La Fiesta patronal de St Francis fue celebrada el domingo 2 de octubre de este año. Hubo participantes en representación de muchos países y quienes trajeron platillos tradicionales y recetas familiares para compartir con los comensales. La pareja de Nadia e Ismael Garcia bailaron dos piezas tradiciones del estado de Jalisco, México para todos los parroquianos reunidos. (Reporte de Martha McLean y fotos de Ria Sugay Normand)
Por Barbara Fraser
LIMA, Perú (CNS) – La iglesia en América Latina y el Caribe está llamada a ser una iglesia misionera, una que atiende el clamor de los pobres y excluidos; una iglesia sinodal donde las mujeres, los jóvenes y los laicos tienen un mayor protagonismo; y una iglesia que se evangeliza mientras evangeliza, según el documento final de la Primera Asamblea Eclesial de la iglesia celebrada hace un año en México.
El documento de reflexiones y desafíos pastorales resultante de la asamblea fue dado a conocer por los líderes del consejo episcopal latinoamericano, CELAM, el 31 de octubre durante una conferencia de prensa en el Vaticano. La conferencia se transmitió en vivo en varias plataformas.
La publicación refleja el deseo de una iglesia que “salga a la periferia… una iglesia samaritana… una iglesia que construya fraternidad, que se funda en el amor, en el encuentro con los que más sufren”, dijo Mons. José Luis Azuaje de Maracaibo, Venezuela, presidente de Cáritas en América Latina y el Caribe, en un mensaje de video en la presentación.
El documento es el fruto de un proceso de meses que incluyó un período de “escucha” de abril a agosto de 2021, durante el cual unas 70,000 personas de toda la región brindaron sus comentarios, tras una asamblea de una semana del 21 al 28 de noviembre.
Ese proceso, que usó la metodología utilizada para el Sínodo de los Obispos para la Amazonía en octubre de 2019, convirtió a la asamblea eclesial en “un laboratorio práctico” para el Sínodo de los Obispos sobre la sinodalidad, que comenzó con sesiones de escucha este año, a las que seguirán reuniones en Roma en 2023 y 2024, dijo el arzobispo Miguel Cabrejos de Trujillo, de Perú, presidente del CELAM.
Publicado en inglés, español, portugués, italiano y alemán, con una versión en francés también prometida, el documento pretende ser no solo un resumen, sino una guía para la acción en los próximos años, dijo el cardenal Leopoldo José Brenes de Managua, Nicaragua, y segundo vicepresidente del CELAM.
“Este no es un documento más”, dijo, y agregó que las reflexiones y propuestas “son algo mucho más dinámico… que dará un nuevo impulso a nuestra labor pastoral”.
El documento, titulado ” Hacia una Iglesia sinodal en salida a las periferias”, comienza resumiendo los “signos de los tiempos” en la región, incluida la pandemia de COVID-19, lo que significó que solo unos 100 participantes asistieron a la asamblea mientras que otros 1,104 participaron en línea.
Estos signos de los tiempos, basados en los aportes de las sesiones de escucha, incluyen desigualdades sociales y económicas exacerbadas por la pandemia; la corrupción gubernamental y la fragilidad de las democracias de la región; devastación del medio ambiente, especialmente en la Amazonía; migración masiva; el crecimiento de las ciudades; y una expansión tanto de las iglesias pentecostales como del secularismo.
Los temas dentro de la iglesia que se mencionaron durante el proceso de escucha y en la asamblea incluyeron la necesidad de “superar el clericalismo”, un llamado a la transparencia en el manejo de casos de abuso, mejor formación para sacerdotes y religiosos, y oportunidades para una mayor formación y participación de laicos, incluyendo mujeres, jóvenes, indígenas y afrodescendientes.
Los religiosos y religiosas de la región “estamos abrazando nuestra identidad de discípulos y misioneros, y entendemos que es necesario que nos convirtamos”, dijo sor Liliana Franco Echeverri, de la Compañía de María Nuestra Señora, presidenta de la Confederación Latinoamericana de Religiosos, dijo en un video menaje.
“Todos necesitamos formación para ser mejores testigos y priorizar la formación en la sinodalidad para superar las muchas y muy diversas formas de clericalismo”, añadió. “En contextos tan complejos como los de nuestro mundo, estamos llamados a ser signo, a ser expresión de una forma de ser y de valores que en definitiva deben ser contraculturales y elocuentes”.
Los participantes en la Asamblea Eclesial de 2021 también pidieron un papel más importante para los jóvenes, un pedido repetido por Paola Balanza, líder del ministerio juvenil boliviano, en un mensaje de video en la conferencia de prensa.
Los jóvenes, con su creatividad y entusiasmo, “pueden hacer un gran aporte a la iglesia. Pero necesitamos estar en espacios donde se tomen decisiones, donde se nos tome en cuenta y donde se escuche nuestra voz”, dijo Balanza. “Es importante que nos demos cuenta de que somos obra de Dios, somos tierra santa, no solo somos el futuro, también somos el presente”.
Instó a los líderes de la iglesia de la región a no dejar el documento posterior a la asamblea en el estante, sino a tomar medidas para implementarlo.
El documento finaliza con decenas de “líneas de acción” para afrontar los retos planteados en el apartado “signos de los tiempos”. Cuando se les preguntó a los líderes del CELAM en la conferencia de prensa sobre cómo se implementarían esas acciones, la respuesta general fue que los pasos específicos dependerían de cada conferencia de obispos.
En cierta medida, eso deja al documento de la Asamblea Eclesial en la misma situación que el documento que puso fin a la V Conferencia General de Obispos de América Latina y el Caribe en Aparecida, Brasil, en 2007. Esa reunión terminó con un llamado a una “gran misión continental” para llegar a los católicos que habían dejado la iglesia e invitar a otros a unirse.
Si bien las jurisdicciones individuales pueden haber hecho esfuerzos, sin embargo, nunca se desarrolló un plan a nivel regional.
Fue por esa razón que cuando los obispos latinoamericanos propusieron una sexta conferencia general para conmemorar el 15º aniversario de Aparecida, el papa Francisco, quien dirigió la comisión que redactó el documento de Aparecida como cardenal Jorge Bergoglio de Argentina, en cambio les pidió que encontraran una forma de implementar las conclusiones de Aparecida que quedaron pendientes. Esa petición dio lugar al proceso de escucha y de la Asamblea Eclesial.
Pero, aunque no hay un plan específico, el documento sí enumera las áreas de acción para cada desafío. Los obispos en la conferencia de prensa también coincidieron en la necesidad de implementar las directrices de la Asamblea Eclesial, algunas de las cuales también están sirviendo como insumo para el sínodo sobre la sinodalidad.
Con su habilidad en el uso de la tecnología para la creación de redes, los jóvenes pueden desempeñar un papel clave en la continuación del proceso, dijo el Cardenal Odilo Pedro Scherer de São Paulo, primer vicepresidente de CELAM. Durante la Asamblea Eclesial, dijo, los jóvenes participantes aprovecharon las redes sociales para formar rápidamente grupos de discusión con miembros de hasta 20 países.
El documento es parte de un proceso que comenzó con el discernimiento, continuó con la asamblea y no termina con la publicación de las conclusiones, dijo monseñor Cabrejos. “Es como una puerta que se abre, pero que no se va a cerrar”.
Al enfatizar la participación de los laicos, incluidas mujeres y jóvenes, agregó: “Este fue el resultado de un diálogo del pueblo de Dios”.
Por Cindy Wooden
CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) – Con una membresía renovada, la Comisión Pontificia para la Protección de Menores se reunió en el Vaticano a fines de octubre, estableciendo la base para diseñar un informe anual sobre los esfuerzos de protección infantil de la Iglesia Católica a nivel mundial.
El padre oblato Andrew Small, secretario de la comisión, expresó a periodistas el 28 de octubre que los miembros también analizaron la nueva relación de dicha comisión con la sección disciplinaria del Dicasterio para la Doctrina de la Fe y que continuaron sus esfuerzos para promover una mayor transparencia, proveyendo una información más completa a las víctimas sobre el desarrollo de sus casos.
“En nuestro compromiso con las víctimas sobrevivientes, el reconocimiento del mal que se les hizo es primordial, ser escuchados, creerles”, indicó el padre Small. “No hay nada que tome el lugar de que alguien te crea, te escuche”.
Sin embargo, el sacerdote dijo, “ver al malhechor seguir prosperando o permanecer sin sanción también es muy doloroso”, por lo que las víctimas se sienten comprensiblemente confundidas o molestas cuando no están informadas sobre las acciones tomadas por la iglesia contra un delincuente acusado.
Debido a que la comisión no está involucrada en investigaciones individuales y procedimientos disciplinarios, el padre Small dijo que no podía comentar sobre el caso del obispo Michel Santier de Créteil, Francia. Cuando el Vaticano anunció en 2021 que el obispo se jubilaba, el obispo había dicho que era por motivos de salud. Nadie lo contradijo públicamente hasta mediados de octubre, cuando la Diócesis de Créteil confirmó que había sido acusado de manera creíble de conducta sexual inapropiada y sancionado por el Vaticano.
El Vaticano aún necesita encontrar una manera de ser más abierto y respetar las leyes locales que protegen la reputación de alguien que no es culpable de un delito civil pero que puede haber violado la ley de la iglesia, sostuvo el padre Small.
El sacerdote manifestó que, si la iglesia no puede resolver eso, no solo será malo para la iglesia institucional, “sino que será continuamente doloroso para las víctimas, que son la fuente y cumbre del enfoque de la comisión”.
Cuando el papa Francisco reorganizó la Curia Romana, vinculó la comisión a la sección disciplinaria del Dicasterio para la Doctrina de la Fe. El padre Small, escribiendo en L’Osservatore Romano — el periódico del Vaticano — dijo que esta medida asegura que la comisión “mantendría su independencia como órgano asesor del papa, con acceso a los órganos que ejercen el liderazgo dentro de la iglesia y con el precepto de supervisar la adecuación de las políticas y procedimientos de la iglesia en el área de prevención y protección del abuso”.
Entonces, escribió el padre Small, la comisión “seguirá siendo dirigida por un presidente delegado, designado por el papa y que reportará directamente al pontífice. Y las decisiones sobre el personal, los miembros de la comisión, así como las propuestas que produce, permanecerá independiente del dicasterio. El papa Francisco ha sido muy claro en que las voces independientes de los miembros de la comisión y de aquellos a quienes sirve no deben verse comprometidas”.
El cardenal estadounidense Seán P. O’Malley de Boston ha sido presidente de la comisión desde su creación en 2014.
Durante la reunión de la comisión del 27 al 29 de octubre, esta también anunció el lanzamiento de un fondo para ayudar a financiar el establecimiento de “centros adecuados donde las personas que han sufrido abusos y sus familiares puedan encontrar aceptación y ser escuchados, ser acompañadas en el proceso de sanación y justicia, como se indica en el motu proprio ‘Vos Estis Lux Mundi'”.
El padre Small dijo a los periodistas que creía que entre 70 y 80 de las 114 conferencias episcopales del mundo no cuentan con mecanismos estables y de acceso público para la presentación de informes exigidos en “Vos Estis”, principalmente porque no cuentan con los recursos. Sin embargo, con fondos significativos de la conferencia episcopal italiana y contribuciones de otros, se establecerán esos sitios de escucha e información.
En cuanto al informe anual sobre los esfuerzos de protección infantil de la iglesia en todo el mundo — un informe que el Santo Padre pidió a la comisión en abril que desarrollara — el padre Small dijo que los miembros de la comisión crearon un diseño para el informe.
La primera sección, acotó, resumiría los informes que los obispos entregan a la comisión mientras realizan sus visitas “ad limina” al Vaticano con respecto a sus pautas e implementación de “Vos Estis”.
Para la segunda sección, los miembros de la comisión se dividirán en equipos para observar a la iglesia en áreas geográficas específicas, enfocándose en brindar una visión general más amplia de los esfuerzos de protección infantil en África, Asia y Oceanía, en Europa y en las Américas.
Una tercera sección analizará cómo los dicasterios de la Curia romana están incluyendo la salvaguardia en sus actividades; por ejemplo, cómo el Dicasterio para el Clero promueve la conciencia de salvaguardia en los seminarios, dijo.
La sección final analizará los esfuerzos más amplios de la iglesia para proteger a los niños en el mundo, por ejemplo, rescatando a los niños soldados, protegiendo a los niños migrantes y refugiados, garantizando su seguridad en orfanatos y hogares de acogida.
Si bien el padre Small dijo que la comisión debería tener algo que darle al papa en 2023, no espera recopilar suficientes “datos procesables” para comenzar a hacer un informe anual completo hasta 2024.
From the Archives
By Mary Woodward
JACKSON – This past Friday, Oct. 21, would have been the 85th birthday of Bishop Joseph Nunzio Latino of happy memory. +Joseph Nunzio was born in 1937; ordained in 1963; became a monsignor in 1983; and ordained a bishop in 2003.
+Joseph Nunzio was a second generation American whose four grandparents emigrated to New Orleans from a small town on the central plains of Sicily known as Contessa Entellina. In New Orleans, most Sicilian heritage citizens come from Contessa.
Contessa is part of the Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi, which serves the descendants of the Albanians who came to Sicily in the 1500s after holding off the Ottoman’s. The pope gave them five towns in Sicily. Albanians are Roman Rite and Byzantine Rite Catholics. +Joseph Nunzio’s father was Roman Rite, hence the name Latino; his mother’s family was Byzantine Rite (Italo-Albanesi). He had a cousin who was a Byzantine Rite priest named Papas Mateo Sciambra, who taught music in the seminary in Palermo.
In 2012, +Joseph Nunzio was finally able to visit his ancestral home and meet many Sciambra cousins in Contessa. New Orleans descendants formed the Contessa Entellina Society to celebrate their proud heritage. To our knowledge, +Joseph Nunzio was the only man to receive the Society’s Man-of-the-Year Award twice.
Since this week’s paper is a digital edition only, I thought I would share some images of him that give a small glimpse into his life of service to the Lord as a priest, bishop and faithful servant. There are far too many to share…
(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson.)
more about Bishop Latino:
Bishop Joseph Latino – farewell humble shepherd
From the top, left to right to bottom: Bishops Latino and Houck look out over Sferracavallo during 2012 visit Latino’s ancestral homeland of Sicily; Chris Luke and Bishop Latino at his 80th birthday celebration at the chancery on Oct. 21, 2017; first Solemn Blessing concluding his first Mass on May 26, 1963; Father George, Bishop Latino, Bishops William Houck and Sotir Ferrara, during a visit to Italy in 2012.(Photos courtesy of archives)
CLARKSDALE – St. Elizabeth School held a Blue Mass honoring those in Uniform in the Clarksdale community. (Photos by Rachel Patterson)
St. Richard PreK3 students were treated to a visit from the Jackson Fire Department. Students got to try on the firemen’s gear, use the hose AND sit behind the wheel of a real fire engine! Afterwards, students
returned to their classrooms to make their own firetruck cookies! Pictured: Merrick Milligan dreams of driving the fire engine and shows off his cookie creation.
MADISON – St. Joseph seventh graders work on their lab project: Physical Properties of Matter. (Photo by Tricia Harris)
MADISON – Terry Cassreino’s communication/broadcasting class at St. Joseph School are pictured in action. (Photo by Tereza Ma)
(Editor’s note: This reflection is part one of a two-part series from Msgr. Michael Flannery on his trip to the Saltillo Mission this fall.)
By Msgr. Michael Flannery
SALTILLO, Mex. – Recently, I had the unique pleasure to be present for the celebration of the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel, on Sept. 29, the patron saint of our mission in Saltillo. I spent six days at the mission. The visit to San Miguel for me was a retreat. I had the opportunity to renew old acquaintances and to make new ones. I must say that the mission is thriving.
Father David Martinez the pastor, continues the good work begun by Father Patrick Quinn more than 50 years ago. The new associate pastor there is Father Antonio Medel Gonzalez. Father Elevio Casarubias who had been assisting Father David, was recently moved to another parish in Saltillo. However, he did make it to the festivities on the Feast of San Miguel.
Transitional Deacon Adam Frey, the Diocese of Biloxi, was present this summer for his diaconal internship and was a valuable member of the parish staff for four months. He just returned to the seminary of Notre Dame, New Orleans in preparation for his priestly ordination which will take place in May 2023.
Presently, we are serving the following churches within the city of Saltillo: San Miguel, Christ the King, St. Juan Diego, the Holy Martyrs, St. William and Our Lady of Guadalupe. Added to these churches the mission serves 34 mountain villages. The most remote village takes five hours of travel to reach. All the villages receive a visit at least once a month from the priests at San Miguel. Tuesday is the preferred day for the priests to take a rest from their busy schedule. This gets interrupted if there is a funeral to attend to or someone needing the last rites of the church.
San Miguel is situated in the colony of Vista Hermosa (the beautiful view). It is high up in the mountain and at night you have a beautiful view of the city of Saltillo below. The city of Saltillo is 5,000 feet above sea level. In 2015 the population was 807,000 and now it is estimated at being over 1,000,000. When the mission began in 1968 the population was estimated at being 200,000.
The headquarters of the mission was at Perpetual Help Church and in 1998 it was moved to San Miguel following the death of Father Patrick Quinn of happy memory. Msgr. Michael Thornton of the Diocese of Biloxi was named the first pastor of San Miguel. Following him came Father Bill Cullen, Father Richard Smith and Father Benjamin Piovan of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. With the shortage of priests in Biloxi and Jackson Dioceses, a decision was made to ask the Bishop of Saltillo to appoint a local priest to San Miguel. Both dioceses would continue financial support.
Big plans are underway to celebrate the silver jubilee of San Miguel in 2023. The first building at San Miguel was built by Father Quinn as a retreat center capable of housing 100 retreatants, complete with a chapel. It was built in honor of Father Patrick Quinn’s brother, Michael, a priest in Ireland who died of a brain tumor. The next building to be added was a church to serve the local community. The present church structure was built by Father Benjamin Piovan in 2009. All of this was possible through the generosity of the people of the Diocese of Biloxi and the Diocese of Jackson.
An ad hoc committee has been formed to plan the jubilee year celebrations in 2023. A huge candle with the symbol of the jubilee year engraved upon it, will burn for every celebration that will take place at San Miguel for the whole jubilee year. A representative from each of the other churches under the jurisdiction of San Miguel is on the committee to coordinate activities in the outlining churches. The priests who have ministered in the parish will be invited to the jubilee celebration as well as the Bishop of Saltillo, Bishop Joseph Kopacz and Bishop Louis Kihneman.
At every Mass, a special prayer for the jubilee year will be recited at the end of Mass. During Advent a special parish mission is planned, not only in San Miguel but also in the outline churches within its jurisdiction. The people of the 34 ranchos attached to San Miguel will also be a part of the celebration. Some minor renovations are planned such as: putting a weather sealer on the church tower and painting the buildings.
(Read more in the next Mississippi Catholic on Nov. 11.)
By Galen Holley
NEW ALBANY – Parishioners celebrated Mass outdoors on Oct. 16, on a cool, crisp fall morning, with birds and squirrels darting through the pines encircling the yard. What better way to honor the legacy of their patron and namesake of the church, St. Francis of Assisi.
“St. Francis was known for loving nature and animals, and for loving others,” said Father Xavier Jesuraj, preaching his homily in front of a crowd of 300, most of them sitting in lawn chairs, others standing around the makeshift soccer and volleyball field that would soon be teeming with energetic athletes.
An unpainted statue of the saint, his hand held aloft in pious blessing, stood beside the altar, along with fragrant bouquets of flowers. On the west end of the yard, just behind the church, a Hispanic band, complete with bass, guitar, tambourine and a litany of female singers, serenaded the faithful. During Holy Communion, they sang, “The Prayer of St. Francis,” in Spanish. “Make me a channel of your peace,” they sang. “Where there is despair in life, let me bring hope.”
Catholics from Tupelo and Ripley came to New Albany to worship. The “Danza” group, honoring their Aztec tradition, also performed.
Fluffy, bundled children scurried about, gathering handfuls of dried pine needles off the pavement. In the impromptu midway, on the north side of the church, the mechanical bull and the bouncy house were going up. The succulent smell of carne asada filled the air, along with the sweet smell of grilling onions, and the crisp, fresh bite of chopped cilantro.
St. Francis of Assisi Parish celebrated 72 years in 2022. The first gatherings were in the home of the Kelso family. Priests from the Glenmary Home Missioners staffed it until four years ago, when diocesan priest, Father Raj, began shepherding the community.
Today, the church is a vibrant mix of Anglo and Latino members, along with other races and nationalities, who collaborate on festive occasions, like this one, to express their unity in Jesus Christ. Their diversity and mutual love testify to a broken world that division is only a deception, and that faith in the risen Jesus is the tie that binds.
Father Raj spoke of his recent trip to the holy sites of Europe, including Assisi. He became emotional when speaking of Carlos Acutis, a remarkable Italian youth, who died of leukemia, in 2006, at the age of 15. The boy had vast computer skills, and documented, online, miracles concerning the Holy Eucharist. He was beatified in October 2020.
“The Pope says that we need saints in jeans,” said Father Raj, during his homily to the crowd of jean wearers gathered at the celebration Mass. Maybe modern saints are living among us.
This synod process can flow seamlessly into a Eucharistic Revival because the Mass is where and when the People of God assemble to proclaim and celebrate the ideal of our oneness as the Body of Christ.
By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
Over the next three years in each (Arch)diocese in the United States there will be a Eucharistic Revival that will invite Catholics across our nation to deepen our love for the Lord Jesus in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood, the Eucharist, the Holy Mass, Sagrada Misa. A church in solidarity on national and international levels has borne good fruit in the Synod process over the past year. The Holy Spirit has led the Catholic faithful in prayer, dialogue and reflection that resulted in diocesan, regional and national syntheses, a lamp for our feet in very challenging times.
This synod process can flow seamlessly into a Eucharistic Revival because the Mass is where and when the People of God assemble to proclaim and celebrate the ideal of our oneness as the Body of Christ. We are now in the diocesan phase of the process which begins this weekend at St. Joseph in Gluckstadt with a Eucharistic Congress.
These congresses are held periodically in order to revive our love for the Eucharist, this extraordinary and ordinary way of encountering the crucified and risen Lord. This Congress is a very apt way to formally introduce the diocesan phase of the revival. Recognizing the limitations with distance, yet all are invited to participate for part of the Congress, for most of it, or all of it.
We will gather for several hours on Friday evening, and then again on Saturday morning, culminating with Mass at 11:30 a.m. We encourages parishes to mark this occasion in their own churches to be in solidarity with the diocese. On Friday evening and Saturday morning at the Congress there will be ample time for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, personal prayer, the Sacrament of Reconciliation evening and morning presentations on the Eucharist, the Liturgy of the Hours and Benediction. Father Anji Gibson of the Archdiocese of New Orleans will the presenter and homilist. At the core, this time together as well as apart from our normal routines allows the grace of God to stir into flame the gift we received through faith at our baptism. With the image of the flowing waters of Baptism, Jesus’ profound words from his encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well in the Gospel of St. John (4:1-30) can be applied to help us hear his deep desire for our love in return. “If you recognized the gift of God and who it is that is asking you for something to drink…! (v.10)
Earlier this year on June 29, the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Pope Francis issued an Apostolic Letter Desiderio desideravi. The timing is exquisite from the center of the universal church as a guide for the Eucharistic Revival in our nation. At the outset of the letter Pope Francis explained that his purpose is “to invite and help the whole church to rediscover, to safeguard, and to live the truth and power of the Christian celebration” (of the Eucharist). The Latin phrase Desiderio desideravi recalls the words of Jesus at the beginning of the Last Supper in Luke’s Gospel: “I have eagerly desired to celebrate this Passover with you before I suffer.” (Luke 22:14)
Pope Francis applies profound pastoral and theological meaning to these words at such a critical time in Jesus’ earthly life. “Every time we go to Mass, the first reason is that we are drawn there by his desire for us,” and every reception of communion of the Body and Blood of Christ was already desired by him in the Last Supper.” (6)
The Eucharist is a gift and mystery; and Jesus Christ is present and alive in that sacred space where we encounter the crucified and risen Lord in his Word, his Body and Blood, in his Body the church assembled, in his Mystical Body, and with his resurrected Body in heaven, our destiny. In other words, there is a lot going on, and we pray that the Holy Spirit will open the eyes of our hearts and minds to “recognize the gift,” and to be the gift to sanctify the world, and to be the Lord’s presence in a world that crises out for his saving and reconciling love.
By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY – Growth toward becoming a “synodal church,” one in which all the baptized accept and share responsibility for their unity and mission, can get messy, and that should not frighten people, said one of the undersecretaries of the Synod of Bishops.
“What we see with the synod is that the church is learning to face, to name and to be with the tensions, the polarities, the diversity” found among Catholics within parishes and across the globe, “and not just sweep them under the carpet,” said Xavière Missionary Sister Nathalie Becquart.
The process for the Synod of Bishops, like the sessions of the Second Vatican Council, is marked by theological, cultural and practical differences, she said, but she is confident that by listening to the Holy Spirit, listening to each other and being patient, consensus will prevail as it did at Vatican II.
Sister Becquart spoke to Catholic News Service Oct. 14, just before she and the synod’s top leadership had a private meeting with Pope Francis.
The meeting came three days after the pope celebrated a Mass marking the 60th anniversary of the opening of the council and pleaded with Catholics to resist the temptations of division, “quarrels, gossip and disputes.”
Synodality is the way forward, Sister Becquart said, pointing to Pope Francis’ explanation in the book “Let Us Dream”:
“We need a respectful, mutual listening, free of ideology and predetermined agendas. The aim is not to reach agreement by means of a contest between opposing positions, but to journey together to seek God’s will, allowing differences to harmonize. Most important of all is the synodal spirit: to meet each other with respect and trust, to believe in our shared unity and to receive the new thing that the Spirit wishes to reveal to us.”
Before the end of October, the synod office will release its “Document for the Continental Phase” of the synod, echoing the themes that emerged from all the national syntheses of synod listening sessions and the contributions of religious orders, Catholic movements, Vatican dicasteries and nuncios from around the world.
“It’s a working document,” Sister Becquart said. People who participated in the listening sessions will be asked to read it, pray about it and share their reactions with their national synod coordinators. Then bishops, priests, religious and laity representing the church in their country will meet with representatives from other countries in their region to discuss what “resonates” with them or what they believe is missing.
The idea, she said, is that the synod is not just a one-way process from the grassroots up to the “top.” Rather, the process is “circular,” because a key part of “synodal ecclesiology that comes from Vatican II” sees an “intrinsic link between the local churches and the universal churches” and aims to deepen that relationship.
In the document for the continental phase, the synod office is returning results to the local level, checking that they were heard and asking them to broaden their reflection with people in neighboring countries.
The Synod of Bishops and, especially, the vision of “synodality” is one of “the fruits of Vatican II,” she said, but they are also paths that can help the church and its members receive and experience some of the key insights of the council.
Sister Becquart pointed particularly to how, with all the Catholic bishops of the entire world gathered in Rome in four sessions from 1962 to 1965, the council was the most concrete experience ever of the church being universal. And its focus on the church as “the people of God” rather than primarily as an institution and its emphasis on the dignity and responsibility of all the baptized are being rediscovered in the synod process, she said.
And, she said, while the 16 documents approved by the council are essential reading, people should not forget that for the participants, the Second Vatican Council was “a human, spiritual and ecclesial experience.” The national reports indicate something similar was happening to many of the people participating in the local listening sessions, she said.
As the process continues, bumps in the road are expected, she said, because “it’s a new way to relate to each other, a new kind of communication and relationship dynamic in the church,” particularly between bishops and laity.
“It is, as we say, a work in progress.”
By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY – Saying he did not want to rush the process of discerning how the Holy Spirit is calling the church to grow in “synodality,” Pope Francis announced that the next assembly of the Synod of Bishops would take place in two sessions.
The synod assembly, with mostly bishops as voting members, will meet Oct. 4-29, 2023, as previously announced, the pope said, but the assembly will have a second session in October 2024 as well.
Pope Francis made the announcement Oct. 16 at the end of his Angelus address. He had met Oct. 14 with the synod leadership.
The pope and local bishops kicked off the listening and discernment process for the “synod on synodality” in October 2021, and by November the synod secretariat is expected to release a working document for continental assemblies.
With 112 of the 114 bishops’ conference in the world having sent in a synthesis of what emerged in the listening sessions in their countries, Pope Francis said that “the fruits of the synodal process underway are many, but so that they might come to full maturity, it is necessary not to be in a rush.”
“To have a more relaxed period of discernment,” the pope announced, “I have established that this synodal assembly will take place in two sessions” rather than the one originally planned.
“I trust that this decision will promote the understanding of synodality as a constitutive dimension of the church and help everyone to live it as the journey of brothers and sisters who proclaim the joy of the Gospel,” Pope Francis told thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus prayer.
The website of the synod secretariat describes synodality as a style seen in the church’s life and mission that reflects its nature as “the people of God journeying together and gathering in assembly, summoned by the Lord Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel.”
While it does not imply everyone has a vote on issues facing the church, it does mean that all the members of the church – ordained or lay – have a responsibility to contribute to the church’s mission and to pray, offer suggestions and join in discerning the voice of the Holy Spirit.
A statement from the synod secretariat Oct. 16 said Pope Francis’ decision to add a second assembly “stems from the desire that the theme of a ‘synodal church,’ because of its breadth and importance, might be the subject of prolonged discernment not only by the members of the synodal assembly, but by the whole church.”
Although it did not feature the same widespread, grassroots listening sessions, the deliberations of the Synod of Bishops on challenges and joys facing families also met in two sessions. First, Pope Francis convoked in 2014 an “extraordinary general assembly” on “the pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelization.” Then, using the 2014 gathering’s final report as an outline, the ordinary general assembly of the Synod of Bishops met in 2015 to look at “the vocation and mission of the family in the church and contemporary world.”
Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, then secretary-general of the synod, wrote to bishops’ conferences at the time explaining that, “the two synodal assemblies, sharing the same topic of the family, become part of a single synodal process, which includes not only the two celebrative phases but also the intervening time between synods, a time to reflect on the reaction to the first synod and to make a thorough theological examination of the church’s pastoral activity in light of the succeeding one.”
