The Sat Report: Leo takes on the mantle of Synodality

After a hiatus, weekly Sat Reports are back

The first gatherings of what has been dubbed the implementation phase of the Synod on Synodality, take place over three days this weekend, with the Jubilee for Synodal Teams and Participatory Bodies of the Synod on Synodality.

The Pope with the delegates and leaders of the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, in Paul VI Audience Hall (Vatican Media)

It opened yesterday with a 4 hour meeting in the Paul VI Audience Hall, the Pope joining in for the last two hours, where representatives of the continental assemblies were given a rigid four minutes to summarise the implementation of Synodality so far in their continent and ask the Pope a question. The optics looked like AGM or something of the sort, but I do genuinely believe that the intentions behind Synodality are good. Though they they really shouldn’t have invented an abstract noun from the adjective Synodal, but I digress.

Pope Leo XIV seemed very comfortable answering questions off-the-cuff, displaying theological acumen and pastoral sensitivity, in dialoguing in Synodality. He seems to be slowly growing into the role of Pope.

Mission

The Pope started his remarks by outlining the meaning and purpose of Synodality saying; “the Synodal Process, as Pope Francis reminded us and on numerous occasions, is to help the Church fulfil its primary role in the world, which is to be missionary, to announce the Gospel, to give witness to the person of Jesus Christ in every part of the world, to the ends of the earth, in words of the Gospel. Preaching, sharing, and living what Jesus Christ taught us.”

The Pope added “we need to discuss how the Church can be a force for conversion, transforming cultures according to the values of the Gospel. Unfortunately, many times the way that we live our faith is determined more by our culture and less so by our Gospel values.”

Women in the Church

The role of women in the Church was the most common theme brought to the Pope by those representing the Continental Synodal Assemblies. In response the Pope spoke about the his upbringing in Catholic household, where both parents were both active in the Parish. The then Pope joked that when he was a teenager in the 1970’s and the feminist women’s equality movement was gathering pace in America, he asked his mother if women wanted to be equal to men, to which she replied “No, because we are already better.” Those advocating for women’s ordination, won’t be best pleased with the remark. The Pope went on to say that that “women have many gifts that they can already offer in many ways if the life of the family and that of the parish.” It is true that women dominate Parish life the world over, and play a vital role in helping priests who are often overworked and overburdened.

The Holy Father then went on to speak about his experience in Peru, with a congregation of nuns whose mission is to work in areas where there are no priests. “They have faculties to administer baptisms, serve as official witnesses of marriages. They do wonderful missionary work that really provides a witness to many priests. This is the courage that is needed to proclaim the Gospel, and it is women who are doing this.”

The Pope brushed off the question of the female diaconate that was brought up explicitly by a woman representing Europe, simply stating in passing “Setting aside the more difficult issues which belong to a study group that will be presented, I think the problem is not that there are no opportunities, but there exists cultural barriers, and this must be recognised. Not every bishop or priest is willing to allow women to exercise what could very well be their role.” Interesting that the Pope didn’t mention the phrase ‘female diaconate’, or its derivatives, in any of his answers.

The Pope did highlight, quite powerfully, the many places where women still suffer, decrying the “inequalities, treatment as second-class citizens, and where they don’t actually have the same rights. This is a challenge for the Church and all of us, to see how we can promote together, the respect for the rights of all.”

Learning from other religions

Responding to the representative of Asia, Pope Leo XIV said: “Christianity is a minority everywhere, to face the challenge of living the faith and being disciples of Jesus Christ, in places where there is oppression and there is difficulties to live the faith, there are many things all of us can bow down to and respect the holy ground that is Asia for the present and future of the Church.”

He then added: “There is a sense of mystery and of the understanding of the Divine which is part of many of the religions of Asia, that opens the door to different types of interreligious dialogue, and I think is a treasure for the whole Church, Eastern and Western, that I also believe is something that is valued by so many cultures in Asia and we could also learn from, because of that, when we talk about the Spirit, when we talk about the Spirit of Synodality, when we talk about conversation in the Spirit, there is, if you will, a mystical, contemplative element to that perhaps we could continue to discover, I say understand because it is something that goes far beyond understanding, but that contact with the Divine that we can all learn including from many in Asia and the East.”

Some Thoughts

My great concern from all of this, is the inward looking nature of it all, with the Church seemingly stuck in this self-referential cycle that she has repeated every so often since Vatican II, which is causing great difficulties in engaging with and converting the modern world to Christ. It seems that Pope Leo XIV, following on from Francis, sees Synodality as they key to breaking this cycle.

The first question that the Holy Father was asked at this gathering was how to overcome the resistance to Synodality. The Holy Father responded by saying we need to first understand what the resistance is and what is behind it. I would go further and say, there is no material resistance to Synodality by ordinary faithful Catholics at all, just an apathy to something they don’t understand and more crucially don’t have the time for. Young families with children, don’t have the time to give the Church in the Synodal structures that have been proposed. Priests, already to small in number to adequately provide pastoral care that had been routine in the past, don’t really have the time either, and so the implementation of Synodality will be left with the very people that have dominated Church life for the last 60 years.

The challenge for the Synodal leadership body and ultimately the Pope, is how to implement Synodality in a way that brings along the tried overworked priest, the busy parents looking after their kids or elderly parents, and those who are generally apathetic, as not to waste this great opportunity by it not being truly representative and hijacked by those with preconceived agendas.

What next?

Pope Leo XIV seems to be inherently focused on making Synodality the impetus for a renewed missionary vigour not seem since the aftermath of the Council of Trent,