Reminder of the Background: the synodal journey over the past 3 years
The Synod on Synodality (or the 16th Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops) has ended following its second sitting in Rome. The outcome of the deliberations is captured in a final document which Pope Francis has approved and which now becomes the teaching of the Catholic Church. This process “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission”, started in October 2021. Here in Hallam we had a service at St Marie’s Cathedral to welcome all to become involved. There followed some months of consultation in various ways; with meetings, discussions, cards, questionnaires and personal encounters. The People of God were invited to respond to the questions Pope Francis asked:
“How does this “journeying together” which takes place today on different levels (from the local level to the universal one), allow the Church to proclaim the Gospel in accordance with the mission entrusted to Her; and what steps does the Spirit invite us to take in order to grow as a synodal Church?”
One year later, the Synod Office at the Vatican, having collated the local contributions from 112 out of 114 Bishops Conferences from around the world, produced a Working Document for the Continental Stage. This was presented back in dioceses and parishes, and a further period of discernment was invited, to reflect on these three questions:
- “What resonates from the Document for the Continental Stage with the realities of your Church?
- What tensions or divergences emerge and questions should be raised in this next step of the process?
- What are the priorities, recurring themes and calls to action that can be shared and discussed in the first session of the synodal assembly in October 2023?”
This period of discernment led to a document from Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales which was sent to Rome. Then contributions from the seven continental assemblies were used to draft the “Instrumentum Laboris” (or Working Document) for the first session of the Synod on Synodality in October 2023.
Learning from all this that there was such work to be done, Pope Francis extended the Synod to another session, to be held the following October 2024 and asked for people to read and work on the documents so far. Reminding us that the Synod itself was on the theme of Synodality, and was not to address the various ‘hot button’ issues that inevitably has risen as sources of concern within the Church, he didn’t just abandon them but established 10 working groups to provide more theological and expert study on those issues, to be presented to the second session of Synod in October 2024 which has just concluded. These groups were
- Aspects of relations between the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Latin Church.
- Listening to the cry of the poor
- The Mission in the Digital Environment
- The revision of the Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis in a missionary synodal perspective
- Theological and canonical questions about specific ministerial forms
- Revision, in a synodal missionary perspective, of the documents on the relations between Bishops, Consecrated life, Ecclesial aggregations
- The person and ministry of the Bishop
- The role of Papal Representatives in a missionary synodal perspective
- Theological criteria and synodal methodologies as a basis for shared discernment of controversial doctrinal, pastoral, and ethical issues
- The reception of the fruits of the ecumenical journey in ecclesial practices
How does the final document reflect the concerns that were expressed in our diocese?
The final document is now available on the Hallam website synod pages https://hallam-diocese.com/synod/ or on the Vatican’s Synod website https://www.synod.va/en/news/final-document-of-the-xvi-assembly.html. It is worth reading.
When you have read it, you could also look at that first Hallam response document (on the website) and the results of the Priests Consultation about the vision for the diocese which followed on from the first phase of the synod.
What happens now?
After Christmas, when you have had a chance to read, pray and reflect on what has been gathered from around the world, from the Synod, from the diocese you will have the opportunity to think with others about what it means for you and what it might mean for us as a diocese. We plan to arrange a series of meetings to facilitate this so make sure you check the Hallam Bridge or Diocesan Socials.
