October 25: Mission Stations

The focus of the Synod assembly this week has been on receiving, amending, and accepting a final draft of the document for the second session. On Monday, the Synod’s General Rapporteur, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, presented the initial draft to the assembly. The draft was issued in Italian as the official working language, though unofficial translations were provided to delegates.

On Tuesday, 343 members of the assembly, including Pope Francis, met in a General Congregation to discuss the document. Sheila Pires, Secretary of the Information Commission for the Synod, later confirmed that there were 40 speeches given by delegates on various topics related to synodality, including the role of young people in the church.

“Please do not leave young people aside, but walk with us,” Pires reported one young delegate as having said to the assembly. “We want to walk with you.” Pires also reported that the document was appreciated for its balance, depth, and density.

Smaller working groups convened on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. The goal of the working groups was to develop concrete proposals for amendments to the document.

Working groups and individuals had until 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday to present amendments to the General Secretariat of the Synod. At a press briefing Wednesday afternoon, Pires said that more than 1,000 amendments had been submitted, including 951 from working groups and 100 from individual delegates. There were 1,200 amendments submitted during the first session of the Synod in 2023, Pires said.

Thursday and Friday were set aside for the drafting committee to oversee the inclusion of the amendments and the development of the final document.

It is difficult to predict what issues will be included in the document, though participants in the briefings this week have mentioned the selection of bishops, the doctrinal authority of the episcopal conferences, the role of Small Christian Communities (SCCs) in a synodal church, the inculturation of the church in various local contexts, and mechanisms for accountability and transparency within church structures.

On October 22, Mons. Andrew Nkea Fuanya, Archbishop of Bamenda in Cameroon, expressed “a feeling of gratitude for this Synod on Synodality.” He referred to synodality as “an eschatological sign” for the church, as it represents a coming together of people from all parts of the world with different backgrounds and ideas.

Synodality represents “a total rejection of individualism” and “a call for community living,” he said. He highlighted the importance of Small Christian Communities in Africa in fostering this communal spirit.

“Synodality comes very alive in the Small Christian Communities,” Fuanya said, because “you don’t live in anonymity as a Catholic.”

“Everybody knows everybody within their Small Christian Communities,” he added, describing them as “a big treasure for Africa.”

Fuanya also commented on the role of women in the African church, saying, “Our African women actually run our churches for us.” More than 50 percent of catechists in Africa are women who oversee the day-to-day life of parish mission stations in the absence of priests, he explained.

On October 23, professor and canon lawyer Myriam Wijlens, one of the Synod’s theological experts, referenced a lecture she gave in 2016 that described the reconfiguration of collegiality through synodality as “hitting the reset button.” Collegiality is the idea that an assembly of bishops acts together to represent the church—an idea that the current Synod has “reconfigured” with the inclusion of laypeople and new paths of collective discernment between lay faithful, bishops, and the pope.

Unpacking her metaphor, Wijlens explained that in this reconfiguration the “programs and files” remain the same, but the “system” is updated to optimize the working conditions for emboldening the church’s mission.

“Rooted in the doctrine of Vatican II, the church reflects on how the different members of the people of God, in light of their charisms, vocations, ministries, offices, and tasks, as well as in light of the context with its needs and possibilities, best discern together how the mission entrusted to the church can be more credible and effective,” she said.

“With great consistency throughout this whole [synodal] process, the people have conveyed” the need for new canonical structures to enable the transformative nature of the Synod, she continued. These include the call for mandatory diocesan and parish pastoral councils; ecclesial gatherings on the level of groupings of local churches, such as the territory of an episcopal conference; and more permanent structures for assemblies at the continental level.

Wijlens named “accountability, transparency, and evaluation” as another desire of the people of God that has come to the fore throughout the synodal process.

Financial, sexual, and other forms abuse “have led to a lack of trust which impacts the credibility and effectiveness of the church’s witness to Christ,” she said. The Synod “has increased the awareness that all faithful are bound and bonded together,” and from this awareness flows “a mutual responsibility to hold each other accountable,” she said.

Wijlens clarified that the desire for accountability is “not coming from a societal perspective,” but rather a “deep theological perspective.”

Over the past three years, the people of God have communicated that “transparency and accountability should not only be invoked with regard to safeguarding or financial matters,” but are “also required with regard to pastoral planning and methods of evangelization,” she added.

As the Synod moves to its conclusion this weekend, there will be two final General Congregations on Saturday: a reading of the document in the morning, and a voting session in the afternoon. Two-thirds of the assembly must vote to approve each paragraph in the document in order for it to be retained. A briefing is expected Saturday evening to present the final draft to the public. ♦

Michael Centore
Editor, Today’s American Catholic

Image: A delegate applauds during a General Congregation of the Synod, October 16, 2024. ©synod.va/Lagarica