“For nigh-on all of October, Catholic bishops, priests, and lay women and men from all over the world gather in Rome for the Synod of Bishops to discuss “synodality” — the way in which all members of the church participate in the church and its mission. It it is part of an extraordinary three-year renewal process initiated by Pope Francis, with all 1.3 billion Catholics invited to contribute, culminating in two synod meetings of bishops in Rome in October 2023 and a year later in 2024. This timeline shows key moments in that process.”
During the pontificates of his predecessors, witnesses of the synod gatherings criticised them for being overly controlled by Rome. When Pope Francis was Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he said: “There was, in short, a pre-selection of materials … Clearly there was a failure to understand what a synod is.”
Francis has overhauled and bolstered the Synod structure, to make a place of open debate and honest discernment about the church’s mission. He has also encourage parishes and dioceses to establish forums of listening and participation, to include all Catholics.
The Synod assembly boasts an unprecedented level of participation – more than 360 voting members, 27% of whom are not bishops, and that number includes women and members of the lay community – a first for a synod.
Some of the key players noted as reformers are:
Pope Francis, Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church and president of the synod
Francis has emphasized that a synod is not a parliament, but rather an experience of the Church coming together around the pope to help him discern.
Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, general relator of the Synod on Synodality
The Synod’s ‘General Relator’, he will orchestrate the aassembly and summarise its conclusions.
In 2022 he made the ‘shocking’ announcement that the Church’s teaching on homosexuality is “false,” but he has the confidence of the Pope. Given his significant role, his controversial views and his rapport with the Pope, Cardinal Hollerich is likely the most important figure in the synod after Francis.
Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the General Secretariat for the Synod
“The most powerful woman in the Vatican,” Sister Nathalie is a synodality advocate, particularly with an eye on expanding women’s role in the governance of the Church (she has also made clear that women’s ordination as priests is “not an open question.”)
Cardinal Gerhard Müller, former prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith
Personally selected by Pope Francis to participate in the synod — despite his sharp public criticisms of the entire process, which he has described as a “hostile takeover of the Church of Jesus Christ” that must be resisted. An orthodox theologian in the mold of Joseph Ratzinger. Cardinal Müller’s presence may serve as inspiration for others with similar views to speak up if problematic proposals are pushed forward.
Patriarch Bechara al-Rahi, leader of the Maronite Catholic Church
As head of the Maronite Catholic Church and the Assembly of the Catholic Patriarchs in the East, Cardinal al-Rahi may be the most influential of the 20 Eastern Catholic episcopal representatives at the synod assembly. Not all Eastern Catholic bishops agree with the synod’s approach, seeing it at odds with Eastern synodality.
Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sedrak, head of the Coptic Catholic Church
Will serve as a “presidential delegate” at the synod.
Austen Ivereigh, synod expert/facilitator and journalist
Won’t be voting at the synod. He’s Pope Francis’ biographer and part of the team that wrote “Enlarge the Size of Your Tent,” a controversial synthesis document that served as the basis for the synod’s continental stage. Ivereigh and other facilitators (a brand-new role at a Synod) will be responsible for guiding small-group discussions and synthesizing their conclusions.
He is known to be brash and robust, outspoken on several hot-button issues (eg the Catechism’s language on ‘same-sex attraction’ and traditionalist movements in the Church).
Bishop Philippe Bordeyne, President of the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences
Has, despite the conservatism of the Institute’s founder, argued for same-sex blessings.
Brazilian Jesuit Father Adelson Araujo dos Santos
Has called for ordaining married men and attempted women’s ordination.
Bishop Georg Bätzing, president of the German Bishops’ Conference
The German Synodal Way’s brand may be significantly tarnished, especially after Pope Francis’ string of criticisms of the process, but Bishop Bätzing and his confreres come to Rome with a clear mission: push for changes related to priestly celibacy, women’s ordination, and sexual morality. Interestingly, the Vatican’s criticisms of the Synodal Way have largely focused not on the substance of its proposals, but on pushing for them not in conversation with the universal Church — suggesting that the Germans may be able to make their case in October.
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, archbishop of Vienna
Once closely associated with Benedict XVI, Cardinal Schönborn has played an important role in Francis’ pontificate, prominently defending the controversial 2015 post-synodal exhortation Amoris Laetitia. The Dominican cardinal has also shown a shift in his theological positions, recently expressing openness to same-sex blessings and women’s ordination.
Cardinal Leonardo Steiner, archbishop of Manaus, Brazil
A strong advocate for ordaining married men. Known as a champion of the poor, the Indigenous and “LGBTQ-positive”, Cardinal Steiner said prior to receiving his red hat that “there will be a way” to end mandatory priestly celibacy.
Jesuit Father James Martin, author and LGBTQ activist
This Jesuit’s approach seems to have the support of Pope Francis, with apparently has a near-direct line of communication.
Helen Jeppesen-Spuhler, Swiss Catholic Lenten Fund
The Swiss laywoman is very clear about her intentions at the assembly: She will push for attempting to ordain women.
Five questions were put together by a (very small) group of bishops prior to the Synod as being principle elements that should be addressed.
1: about the claim that we should reinterpret Divine Revelation according to the cultural and anthropological changes in vogue.
Basically, ‘whether in the Church Divine Revelation should be reinterpreted according to the cultural changes of our time and according to the new anthropological vision that these changes promote; or whether Divine Revelation is binding forever, immutable, and therefore not to be contradicted.
2: about the claim that the widespread practice of the blessing of same-sex unions would be in accord with Revelation and the Magisterium (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2357).
Can the Church derogate from this “principle,” (man and women becoming one flesh) considering it, contrary to what Veritatis Splendor 103 taught, as a mere ideal, and accepting as a “possible good” objectively sinful situations, such as same-sex unions, without betraying revealed doctrine?
3: about the assertion that synodality is a “constitutive element of the Church” (Apostolic Constitution Episcopalis Communio 6), so that the Church would, by its very nature, be synodal.
Whether synodality can be the supreme regulative criterion of the permanent government of the Church without distorting her constitutive order willed by her Founder, whereby the supreme and full authority of the Church is exercised both by the Pope by virtue of his office and by the College of Bishops together with its head the Roman Pontiff.
4: about pastors’ and theologians’ support for the theory that “the theology of the Church has changed” and therefore that priestly ordination can be conferred on women.
Whether the dictum of the Second Vatican Council is still valid, that “[the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood] differ essentially and not only in degree” – It is furthermore asked whether the teaching of St. John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, which teaches as a truth to be definitively held the impossibility of conferring priestly ordination on women, is still valid.
5: about the statement “forgiveness is a human right” and the Holy Father’s insistence on the duty to absolve everyone and always, so that repentance would not be a necessary condition for sacramental absolution.
Whether the teaching of the Council of Trent, according to which the contrition of the penitent, is necessary for the validity of sacramental confession, is still in force.
Big asks, all round.
Thomas 5/10/2023
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