No one doubts that when Pope Francis called an extraordinary synod of bishops to discuss the situation of the family, the Bishop of Rome took a very wise decision on very relevant issues faced by Catholics and non-Catholics.
In this, Francis seems to have followed Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini’s path, who frequently spoke on the need of “periodic meetings” on specific themes and broader consultation of the synod of bishops. Given that in today’s society the family is under constant duress, it was a theme on which Martini had focused. To use Zygmunt Bauman’s expression, we live in a liquid society, where all relations, including love, have become fragile.
It is also clear that the Pope wants fresh thinking based on spiritual discernment rather than theological or legal deductions. After all, is there any human logic that leads us to “love your enemies”, “love those who hate you”, “take the back seat” and so many other gospel callings.
Francis described the synodal experience as “the convenire in unum around the Bishop of Rome” as “already an event of grace, in which episcopal collegiality is made manifest in a path of spiritual and pastoral discernment”.
The present synod can be considered to be the first of two sessions. It will be followed in greater depth in the ordinary general assembly to take place in October 2015. This intervening year between the two synods consists of twofold process: listening to the signs of God and to the signs of the times.
Since Cardinal Walter Kasper’s speech published in Il Foglio on March 1, 2014, debate among cardinals and theologians has never abated. Cardinal Raymond Burke went to the extent of saying that a major issue of Kaspers’s speech should be put off the table; ‘Stop Communion debate now,’ he wrote.
Bishops ‘heading’ the local Church do not have less authority than those working at the Roman Curia
This debate was further fuelled after the publication of the report of the debate of the 11th general assembly by the synod’s general rapporteur, Cardinal Péter Erdő. Most of those who are scared by the term ‘change’ were up in arms. No wonder: so was the reaction of late Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, head of the Holy Office, when a more lightweight issue, such as the use of vernacular languages in the liturgy, was discussed during Vatican II.
Ironically, it seems that some of these prelates are unwittingly adopting the sola scriptura stance of Martin Luther that the Bible contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness. It is heathening that Pope Francis nipped Burke’s objection in the bud in the first general congregation of the 3rd extraordinary general assembly of the bishops’ synod: “One general and basic condition is this: speaking honestly. Let no one say: ‘I cannot say this, they will think this or this of me...’. It is necessary to say with parrhesia all that one feels.”
Collegiality and synodality are the roadmap that Vatican II offered to the Church in its journey in the world. In the abovementioned speech the Pope was clear: “Let us all collaborate so that the dynamic of synodality shine forth.” He wants the synod to “always unfold cum Petro et sub Petro, and the presence of the Pope is a guarantee for all and a safeguard of the faith”.
It is very unfortunate that many bishops seem to have forgotten, or were afraid of taking their responsibility in the governance the universal and local Church by functioning ‘sub Petro’ and ignoring their duty to govern ‘cum Petro’.
Whatever will be the conclusions of this synod are of crucial importance to the Church and the world. But definitely this reform of the papacy will be a lasting legacy. The cardinals and bishops who are ‘heading’ the local Church do not have less authority than those working at the Roman Curia. Nor do they necessarily have less expertise in theology. The way the Roman Curia humiliated the English-speaking hierarchies throughout the world in the translation of the Missal will remain emblematic.
The effective reintroduction of shared teaching authority of the bishops will underline that the local Church is primary; that the bishops join together, as the apostles did, to share authority. The Bishop of Rome remains as the sign of unity among them, not an absolute monarch.
joe.inguanez@gmail.com
Fr Joe Inguanez, a sociologist, is executive director of Discern.