We continue our exploration into the latest document from the General Secretariat of the Synod, “Enlarge the space of your tent” (Is 54:2), Working Document for the Continental Stage.
It is good to keep in mind that there are several stages to this Synodal Process: The Diocesan Stage (where listening sessions have taken place in dioceses all over the world), The Continental Stage (where the diocesan data is gathered at meetings in continental groups: our is Canada/USA), and the Roman Stage (where all of the continental data the from listening will be gathered and discussed in Rome in October of 2024,)
It is also helpful to note that from the beginning of his papacy, ten years ago this year, Francis has quietly been shifting the Church from a hierarchical dominated structure to a synodal body, with intentional attention to the wide gifts of all the baptized. This does not mean that the role of the clergy is to be put aside. It does mean, however, that it will change to a more servant-leadership than in the past.
This document is the middle stage. With deliberate reference to the scriptural foundation of “widening your tent,” and taking us back to our common base in baptismal identity, the document gives us a clear vision: Towards a Missionary Synodal Church. This is a call…to what we shall be. The first thing we need to notice is that the very ground beneath our feet is shifting. We have been standing within a hierarchical/clerical structured Church. It is in this shift to a more Synodal structure that we will feel the very ground beneath us shift. I urge you to feel it rather than just read it. Its signs are
- Listening that becomes welcoming
- · Sisters and brothers for mission
- · Communion, participation and co-responsibility
- · Synodality takes shape
- · Synodal life and liturgy
Can you feel it? There is no reference here to only one class in the Church…the clergy. The word “we” meaning the entire body of the Church, precedes each of these steps. We will consider only the first sign here, and reflect on the other four in May. In June, we will consider the steps to get there and a summary.
Listening that becomes welcoming: The Italian continental summary offers us, “The Church-home does not have doors that close, but a perimeter that continually widens…” The dynamic of home and exile, of belonging and exclusion, is felt as a tension in the reports. There is a dream for living a unity in diversity. The submissions avoid two temptations: to remain trapped in conflict, or to just avoid the tension by becoming spiritually detached from the tensions involved…to just go our own way. The reports realize that the path to greater inclusion – the enlarged tent - is a gradual one. Deep listening requires that we recognize others as the subjects of their own journeys. Then others feel welcomed, not judged. The synodal listening process has been for many the first time they felt recognized by the Church. Structural obstacles were brought up, clerical cultures that fragment relationships between clergy and laity. Poland reports that when priests do not want to listen, estrangement arises in the faithful, born of a clerical fear to engage pastorally. At the same time, the reports reveal a real need among the clergy to negotiate the dimensions of their own emotional and sexual lives. The list is long, of those seeking shelter in the wide tent: women and children of priests, the disabled, young people, women, especially those who have had abortions, remarried divorcees, LGBTQ and trans-people, migrants, addicts, prisoners, prostitutes, There is a cry “…to meet people where they are, to walk with them rather than judge them, and to build real relationships through caring and authenticity, not…superiority.” (USA) The reports abound in cries for solidarity, dialogue, accompaniment and welcome. More to come…!
No comments:
Post a Comment