Synodality: clergy and laity walking together
We all know that if you want to learn to swim, you must get into the water. No matter how much anyone explains it to us or how many workshops we attend on swimming, there is no substitute for the experience of not reaching the bottom of the pool and having to move our hands and feet so as not to sink. Once we learn to float, then we’ll be ready to hear advice on how to improve our technique or swim faster with less effort.
Pope Francis never ceases to amaze us. He wants us to prepare the next Synod of Bishops – on synodality – in the whole church in a synodal way. He wants us to get into the water. In this way, all of us – bishops, priests, deacons and laity – will all learn to be a Church that listens, a Church that wants to know what the men and women of today live, because nothing in their lives is foreign to them.
“The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ”- words from Vatican II, the Council to which Pope Francis constantly invites us to direct our gaze.
And what is this about synodality? For some, this may not be a familiar word. We have heard of synods that have been held in Rome from time to time since the Second Vatican Council on various important issues. Every few years, with a different theme. But this time it will be in a different way, it will not only be for some bishops who go to Rome, representing the universal Church. All the baptized will be able to participate.
“Synodality means walking together. This has become a key theme of Pope Francis’ pontificate,“ our Archbishop, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., wrote to us recently.
The Pope from the peripheries – following what Vatican II indicated – wants us to learn to walk together, all of us listening to each other and to the Holy Spirit. That is why he wanted this next synod to be a longer process, beginning in the pews of our churches and culminating in Rome, everyone’s home.
The process – key word– will begin in Rome on Oct. 9 and 10, when the Pope will challenge us, as if to say: “Now it’s your turn. Go ahead.”
The following Sunday, Oct. 17, the diocesan phase will begin throughout the world.
“The objective of this phase is the consultation of the People of God so that the synodal process is carried out while listening to all the baptized,” says the document of the Synod Secretariat, which also adds that “a full synodal process will be carried out in an authentic way only if the particular Churches are involved “.
This marks the start of a process with three stages: diocesan, continental and universal. It will begin in the different dioceses, continue at the national level and, after different international meetings, culminate in the month of October 2023 with the Synod of Bishops in Rome. But this time, after having listened to the voices of all the People of God scattered throughout the four corners of the earth.
These lines just want to be an announcement of something to come. Something that will be, without a doubt, beautiful and fruitful. But only to the extent that all of us, clergy and laity, are willing to listen to each other and to the Holy Spirit.
Only if we are willing to leave our worlds, big or small, and join the other baptized on this path that leads to living the Gospel with greater authenticity and joy, will this synod be a success for our local Church. It will be a wonderful opportunity for our Archdiocese of Newark in this historic moment that we are living. An opportunity to revitalize the ties between those of us who celebrate together, knowing that He, made Eucharist, feeds us along the way and urges us to constantly be a Iglesia en salida (Church on a mission).
This process will be a good exercise in – perhaps in many cases a beginning of – what a Church that lives its mission in synodality should be.
Remember: walking together. Let’s get going.
Deacon Asterio Velasco is the Director of Hispanic Ministry for the Archdiocese of Newark.
Featured photo:
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R. and Bishop Gregory J. Studerus are pictured with parish representatives for the V Encuentro in the Archdiocese of Newark’s Archdiocesan Center in Newark, N.J. in 2020.
