‘Synod’ means ‘walking together.’  So, by walking a journey together, we, as the Church, want to reflect and learn what can help us to live a deeper communion, to achieve fuller participation, to have greater openness to fulfil our mission in the world. The synodal path that Pope Francis opened last Sunday (10^th October 2021) wants to involve all of us in this journeying together.

Synodal Journey

Pope Francis invites us to reflect on the aspect of synodality as the path that God expects of the Church of the third millennium. The meaning of the journey is of discovering the face of a synodal Church, in which everyone, the faithful people, the college of bishops, the Pope: all listening to each other, and all listening to the Holy Spirit. In the light of the Word of God and united in prayer, we will be able to discern the pathways to which God leads us. Since the Church realizes that synodality is the path for the entire People of God, the Synodal Process is no longer only an assembly of bishops but a journey for all the faithful. This journey together embraces the entire family of humanity, together with our fellow Christian denominations and other faith traditions. This journey together will call on us to renew our mentalities and our ecclesial structures in order to live out God’s call for the Church amid the present signs of the times. Only a ‘journeying together,’ can bring together in unity the variety of gifts, charisms, and ministries, embracing all humankind, whose joys and hopes, griefs and anxieties we share, pursuing the good of all, thus becoming the ‘the universal sacrament of salvation.’

The theme of the Synod is “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission.” The communion we share is rooted in the love and unity of the Trinity. Christ reconciles us to the Father and unites us with each other in the Holy Spirit. We all have a role to play in discerning and living out this union with God and reconciliation between one another. Participation: Through the gifts we have received from the Holy Spirit all are qualified and are called to serve one another. In the free and rich diversity of its members, including even those who feel excluded, all are called together to pray, listen, analyse, dialogue, discern and offer advice on making pastoral decisions. Mission: The nature of synodality enables the Church to witness to the Gospel, especially with those who live on the spiritual, social, economic, political, geographical, and existential peripheries of our world.

Three levels on which synodality is articulated

 The synodal path is rooted in the concrete life of the People of God. “Journeying together” is already being experienced in our ordinary way of living, praying, celebrating and working, even if the term synodality is not known or used. Another level takes place within ecclesial structures and processes, taking into account theological and canonical dimensions, in which the synodal nature of the Church is expressed in an institutional way at the local, regional, and universal levels. Another level is the universal level of synod when convoked by the competent authority.

‘Journeying together’ can be understood from two different perspectives

The first perspective looks within the particular Churches, about the relationships between their constituent parts; between the Faithful and their Pastors, bishops and different parishes or other ecclesiastical bodies, the Bishops and the Pope. How does each particular Church integrate within itself the various forms of vocations, movements and ecclesial and ecclesiastical institutions of various kinds like schools, hospitals, universities, foundations, charitable and assistance organizations, etc. What are the relationships and common initiatives with other Christian denominations? The second perspective considers how we journey together with the entire human family reflecting on our relations, dialogue, and possible common initiatives with believers of other religions, with people who are distant from the faith, as well as with specific social environments and groups, with their institutions (the world of politics, culture, economics, finance, labor, trade unions, and business associations, non-governmental and civil society organizations, popular movements, minorities of various kinds, the poor and the excluded, etc.). The spirit of synodality, I am sure, also motivates us to journey together with water creatures, animals, plants, and birds listening to their voices also.

Ten Thematic nuclei are given to reflect how synodality could be lived in our own different local contexts.

1. Who are our journeying companions in our local Church and in society? When we say: “our Church,” who is part of it? What persons or groups are left on the margins? 2. Listening requires an open mind and heart. Whom do we usually listen to? Whom do we need to listen to? What space is there for the voice of minorities, the discarded, and the excluded? Are we able to identify prejudices and stereotypes that hinder our listening? How do we listen to the social and cultural context in which we live? 3. Speaking out happens only in integrating freedom, truth, and charity. How do we promote an atmosphere of communication free of duplicity and opportunism? How does the relationship with the media system (not only Catholic media) work? Who speaks on behalf of the Christian community, and how are they chosen? 4. “Journeying together” is only possible if it is based on together listening to the Word and the celebration of the Eucharist. How do prayer and liturgical celebration inspire and direct our “journeying together” and inspire the most important decisions? 5. All are co-responsible in the mission supporting its members committed to service in society (social and political commitment, in scientific research and teaching, in the promotion of social justice, in the protection of human rights, and in caring for the Common home, etc.)? Where there are different independent churches coexisting, is there collaboration in mission or we have competitions? 6. Dialogue in church and society is a path of gathering the experience of peoples. How are divergences of vision, the conflicts, the difficulties addressed? What experiences of dialogue and shared commitment do we have with believers of other religions and with non-believers? 7. We address our relations with the other Christian denominations. What fruits have we drawn from this “journeying together”? What are the difficulties? 8. How is authority exercised within our particular Church? What are the practices of participation and co-responsibility? 9. In a synodal style, decisions are made through discernment based on a consensus that flows from the common obedience to the Spirit. what are the procedures and methods we discern together and make decisions? 10.  For us today, this journeying together is a learning process of formation of the human person and of the Christian, of the families, and of the communities. How do we form people, especially those who hold roles of responsibility within the Christian community, to make them more capable of journeying together, listening to one another and engaging in dialogue? What formation do we offer for discernment and the exercise of authority? we need to be familiar with many tools that can help us to understand the dynamics of the culture in which we are immersed and their impact on our style of Church?

Avoiding pitfalls

1) The temptation of wanting to lead ourselves instead of being led by God. Synod is a spiritual process that is led by the Holy Spirit. Our humble efforts of organization and coordination are at the service of God who guides us on our way. 2) The temptation to focus on ourselves and only our immediate concerns. What is God’s plan for the Church here and now? How can we implement God’s dream for the Church on the local level? 3) The temptation to only see “problems.” Fixating on the problems will only discourage us. Instead of focusing only on what is not going well, let us appreciate where the Holy Spirit is generating life and see how we can let God work more fully. 4) The temptation of focusing only on structures. The Synodal Process will naturally call for a renewal of structures at various levels of the Church. The conversion and renewal of structures will come about only through the on-going conversion and renewal of all the members of the Body of Christ. The experience of synodality should focus on the experience of journeying together to discern the path forward, inspired by the Holy Spirit. 5) The temptation not to look beyond the visible confines of the Church. A Synodal Process is a time to dialogue with people from the worlds of economics and science, politics and culture, arts and sport, the media and social initiatives. It will be a time to reflect on ecology and peace, life issues and migration … to fulfil our mission in the world. 6) The temptation to lose focus of the objectives of the Synodal Process. No one Synodal Process is going to resolve all our concerns and problems. Synodality is an attitude and an approach of moving forward in a co-responsible way that is open to welcoming God’s fruits together over time. 7) The temptation of conflict and division. It is vain to try to impose one’s ideas on the whole Body through pressure or to discredit those who feel differently. 8) The temptation to treat the Synod as a kind of a parliament in which in order to govern one side must defeat the other. It is contrary to the spirit of synodality to antagonize others or to encourage divisive conflicts that threaten the unity and communion of the Church. It is also against the synod to polarise to promote one’s ideologies. 9) The temptation to listen only to those who are already involved in Church activities. This approach may be easier to manage, but it ultimately ignores a significant proportion of the People of God.

Synod is intended to inspire people to dream about the Church we are called to be, to make people’s hopes flourish, to stimulate trust, to bind up wounds, to weave new and deeper relationships, to learn from one another, to build bridges, to enlighten minds, warm hearts, and restore strength to our hands for our common mission.