It is presented as a bombshell that a woman, Sr. Nathalie Becquart, is appointed as an under secretary for the Synods. But here in the United States there are crickets about this advancement. Why? Because for years in the USA nuns were the backbone of the local Church founding and staffing universities, schools, hospitals, social outreach charities and much, much more. They were not under secretaries but principals, CEO's and much, much more.
After Vatican II, nuns and later lay women worked in parishes as pastoral associates, teaching, visiting the sick, coordinating other ministries in addition to the things they traditionally did so well prior to Vatican II.
They were leaders of various councils in the parishes, president of pastoral councils, finance councils and administrators in parishes (in the sense of operations).
So what is the big deal about this, other than a bishop did it always in the past? Ordination is not required for these things.
But when I look over Sr. Nathalie Becquart's five points on synodality, written in 2019, my eyes glaze over and I think about 99% of active Catholics throughout the world have their eyes glaze over. This synodal process is for geeks or nerds similar to those who fix our computers or like those characters on the Big Bang Theory. It is a bouquet endeavor for a small fraction of the population of Catholics. In other words irrelevant.
And the synodal process has been a shipwreck up until now so much so that Pope Francis was angry with the imbeciles that derailed the one on the Amazon which these five points are about. So the next synod is on and guess what, synods!
Yawn, yawn, yawn. It is like counting how many of the choirs of angels can chant together on the tip of a pin.
What say you. Are you enthralled with the synodal system and all the discerning?
Five Keys to Understanding the Synod on the Amazon According to a Vatican Insider
September 19, 2019 — The Synod on the Amazon, which will take place in Rome from October 6-27, is “our synod of urgency,” said Pope Francis. Amazonia: New Paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology will focus on a strategic and vital region for the future of humanity, especially relevant and prophetic as record numbers of wildfires currently rage in Brazil’s rainforests.
I was recently named a member of the first group of women to serve as consultors for the secretariat of the Synod of Bishops and I am eagerly looking forward to the gathering in October. Here are five things to keep in mind as the Synod on the Amazon approaches.
1. The synod is focusing on the Amazon, but it concerns all of us no matter where we live.
The pope chose to focus on Amazonia because this huge region that includes territory belonging to nine nations is imperative to the survival of the planet. “Much of the oxygen we breathe comes from there. That’s why deforestation means killing humanity,” Pope Francis said. Thus, this synod concerns all of us — especially religious and Jesuits and their collaborators who have a long tradition of social commitment and are increasingly engaged in the care for our common home.
The working document for this upcoming synod was released in June and is the result of a strong listening process. It began with Pope Francis’ visit to Puerto Maldonado, Peru, in January 2018 and has continued with many consultations and gatherings throughout the Amazon region with a particular concern to listening to the indigenous populations.
2. Even though last October’s synod focused on young people and this year’s is centered on a geographic region, there is a great deal of continuity from year to year.
The synod on the Amazon will take place a year after the synod on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment. If these two synods seem rather different in appearance — one focused on young people from 16 to 29 years old, the other concerns a specific geographical region — in fact many topics and issues are similar. Indeed, through these two major church event processes, we can discern the same call for an inclusive church, the same missionary challenge to be a creative, close presence among the people to answer the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth and the same primary issue of inculturation. (Inculturation is adapting the Catholic Church’s teachings to local cultures in ways that are compatible with the Gospel and introducing these cultures into the life of the church.)
I believe there is a true continuity between the two synods that one might call “missionary synodality”: We are called to be a church that listens, a church in dialogue, a missionary church, a welcoming church, a participatory church, a creative church, a harmonious church, an enculturated church, a church engaged with the poorest that fights against injustices.
3. Pope Francis sees synodality as a key to strengthening the reform of the church.
Synodality is a form of collegiality that involves a process of communal discernment — common listening to the Spirit in pursuit of consensus around mission-based goals. Since Pope Francis was elected, he has emphasized synodality as a strong call of the Spirit: “The world in which we live, and which we are called to love and serve, even with its contradictions, demands that the church strengthen cooperation in all areas of her mission.” In a way, synodality is a constitutive property of the church, deriving from the church’s nature as a communion that is rooted in the Trinitarian mystery.
The instrument of the Synod of the Bishops was created by Paul VI after the Second Vatican Council, but Pope Francis clearly wants to stress it as a key to strengthening the reform of the church. The aim is to implement the urgent missionary transformation of the church so that we might be more focused on reaching out to the peripheries.
4. Synodality is not about conversations that lead nowhere. It’s all about mission.
Synodality, because it is fundamentally missionary, is to be developed not primarily for reasons of internal organization but to respond to the calls coming from reading the “signs of the times” through a process of “see, judge, act.” Pope Francis says a synodal church is “like a standard lifted up among the nations (cf. Is 11:12) in a world which — while calling for participation, solidarity and transparency in public administration — often consigns the fate of entire peoples to the grasp of small but powerful groups. As a church which ‘journeys together’ with men and women, sharing the travails of history, let us cherish the dream that a rediscovery of the inviolable dignity of peoples and of the function of authority as service will also be able to help civil society to be built up in justice and fraternity, and thus bring about a more beautiful and humane world for coming generations.”
5. Due to their emphasis on communal discernment, Jesuits and their lay colleagues have a major role to play in promoting synodality across the church.
Being particularly attuned to these characteristics of the synodal church due to their charism that emphasizes communal discernment, Jesuits and their colleagues have a major role to play in the implementation of synodality at all levels of the church. It is not surprising that Jesuits have been called to take an active part in the recent synods’ processes. Every Ignatian partner is called to share the gift of discernment with the people of God so we might chart a course through these changing times and complex world.
By Sr. Nathalie Becquart, xmcj, Consultor to the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops
19 comments:
I'm with you on this Father McDonald, a big: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
ps: get a veil if you want to be taken seriously, sister.
Yes, ho-hum and yawn indeed.
I hate to sound like such an echoing wet blanket but the entire post-conciliar parade of silliness and empty initiatives is utterly irrelevant to me.
Pardon my bluntness, but synods (as we know them today) are bullsh_t.
Pope Francis' obsession with an "evangelization" that doesn't convert anyone and "accompaniment" are bullsh_t.
Most Catholics don't give a darn about any of this stuff. And if I have to read one more word about "reform" or Vatican II's "reforms" I believe I will vomit. Vatican II didn't "reform" anything nor was it a call to reform. It was a modest, "pastoral" council (and we're still trying to figure out what THAT means too).
To paraphrase Mother Angelica: I am so sick of you, modern Catholic Church.
We had a great thing going until the "experts" came in and tried to "fix" something that was never broken. To cease this folly would mean an admission that they were and are wrong--and we all know that these "holy" leaders' pride would never permit that.
Yawn.
The pope and sister stating "much of the oxygen we breathe comes from there" has been entirely debunked even by liberal press, The Atlantic, Snopes, National Geographic, etc.
The Amazon and plants in general use up just as much oxygen as they make, along with always unmentioned CO2. This does not count all the methane released from the rotting vegetation.
Synodal/Synodality/ConstantQualityImprovement/SixSigma....all nothing but buzzwords adopted by bosses and their lackies to make it appear they are always changing things, and always always for the better.
But let someone TRULY try to implement them, and all (blank) breaks loose, captured perfectly by the old management cartoon of boss with pocket protector and loosened tie screaming, "OH (blank)!!! Don't tell me you did exactly what I told you to do!!!"
Ever since Vatican the shift was away from Divine Providence, the Most Holy Trinity to an ecumenical council, reforming structures and creating new ones and bigger bureaucracies. Pastoral centers are bloated, new and improved programs are developed. All taking time, money, more money and slim to no results. Sad. Maybe we should hold up Jesus Christ and follow Him to the way of heaven
Father McDonald,
What you just stated pretty much sums up the Eric Sammons article in Crisis Magazine I sent you in the post just before this one.
Same as any manager or congressman, the heirarchy has decided they always need to be busy making a new law/implementing changes, as a justification for their existence.
Her glowing praise of the Jesuits show her to be a "T-E-A-M-P-L-A-Y-E-R" who emphsizes "communal", while mention of their "spirituality" shows she likely has not much, herself.
The exercises are of a lower/active order of interior life, mainly centering upon mental processes/imagination, and their weakness as practiced today is evident in the decline of the order in every way.
I would agree it is important for the Jesuits to make a contribution, while there is still time and any are left still living.
Which is a true shame, as I have known some wonderful Jesuits, a few flirting with holiness, but those folk are now long gone. Even in my youth when chatting with some in college, half told me they would not do it again if given the chance. Sad.
Truthfully most of the oxygen we breathe does not come from the Amazon. It comes from the oceans. Yes environmentally protecting places surrounding the Amazon is important, and should have importance in many political and scientific conventions. Environmental issues in "Amazonia" probably have a minor significance in a religious synod. I think the religious importance of that region have more to do with its unique and wildly different culture and cultural values. I personalty think religious synods should be honest and not follow the path of so many political synods.
Anonymous says:
"The exercises are of a lower/active order of interior life, mainly centering upon mental processes/imagination, and their weakness as practiced today is evident in the decline of the order in every way."
I do not mean this in an argumentative way. Can "Anonymous" explain why the Ignatius exercises are considered a lower order of interior life, in that they employ the imagination? I have relied on the exercises for many years. What would be a higher/inactive order of interior life?
I'm dubious about meditations, especially the Eastern types, that require emptying the mind. The Ignatian exercises, over time, are meant to lead to a personal experience of Jesus Christ as he walked and taught on this earth and left us with the Church and the sacraments. That seems like enough.
The Ignatian principles of discernment are separate from the meditations. They are meant to help individuals discover the general path that God is encouraging them to follow. I think they are to be used at the crossroads, when it's necessary to make an important decision or choose a lifetime vocation. Group discernment is a subset of that discernment. It is not the main point of Ignatian practices and is, I think, to be used rarely -- for example, when the society itself has to decide what work to undertake, where to establish its next mission, or, perhaps, how to determine its next leader.
Anyway, my question is: if there is a way of prayer superior to the Ignatian way, what is it? Again, I ask sincerely, not as an argument.
Pierre,
Xavières Sisters don’t wear a habit.
ps: get a clue if you want to be taken seriously.
Jean in Florida....there is the active worldly life, the active religious life, and then the contemplative religious life, and an infinite grey scale between them, as one leads naturally to the other. But, to simplify, simply leave it at active and contemplative.
Spiritual exercises and devotions are just that....designed to build up flagging feelings and mental processes/prayer, and are what is termed active, and known as "meditations" which are mental, involving thought processes. Such are the Ignatian exercises, an active prayer form for active people.
I normally suggest three texts for an intro to contemplative prayer, as they are all originally written in English with very little intrepretation required, unlike attempts to translate from classic Castilian Spanish to English. The first is The Cloud of Unknowing written in Middle English and most modern translations are quite decent such as Johnston's or the Penguine Edition, and if any doubt, the TEAMS footnoted Middle English text is readable simply via using the footnotes.
A VERY detailed and formal Elizabethan text is Sancta Sophia/Holy Wisdom by Father Augustine Baker who was spiritual director to Benedictine nuns and his conferences collected...he covers EVERYthing to minute detail to include exercises, including much geared towards cloistered religious life, and an early 1800s rework was done to.this 1600s text, but be warned it is very formal and florid, as if reading the Constitution...but incredible wisdom.
And then there is the small pocket sized 1940s work by Father Gabriel Diefenbach titled Common Mystic Prayer, it is no how-to such as The Cloud, but more a "what" is the interior life and to what it leads, and is highly recommended especially for someone rightly fearing Eastern meditation forms/modern centering prayer/etc....he addresses the heresy of Quietism, of which suchlike Zen and Centering Prayer abound, them essentially saying "if you just do this, this and this, you can conjure up kensho/nirvana/god by your own efforts", where a true Christian understands just how powerless they are, even powerless to desire God without his own prompting, much less to love him. I REALLY recommend you start with this work, then The Cloud (and sequel Book of Privy Council often in same modern printed book), and save the large Sancta Sophia for when you have time to read really deeply and in length.
As an fyi, Saint John Of The Cross obviously drew heavily on the Cloud Of Unknowing for his works, and you will find Baker draws upon it, as well as Diefenbach.
Jean in Florida....one PS for you...if you are familiar with TM, Zen, etc, you will note similarities with them and with The Cloud Of Unknowing in TECHNIQUE, but not in approach and aim.....God is love and desires only we return that love as totally in this life as possible, and to continue perfected into the next life. You will see no emptying in The Cloud but instead a focus on love and God, and this is what separates Christian contemplation from shake and bake modern fallicious attempts at spirituality/eastern meditation....that, and our utter dependence on God even for the grace of desiring this most intimate form of prayer.
Anon 744....what Pierre was pointing out was the "sister" would not look so clueless and would be taken more seriously if she wore a habit rather than a big fancy hairdo which obviously takes a lot of time, energy, attention, and smacks of strong vanity for someone theoretically consecrated to God alone.
I agree. The concept of synodality seems more interesting than the details Sr Nathalie draws out in the article. Plenty to snooze on there. However, Sister is a expert on synodality so we can probably expect her to geek out on it. The most notable thing here is probably the reminder of her position of influence and voting rights in the Synod of Bishops.
It is sad to see some try to discredit a religious sister by her appearance. Religious are bound by the particular law of their institute, in this case an institute of pontifical right. The particular law does not proscribe a habit. I don’t believe the foundress envisioned a particular habit. I don’t see how wearing a costume not proper to her institute would increase her credibility, but rather would discredit her. Not all religious look like some people would prefer.
I’ve never heard a cleric or male religious criticized or have their work not taken seriously due to their well coifed hair or beard. The criticisms of sister’s appearance strike me as misogynistic and ignorant in regards to religious life.
Sister Nathalie is a finally professed member of a religious institute of pontifical right. She publicly took the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience according to the particular law of her institute. There is no ‘sister’ or ‘supposed consecration’ about it. She is a consecrated religious women and her correct identification is a religious sister.
God bless Sister Nathalie and her work. But the greater question is what do synods actually accomplish after all the initial work, work during and work after and the cost of all of this in terms of time,money and energy.
What did the synod of youth actually accomplish today. What affects are being known in dioceses and parishes. As far as I can tell in my diocese and parish, nothing.
Synods happen, the pope issues a paper and then, that's it.
Pope Francis' synods have inflamed passions on both sides of the polarized Church. No one is pleased.
And now a synod on synods. At this from Pope Francis whose first words as pope was he wanted a less self-referential Church. Really?
The only thing coming from the Vatican in the last few years that was actually good and could have impacted the Vatican, local dioceses and parishes in a positive way was Pope Benedict's Christmas speech to the Cardinals teaching that Vatican II must be implemented proper, within continuity with what preceded the Council, not in rupture.
That has practical implications which were being felt in the Vatican under Pope Benedict and in dioceses and parishes around the world, so much so it alarmed the progressive element that saw how effective that one speech was and so the next pope was chosen to stop the restoration of common sense.
Anon 938...I also think consecrated male religious spending time on vanities of appearance, as if megachurch protestant church leaders, show more attraction to vanity than to God.
And so do many others think the same, judging by how little are the directions these pastors offer listened to by their flocks. The flocks see a pampered person without a worry in the world as for food, health care/dental, retirement, sporting expensive hair and manicured nails, while advising those struggling to survive on how to endure the trials of life.
When all which separates the religious life from the secular life is lack of sex, it is not much of a religious life, as many seculars do without sex on a regular basis by choice or neccessity.
Anon 9:34 - I don't know where you get the idea that Sr. Nathalie has a,"...big fancy hairdo which obviously takes a lot of time."
Like many women who don't care a whit what people like you think about their hair or their looks, Sister Natalie has a very natural "do," albeit one that would use a good brushing.
Google images of her and you will find the same mildly unkempt hair - it looks to me to be very dry, indicating she DOESN'T spend lots of time or energy on making it more appealing. Her clothing is simple, not suggesting any vanity.
But be warned. You WILL find pictures of her wearing a scarf and (GASP!) pants.
Many thanks to Anonymous for the responses to my question. I have not read any of the books you suggested. You have given me a path of wonderful bread crumbs to follow -- more precisely, a reading list. I'm all over it! Jean in Florida
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