VTo be able to analyze the major issues of the synod, a few days before the opening of the Ordinary General Assembly (first session), is a great challenge. Even if it is practically impossible to say how many faithful took part in the vast consultation which opened this process launched in 2021 by Pope Francis, we are facing the greatest participation, the largest global event of listening to the people of God, that Catholics have ever known. At this stage of the process, it is therefore a question of assuming this novelty, this new “synodal face of the Church”.
Pope Francis gave his vision of a “Synodal Church”that is to say based on a “listening dynamics”. It clearly sets out a direction where deliberation prevails at all levels – parish, diocesan, continental and universal. To paraphrase the Pope, “walking together is the constitutive path of the Church” (introductory speech at the opening of the work of the 70e general assembly of the Italian Episcopal Conference, May 22, 2017).
The bishop remains, certainly, the principle of unity of the Church. In the synodal process, each bishop initiates, guides and concludes the consultation. But there is a call for greater participation of all in discernment, which requires rethinking decision-making processes. The consultation clearly highlighted a strong demand for appropriate governance structures, inspired by greater transparency and greater accountability for all.
Review decision-making processes
There is also a desire for a Church that is welcoming to people in vulnerable situations, such as the elderly, victims of abuse of all kinds, the sick, prisoners, the disabled, but also those who have difficulty with the norms of the Church (LGBTQ+, divorced and remarried people, polygamists), those who do not share our faith (atheists, anti-Christian religious people and movements, traditional religions) and, of course, orphans, children living on the street separated from their families, unemployed young people, widows and widowers, migrants, refugees, single mothers, ethnic minorities, people on the socio-economic margins (the poor), without forgetting those who are designated as sorcerers and bearers of bad spells… In short, the synodal face of the Church asks to “leave the comfortable position of those who offer hospitality to [se] allow us to welcome into the existence of those who, on [leurs] paths of humanity, are [leurs] companions » (summary document of the German synodal process).
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