By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY — Parishes and dioceses must move quickly to give life to the consultative bodies and broad participation in mission and ministry already foreseen by Church law if the Catholic Church is to have any hope of becoming a more “synodal” Church, members of the synod assembly in Rome said.
“Without concrete changes in the short term, the vision of a synodal Church will not be credible and this will alienate those members of the People of God who have drawn strength and hope from the synodal journey,” the 355 members said in the final document they approved Oct. 26. One of them was Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, bishop of the Diocese of San Diego.
Pope Francis convoked the synod in 2021 and called on parishes, dioceses and bishops’ conferences to hold listening sessions before the first synod assembly in Rome in 2023. The 2024 assembly, including most of the same members, was held at the Vatican from Oct. 2 to 26.
(As a result of those listening sessions and further consultation of the faithful, the Diocese of San Diego began a project with 17 pilot parishes last spring to re-imagine their parish life and leadership in a synodal Church.)
The members of the synod assembly voted on each of the 155 paragraphs of the document, which made suggestions and requests to Pope Francis that included long-term projects, such as continuing discernment about the possibility of women deacons, the need to reform seminary training and the hope that more lay people would be involved in the selection of bishops.
But they also included actions that could and should be implemented immediately, including hiring more women and laymen to teach in seminaries or having bishops make pastoral councils mandatory for every parish and pastors ensuring those bodies are truly representative of the parish members and that he listens to their advice.
Synod officials said all the paragraphs were approved by the necessary two-thirds of synod members present and voting; 355 members were present and voting, so passage required 237 votes. A paragraph devoted to increasing women’s profile in the Church received, by far, the most negative votes of any paragraph with 97 members voting no and 258 voting yes. The paragraph, which required 66% of the votes, passed with 72%.
“In simple and concise terms,” members said, “synodality is a path of spiritual renewal and structural reform that enables the Church to be more participatory and missionary, so that it can walk with every man and woman, radiating the light of Christ.”
In a synodal Church, the document said, members have different roles, but they work together for the good of all members and for the mission of the Church.
Synod members also said listening, consulting, praying and discerning before making a decision is not the end of the process. “It must be accompanied and followed by practices of accountability and evaluation in a spirit of transparency.”
Ensuring accountability and regularly evaluating all those who minister in the Church’s name “is not a bureaucratic task for its own sake. It is rather a communication effort that proves to be a powerful educational tool for bringing about a change in culture,” synod members said.
