“Every new step in the life of the church is a return to the source.” It is with this affirmation that the final document from the XVI General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops begins its reflection on synodality. In this opening pronouncement we hear echoes of the Second Vatican Council when it proclaimed, “Every renewal of the church essentially consists in an increase of fidelity to her own calling” (Unitatis Redintegratio 6).
Indeed, “returning to the sources” was at the heart of the renewal that informed that Council six decades ago. It sought for the church a deeper immersion in tradition so the church might better proclaim and witness to the Gospel as the body of Christ in a world that was rapidly changing.
The Council’s return to the ancient liturgies, God’s Word as encountered in Scripture, and the insights of the Church Fathers was neither an exercise in nostalgia nor an expression of backwardness, but a vital movement to recover, among other things, the central mystery of baptism, the role of the Holy Spirit, the church’s own need for conversion as pilgrim, the doctrine of collegiality, and the universal call to holiness that forms the very dynamism of evangelisation.
If the second half of the twentieth century was complex for the church in its response to modernity, the first quarter of the twenty-first century has been one long crisis for the church in many parts of global Catholicism. This is on account of the spotty implementation of the Council’s teachings as well as fresh crises, including a profound loss of institutional credibility in the wake of rolling scandal, the wider marginalisation of the sacred especially in the West, and ideological divisions within the church’s own polity. Add to this the shift in the centre of the gravity for the church from the dominance of Anglo-European influence to the steady growth of Catholicism in Asia and the global south.
In the midst of these realities, and in the effort to establish the significance of synodality and define its essence, the Synod reads at the heart of our times “a crisis of participation.” If one accepts this diagnosis, then synodality presents as a cure.
But what is synodality? The clearest answer provided by the document is found in Part I—it is “a path of spiritual renewal and structural reform that enables the church to be more participatory and missionary, so that it can walk with every man and woman, radiating the light of Christ.”
From this definition the Synod extrapolates three more specific aspects: synodality as the spiritual disposition of the Christian, and so one to be manifest in the ecclesial style of the whole church; as a commitment to structures and processes that enable that “the exchange of gifts” and shared life among the baptised; and as those formal convocations of universal and particular synods and other forms of participatory bodies provided for in the law of the church.
In placing synodality at the heart of baptism—the fundamental sacrament by which “we are entrusted to each other”—the document clearly desires to foster renewed integration of the hierarchical and charismatic dimensions of the church in service of evangelisation.
This “differentiated co-responsibility,” as the document repeatedly puts it, was certainly implied by Vatican II but found most concrete expression in various ecclesial movements after the Council and in the teaching of Pope John Paul II. It has to be said that the “relational conversion” and unleashing of apostolic capacities of all the faithful, ordained and lay, that this Synod promotes remains less than a full achievement in parishes and dioceses today, with some promising exceptions thanks to the work of parish renewal movements over the last decade in Canada, the US, and the UK.
The most practical ideas in the document can be found in Part III which deals with the reform of processes to support the kind of church that synodality suggests: elements and proceedings for discernment are given, largely based upon the spiritual conversation method practiced at the Synod in Rome and our own Plenary Council; there are calls for canonical examination of the relationship between consultative and deliberative votes, with implication for universal synods, parochial councils and the way in which the ordained exercise governance; and a stress on the need to evaluate all ministries and roles within the church which, while not foreign to the church, still has some way to go.
The document frames this last challenge of accountability not in terms of bureaucracy or the judgement of individuals but as part of the integral communication that a faithful mission entails. Notably the Synod document insists that diocesan pastoral councils and parish pastoral councils are to be mandatory as a part of this effort, along with other participatory bodies already provided for in canon law. The emphasis here is making these bodies effective and vital bodies, and not the “[mere] nominal existence of them” as can be the case.
A changing sense of place and diverse ecclesial contexts are acknowledged by Synod members, with a nod to the “digital continent” as well. In an uncontroversial paragraph, the dignity and witness of women is affirmed with the question of diaconal ministry left open yet again, this even though Pope Francis has ruled out the ordination of women to Holy Orders on more than one occasion. Catechetical formation of the faithful finds its rightful place in its desire to foster a synodal church, and so the text is not entirely naïve in its aspiration for new dynamics of participation while one of the most enriching sections addresses charisms, vocations and ministries with greater clarity than has been shared in some of Pope Francis’ previous and casual remarks on these themes.
In broad reflection on the Synod document, it provides one of the more substantial reflections on synodality to date, though some jargon and generalities endure. It is clearly written in accord with the basic ecclesiology of Vatican II and successfully apes the very structure and content of Lumen Gentium in sections. Its desire to relate the church as sacrament of unity and as the People of God is a positive and significant affirmation—as it recognises that the members of the church become the People of God only through union with Christ, through faith and a sacramental life. By this way, the document avoids a sociological interpretation of synodality as if it were to be engaged as a social movement or political campaign.
All in all, the Synod’s output will better clarify the concept of synodality for many who remain on the fence when it comes to this vast project of Francis’ pontificate, even if it may not ultimately convince everyone. Its teaching will no doubt need to be witnessed in authentic ways to overcome scepticism and the significant indifference that still remains for many in the church.
Does the final Synod document achieve what it hopes to in responding to the “crisis of participation?” Will it enable all the faithful to be raised up not merely as subjects of the church’s ministry and mission, but agents of Christ’s commission given to all the baptised? Will it strengthen the church’s witness in a world beset by acute division?
Our experience of the implementation of the Second Vatican Council suggests that there will be gains, missteps, unforeseen graces, and no shortage of politics and mixed motives on the road to a clearer and more compelling witness among God’s people in the style invited by this Synod.
As the Synod document itself acknowledges, if synodality is to be a defining characteristic of the church in this millennium then it is the return to the source of the church’s life, Jesus Christ, led by the sanctifying anointment of the Holy Spirit, that will enable it to experience a conversion of heart. As Pope Francis affirms in his new encyclical Dilexit Nos, it is only this conversion to the “pierced and burning heart of Christ” by all members of the church that will allow Catholicism to once again be a prophetic voice in today’s world and for generations to come. Let’s pray that the journey ahead and the call to synodality begins and ends with this conversion.