There have been rumblings of complaint from sectors of the Church over some aspects of the Synod on Synodality. In a recent interview at the Vatican, both Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, and Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, a Jesuit cardinal from Luxembourg and relator general of the synod, gave their thoughts on the synod’s progress and addressed some of the complaints.
The worldwide synod began in October 2021. They explained that the synod is now near the completion of the “continental phase” – a time of listening and discernment “of all of the people of God and of all local churches.” We now turn to the next phase, which will lead to the creation of a document summarizing the results of the worldwide listening sessions and surveys conducted in individual countries thus far.
Cardinal Hollerich reported that more than 100 summaries have been received from the 114 individual bishops conferences throughout the world. “This incredible figure tells us that yes, the Church is in Synod,” he said, adding that 98% of the world’s bishops conferences responding – as well as appointing a synod team or contact person in each diocese – marks great success. He explained that the summaries sent to Rome from these conferences “are the fruit of discernment from the synthesis received from the dioceses,” derived from the “listening sessions” and surveys of parishes, associations, movements, religious congregations, Catholic schools and universities.
It also included all Vatican dicasteries, Eastern Catholic Churches, international unions of religious congregations, institutes of consecrated life, societies of apostolic life, and representatives from other Christians and world religions. He also said that this phase of the synod included more than 1,000 contributions from groups not affiliated with the Church.
One of the criticisms of the synod was a poor response numerically to the listening sessions held throughout the world. An example of this would be the response from the survey sent to approximately 20 million people with only 110,000 people responding. Cardinal Hollerich said despite low numbers of responses, the accomplishment of a first try at a worldwide synod should be viewed more by the quality of participation rather than the numbers. He explained that the data received thus far convinces him ”that we are facing an ecclesial dialogue without precedent in the history of the Church, not only for the quantity of responses received or the number of people involved, which to some who want to rely solely on numbers, which can only be approximate, may seem limited but also for the quality of participation.”
During the interview, they were asked if those priests and faithful attached to the Latin Mass were listened to throughout the process. Cardinal Grech answered, “precisely because no one in the Church has the exclusive right to the truth, the consultation of the People of God demands discernment. Not everything spoken is the voice of the Spirit: one must grasp within the sound of voices, the voice of the Holy Spirit. Therein lies the function of discernment, which is already operative in the process of listening, when the community converges on a point.”
Cardinal Hollerich was asked directly about the comments he made when he seemed to say that he disagreed with the Church’s teaching on the immorality of homosexual acts and wanted it to change. He answered that he has no “personal agenda for this synod; I fully believe in the tradition of the Church, and what I think is important in this process is not changing doctrine.”
But he did add that it is important to listen to all people and positions, saying, “This welcome does not mean there cannot be discussion. … If we close the door on people, we push some people into despair, and that is something we do not want.”
The cardinals were asked if politics or anything else could possibly hijack the synod. Cardinal Grech said, “the Synod will be hijacked by one, the Holy Spirit, if I can use this term.”
Cardinal Hollerich added that the work of the Synod “is not to create ‘shock’ for the Church, but to listen to what the People of God are saying!” He added, “It is a very complex thing that cannot be reduced to simple positions, and I think that the model of the synod is a model based on ecclesial consensus.”
Father Joseph D. Wallace is diocesan director of Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs and pastor of Christ the Redeemer Parish, Atco.