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?
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
