OPINION: Where to next for the Catholic synodal process?

So the Synod on Synodality is over in Rome. Many will probably ask, ‘What Synod?’. Good question! It has been so low-key and under the radar in this country that many people were unaware of it happening.
This Synod on Synodality is about ‘a way of doing things’ in the Roman Catholic Church rather than offering solutions to red-button issues, like concerns over women’s place in the Church, Church teaching on sexuality, priesthood and other matters. What’s new is that ‘lay people’ (that awful term!) were involved in the process. Out of the 368 voting delegates, 54 were women.
Writer Catherine Pepinster stated: “Representatives of different interest groups, such as LGBTQI+ and women, also offered input to the synod, holding meetings and reporting back their findings. After the first assembly of this synod in 2023, Pope Francis set up ten study groups to consider controversial or complicated issues that had arisen. They included women and the diaconate and women’s roles in the Church; ministry to LGBTQI+ people, how bishops are chosen, and improving seminary education.“
It’s been going on for the past three years, and it culminated last month in Rome. In Ireland, some claim the synodal process became stuck in the sand, while others claim it didn’t ever get that far. To get stuck in the sand it had to at least take off! A number of dioceses held parish consultation events; interesting summations and proposals were arrived at, all based on how the Church carries out various functions. Other dioceses were a lot slower off the mark in engaging in the process, with some citing that the process is a ‘pathway’ rather than a ‘runway’.
Obstructionism became the order of the day for some in power, not in a direct way but by simply ignoring the synodal process, issues and events. These are the ones who called it a damp squib with a promise of more of the same to follow.
For the interested, it was a start.
After the Rome event of last month, a ‘final document’ was prepared. This Synodality Report is now a teaching document of the Church, written by men and women. And that’s a first. If synodality is to be taken seriously, we will eventually even see the ‘opening up’ of meetings of the national conferences of bishops to other Church members.
Major Church decisions, even the choosing of bishops, will no longer be the sole prerogative of a Papal Nuncio or a select one or two but will involve people of the respective diocese.
The final 52-page document from Rome has 151 proposals for the renewal of the church, voted on by 355 synod members. There are five forms of conversion mentioned in the document: spiritual, relational, procedural, institutional and missionary. Pastoral councils are to be strengthened in parishes. Regular Church assemblies are to held across all Church levels with an increase in lay involvement.
The reality is that synodality is now enshrined as the modus operandi for the Church of the future. Consultation will be the way, not an option, as clergy and the people of God (through parish pastoral councils) make joint decisions.
The biggest obstacle to the implementation of the synodal process has been and will be clergy. Ageing clergy are simply burnt out from exhaustion and don’t have the energy, yet find themselves lumbered with more parishes. Others feel threatened by the process. More fear losing their leadership role or a loss of power.
One of the big issues during the Synod on Synodality was the role of women. The final document stated: “By virtue of baptism, women and men have equal dignity as members of the people of God. However, women continue to encounter obstacles in obtaining a fuller recognition of their charisms, vocation and roles in all the various areas of the Church’s life. This is to the detriment of serving the Church’s shared mission. […] Women make up the majority of churchgoers and are often the first witnesses to the faith in families.”
Some people are impatient for action on red-button issues; others are gearing themselves up for the long haul. The document calls for continued discernment – praying, speaking, listening. Patientia virtus est.