The synod on the family is come and gone. Most of those who followed its workings, including the press, were mainly interested in the issues of remarried divorced Catholics and homosexual relationships.

However, besides the issues of the family, many observers were also watching the way in which the Pope was conducting the synod and they were quick to notice the changes introduced.

During Vatican Council II, the atmosphere created made participants feel free to express themselves without being censored. They did not experience disagreement as a threat to the unity of the Church.

In the same spirit, Pope Paul VI set up the synod of bishops to give the world’s bishops a voice – a sounding board that would advise the Pope on various aspects of the Church’s life. He paved the way for collegiality in Church government.

Unfortunately, with Pope John Paul II, collegiality was somewhat sidelined and this showed in all the synods that took place under his papacy and that of his immediate successor. The feeling was that the Vatican curia orchestrated the synods with an already fixed outcome.

There was little room for real discussion. Most of the time was taken by participants taking turns to make speeches about issues but without interacting with each other. This made the proceedings both monotonous and quite unfruitful, especially as most speakers felt they could only say what would be acceptable.

Pope Francis wanted to change all this. He introduced new ways of procedure and insisted that all could speak their mind freely and that dissent did not frighten him as long as they remained together with him.

The first change was the questionnaire sent to the faithful. Pope Francis wanted the participating bishops to get in touch with the believing community rather than pontificating in the abstract. It was not a perfect questionnaire but the idea was excellent.

Next, he changed the procedure of the synod itself. He shortened the time for individual speeches, limiting each intervention to three minutes. This allowed more time for discussion in groups during which all could express their opinions, argue their points and, above all, listen to others.

He wanted discernment rather than debate. Discernment is a deep listening to others with the conviction that the Holy Spirit speaks to all who are disposed to ‘listen’. United as a true community, the Holy Spirit shows the way forward.

Unfortunately, many of the members of the synod were not prepared for this exercise. They continued to be entrenched in their positions, lacking the openness necessary to listen to the Spirit of God.

As for Pope Francis himself, he was listening all the time both to the Holy Spirit and to what each was saying. Participants witnessed his serenity despite the very apparent divisions and the disagreements.

This helped him in several ways. He could penetrate the issues discussed more deeply and he came to know the bishops and their way of thinking and acting individually.

In his concluding speech, he lamented that synod participants spoke out “at times, unfortunately, not entirely in well-meaning ways”. This is miles away from discernment! He also spoke of “closed hearts, which frequently hide even behind the Church’s teaching or good intentions, in order to sit in the chair of Moses and judge...”. Hard words indeed! However, undeterred, he indicated that he would continue to govern the Church through synodal cooperation.

The synod was not perfect. Some complained that there were very few theologians and that expert input was lacking. Most bishops are not theologians. Very few women were present (among them, Maltese Sr Carmen Sammut, who heads the International Union of Superiors General), and they were voiceless.

Not all were pleased. Some saw the process as manipulative and a rumour about the Pope’s health seems to have been intended to suggest that Francis was not fully there.

Peter’s boat remains what it has always been, leaking from many quarters. It cannot be otherwise because it is a community of human beings, but Christ knew from the beginning that it would be so.

ajsmicallef@gmail.com

Fr Alfred Micallef is a member of the Society of Jesus.