Synod 'not ecclesiastical politics', results 'already visible'

By Salvatore Cernuzio

The Synod is not about engaging in "ecclesiastical politics," or about bringing controversial issues like priestly celibacy or blessings for homosexual couples to the table in light of the doctrinal document Fiducia supplicans, but rather serving a process—the synodal process—initiated and carried forward by the people of God and responding to their requests, concerns, and needs.

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, the General Relator of the Synod, clarified that point at a press conference in the Holy See Press Office on Thursday. He reiterated the intentions of the journey started "from below" in 2021, which continues and will conclude with the second session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod, scheduled to take place in the Vatican on October 2–27, 2024.

He was joined by Cardinal Mario Grech, General Secretary of the Synod Secretariat, as they presented two documents: one titled "How to be a synodal Church in mission? Five perspectives to deepen theologically in view of the Second Session," whereas the second is "Study groups on questions arising in the First Session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to deepen in collaboration with the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia."

Two documents represent visible "fruits" of the Synod, emphasized Cardinal Grech.

Presented by the people of God

Focusing on the themes, Cardinal Hollerich clarified how their selection and division are a direct result of what emerged in the Final Synthesis Report of the first session, and in turn, the outcome of discussions among participants at the assembly, themselves the result of the involvement of local Churches from five continents.

This is what the work of the ten Groups aims to reflect: something that moves forward and that "does not end with the Synod on synodality," as emphasized by theologian Mgsr. Piero Coda, General Secretary of the International Theological Commission: "Certainly, there will be important repercussions in the continued assembly itself."

"We are servants of the synodal process," Cardinal Hollerich emphasized. This does not mean that "we deal with all points that emerge in the discussion in the Synod, but only those presented by the people of God. We are not doing ecclesiastical politics; we are servants of this synodal process. I have never put my contents, but the contents of the people of God."

Priestly celibacy never put on the table

Cardinal Grech said the issue of married priests "has never been put on the table," nor will it be discussed in the working group dealing with the relationship with the Eastern Churches which have married priests. Neither, he added, will the blessing of homosexual couples, as proposed by the Fiducia supplicans document of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, be a topic of discussion.

Not because they are uninteresting topics, he said, quite the opposite: "Fiducia supplicans is an important document; I find it very beautiful because it means that God loves everyone, even those who find themselves in irregular situations," Cardinal Hollerich emphasized. However, it is "a pastoral document, not a doctrinal one. This is an initiative that helps me in my pastoral context, but it has already been addressed by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and with the authority of the Pope and is not a question to be revisited in the Synod."

Theme of female deacons

However, other issues will be central to the work of the study groups entrusted with exploring the theological and canonical issues regarding specific ministerial forms, including the ordination of women as deacons, which emerged during the Synodal Assembly of October 2023.

“It is about agreeing on this requirement through a study, taking into account the results of the two commissions that Pope Francis has established,” further clarified Monsignor Coda. A work in progress, as is the theme of the selection of episcopal candidates (also a subject examined by another Study Group): “It's an open table, where listening is the fundamental dimension.”

Encounter of the world's parish priests in the Vatican

Cardinal Grech highlighted the importance of listening as one of most evident results of the synodal journey.

“The fruits we already see confirm that the Holy Spirit is present, active in today's Church,” he said, citing numerous initiatives arising from the Synod experience.

He especially indicated the international meeting of parish priests, scheduled to take place in the Vatican from April 29 to May 2, which will conclude with a dialogue in the presence of the Pope. Cardinal Grech said the event aims to listen and value "the experience that parish priests live in their respective local Churches,” because “only those who experience synodality understand better what its fruits are.”

Listening: the first fruit

The event with parish priests, like many other appointments around the world organized in these months by Dioceses or Bishops' Conferences, in which the leaders of the General Secretariat of the Synod have participated. 

Sister Nathalie Becquart, Undersecretary of the Synod Secretariat, has just returned from Tokyo, while the other Undersecretary, Bishop Luis Marín de San Martín is currently in Chile.

These initiatives, said Cardinal Grech, keep the synodal dynamics "alive" in local Churches, “so that an increasing number of people can have direct experience of it.”

A movement that frees, but does not flatten

This is an experience from which “there is no turning back,” said Sister Simona Brambilla, Secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life.

“We move forward and go deeper, involved and taken in a spiral movement that, with strength and sweetness, leads us to the essence of what we are as Christians: brothers and sisters in Christ, lightened, disarmed, and freed from various armors and garments we may wear,” she said.

The Synod, added Sr. Brambilla, is “a movement that transforms, frees, unites, and harmonizes, without ever flattening, homogenizing, or standardizing.”

As Archbishop Filippo Iannone, Prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, noted, the Synod has the “sole mission” of “announcing Christ to the world.”