Heidi Schlumpf, National Catholic Reporter — Read more …
Pope Francis’ picks for the Synod are in — and suggest this will be a Vatican meeting like no other / America: The Jesuit Review
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, church reform, Future of the Church, Pope Francis, Synod of Bishops, Synod on Synodality, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on July 10, 2023
Pope Francis has insisted since its initiation that the synod is meant to be a spiritual event, not a parlimentary-style gathering. To emphasize this, he has decided that the synod will be preceded by a major ecumenical pray service …
By Gerard O’Connell, America: The Jesuit Review
“The Synod on Synodality is officially the 16th ordinary assembly of the synod of bishops, but it promises to be radically different from any of its predecessors. Having reported on all the synods since 1985, I have come to believe that this synod—articulated in two sessions—could well be the most transformative event in the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council.
“Today (July 7), the Vatican published the list of synod participants. What does it tell us about Pope Francis’ goals for the synod? First, Pope Francis has sought to ensure a balance in the membership of those who will participate with a vote in the plenary assembly, which will be held in the Vatican in two nearly months-long sessions in October 2023 and October 2024.
“Pope Francis wanted to ensure that different views are truly represented in this synod, not only in terms of theological, cultural and geographical perspectives but also with regard to age, gender and different roles exercised in the church. He wanted to promote harmony and unity and avoid polarization in the synod, as one risks if the synod is approached as a parliament, and to ensure it is a truly spiritual event in the history of the church in the 21st century.”
By Gerard O’Connell, America: The Jesuit Review — Read more …
-
You are currently browsing the archives for the Synod of Bishops category.
Voice of the Faithful
A lay movement for governance reform in the Roman Catholic Church, responding to the clergy sexual abuse scandal and supporting survivors.
Voice of the Faithful- An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.
Voice of the Faithful ® 