A Proposal for the Synods
Fr. John Riccardo
September 22, 2021
As many of us perhaps know, the Vatican recently published a series of documents to help guide the Church in preparation for a gathering of all the Bishops in Rome in Synod in 2023. Next month, there will be a solemn opening of this extended process in “the eternal city,” with openings in each local Church the following week. The first phase is to be a rather condensed period of time (from October 2021 until April 2022) spent listening to and consulting with the people of God in each diocese about communion and participation in the mission of the Church. The results of these listening and consultation sessions in each diocese are then to be synthesized into no more than ten-page summaries which, it is hoped, will “plant dreams, prophecies and hopes” for the Church across the world and in each particular Church. Needless to say, this is going to be front and center in every diocese for the next while.
In light of a few conversations with bishops around the country about this process, we would like to offer a modest proposal to consider. It seems it might be worth starting with the question, “What problem are we trying to solve?” We would suggest an answer to that question could be: “Has the Church at large lost an understanding of her mission, its urgency, and her utterly unique role in the world?”
We think the answer to that question is, “Yes.”
We would further suggest, especially in our own country, that this question is all the more pressing due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the seemingly ever-increasing division in our political climate, and a looming Supreme Court decision regarding Roe v. Wade, the outcome of which could be seismic.
Put in a positive fashion, we might say the purpose of the synod is to regain an understanding of the Church’s mission and its urgency and unique role.
We passionately believe and think that there is little clarity, let alone alignment, on a whole host of missions within the Church, starting with the mission of Jesus Himself. But other missions suffer from a lack of clarity and alignment, including but not limited to the mission of the disciple, the mission of the parish, the mission of a Catholic school, and the mission of a chancery. If the listening and consultation sessions the Vatican is calling for are to be genuinely fruitful, then it would seem some time of formation in each local Church will be necessary first.
This time of formation could include the proclamation of the gospel in power to the people of God and an invitation to respond anew (or perhaps for the first time) to all that God has done for us in His Son. It could include an opportunity for the people of God to experience the healing power of the Holy Spirit in their own lives. It could include formation on the mission of the disciple, the mission of a parish, and the mission of a Catholic school. Finally, it could include a time to prayerfully ask the Spirit of God how each local Church could be better set up to accomplish these various missions and what He might be calling them to do so as to better live out this urgent and unique role the Church is called to play in the world and our country right now.
“What is the Spirit saying to the Church right now?” This is a question that is often posed in various ecclesial settings for prayerful consideration. Given all that we have been going through with the COVID-19 pandemic, plus the increasing division, hostility and anxiety in our own country, this is a most pressing question indeed. May these synods that are about to start be truly blessed by God and lead the local, national, and universal Church to greater clarity and alignment on her graced mission.