October 7: Frameworks and Foundations

The opening week of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, commonly referred to as the Synod on Synodality, concluded yesterday with a special announcement that Pope Francis will hold a consistory for the creation of 21 new cardinals on December 8.

The pope made the announcement during the weekly Angelus, a prayer recited every Sunday at noon in St. Peter’s Square.

The list of cardinals-to-be includes archbishops and other church officials from all parts of the world, notably Iran, Japan, and multiple South American nations. Francis said that their origin “expresses the universality of the Church which continues to announce the merciful love of God to all men on earth.”

He also emphasized how the inclusion of the new cardinals “demonstrates the inseparable bond between the See of Peter and the particular Churches spread throughout the world.”

One of the cardinals to be created is Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP, who is currently serving as a “spiritual assistant” to the Synod along with Mother Maria Ignazia Angelini, OSB. Radcliffe has been widely praised for his pastoral approach to theology and his ability to articulate synodal methodology.

At a press briefing on Saturday, North American Synod delegate Catherine Clifford mentioned Radcliffe by name. Clifford related how, during the opening retreat for Synod participants, Radcliffe “really challenged us Westerners and people from the Northern Hemisphere by saying that the world order has and is shifting radically, and the center is no longer a Western cultural center.”

“I think that’s the experience of our church as well,” Clifford continued. She cited statistics that two-thirds of Catholics today live in the Southern Hemisphere, and it is projected that 75 percent of the world’s Christians will live in the Southern Hemisphere by the year 2050.

Demographic shifts and church decline in the Northern Hemisphere “doesn’t mean that the church is disappearing or dying,” she explained. “In fact, it’s very vibrant elsewhere, and we have much to learn and receive from each other.”

The issues of the Southern Hemisphere are “taking a more central place in our [synodal] conversations as well,” she said.

In her remarks at the briefing, Clifford noted some of the ways the atmosphere of the Synod has changed between the first session held last year and the current second session.

“There’s a wonderful openness and prayerfulness that I think is the fruit of our living together last year in the first session,” she said. She described “an easiness in the conversations, but also a freedom to face more squarely some big, big challenges.”

Clifford singled out the question of the role of the local churches as becoming more important to the Synod delegates.

“No two contexts are alike,” she said, adding that it is necessary “to hear the stories of one another’s local churches” and to learn from and support one another.

She also mentioned the importance of the work of ecumenism. This year’s session has brought “a larger presence of ecumenical fraternal delegates,” she said, noting that “there are implications for this [synodal] experience for their own churches.”

“There’s a host of questions confronting our churches that we need to face together,” she continued. “We’re better facing them together than we are apart.”

The first week of the Synod meetings were focused on the “Foundations” section of the Instrumentum Laboris, which are intended to provide a framework for the gathering and help delegates address concrete issues.

As with last year’s session, the methodology of the second session will alternate between 36 small “Working Groups” based on language preference (English, French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese) and large “Plenary Sessions” or “General Congregations” that will include all Synod participants.

Following a brief introduction of the topic up for discussion by the General Realtor, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, Working Groups will assemble for two sessions of “Conversation in the Spirit.”

New this year is the inclusion of “Language Tables” that follow the first two sessions of the Working Groups. Representatives from each group will meet to form five different Language Tables, including two in English and one each in Spanish, French, and Italian. The purpose of the Language Tables will be to prepare brief summary reports of themes emerging from the Working Groups for presentation at the next General Congregation.

Representatives from the Language Tables will also assist Synod officials in drafting an agenda for the subsequent General Congregations. Synod delegates will have the opportunity to vote on these proposed agendas and determine the order in which topics are presented for discussion.

After the conclusion of each round of General Congregations, the Working Groups will reassemble a final time to prepare their report. On Saturday morning, Working Groups completed their first set of reports for submission to the General Secretariat.

Synod delegates meet today for two Working Group sessions, one held this morning and another this afternoon. The subject of their discussion is Part I of the Instrumentum Laboris, titled “Relations.” ♦

Michael Centore
Editor, Today’s American Catholic

Banner image: Catherine Clifford speaks at the Synod briefing on Saturday, October 5. Vatican News / Vatican Media

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