The Sat Report: Synodality, Newman and Co-redemptrix
Ambiguity brings with it an artificial peace, the truth sets us free
This morning Pope Leo XIV made St. John Henry Newman the 38th Doctor of the Universal Church, at Mass on the Solemnity of All Saints, that closed the weeklong Jubilee of the World of Education. A moment of great joy for the Universal Church and in particular for converts to Catholicism, the Oratorians and English Catholics.
Pope Leo XIV opened his homily thusly, “on this Solemnity of All Saints, it is a great joy to include Saint John Henry Newman among the Doctors of the Church, and, at the same time, on the occasion of the Jubilee of the World of Education, to name him, together with Saint Thomas Aquinas, as co-Patron of the Church’s educational mission. Newman’s impressive spiritual and cultural stature will surely serve as an inspiration to new generations whose hearts thirst for the infinite, and who, through research and knowledge, are willing to undertake that journey which, as the ancients said, takes us per aspera ad astra, through difficulties to the stars.”
The Holy Father addressing staff and students of Catholic schools and universities, concluded by saying, “I pray that Catholic education will help each person to discover their own call to holiness. Saint Augustine, whom Saint John Henry Newman greatly admired, once said that we are fellow students who have one Teacher, whose school is on earth and whose chair is in heaven.”
The importance of this moment will probably not be appreciated for sometime, as the Church grapples to define what is true development of doctrine. Ambiguity in texts, more on this later, have become the norm, a means to stave off controversy. This may have worked in something like Nostra aetate, which celebrated its 60th Anniversary this week, but caused absolute mayhem in Fiducia supplicans. St. John Henry Newman may be the key to dogmatising doctrinal development, or at least we can hope.
Synodality
Pope Leo XIV continues moulding Synodality in his own image. Last Sunday for the Mass concluding the Jubilee of Synodal Teams and Participatory Bodies of the Synod of Synodality, the Holy Father gave more direct clues to the direction he wants to take Synodality and the Church:
“Dear friends, we must dream of and build a more humble Church; a Church that does not stand upright like the Pharisee, triumphant and inflated with pride, but bends down to wash the feet of humanity; a Church that does not judge as the Pharisee does the tax collector, but becomes a welcoming place for all; a Church that does not close in on itself, but remains attentive to God so that it can similarly listen to everyone. Let us commit ourselves to building a Church that is entirely synodal, ministerial and attracted to Christ and therefore committed to serving the world.”
Leo emphasis on a Christocentric Synodality, may help reassure those with concerns about the project, with the Holy Father convinced that listening in the Spirit, “will enable us to live with confidence and a new spirit amid the tensions that run through the life of the Church: between unity and diversity, tradition and novelty, authority and participation. We must allow the Spirit to transform them, so that they do not become ideological contrapositions and harmful polarizations. It is not a question of resolving them by reducing one to the other, but of allowing them to be purified by the Spirit, so that they may be harmonized and oriented toward a common discernment.”
The most striking part of his sermon; “The supreme rule in the Church is love. No one is called to dominate; all are called to serve. No one should impose his or her own ideas; we must all listen to one another. No one is excluded; we are all called to participate. No one possesses the whole truth; we must all humbly seek it and seek it together.”
It is true that from the start of this process well organised lobbies have tried to drive talking points and dominate the conversation in Synodality. Pope Francis to his credit, did a masterful job in not allowing these to groups to get any hold in the actual process. One had the feeling with Francis, he was the Synod and he was not going to be made to do things he was vehemently against – married priests and woman deacons. Pope Leo XIV I think here is reiterating this ever-present danger in Synodality, and highlighting that these cliques may be putting others off from wanting to or to be motivated to participate in the process.
To this end, speaking to an international group of young people that advise the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life on Thursday, Pope Leo said: “In the synodal Church, therefore, we want to listen to what the Holy Spirit says to young people; we want to welcome their charisms, the gifts that are specific to their age and their sensibilities.” This is what Synodality means to Pope Leo XIV, people actively participating in their parishes, young people injecting life, to places where the Vatican II generation has been holding the fort.
Co-redemptrix
I might of buried the lede. Next Tuesday at a press conference at the Jesuit Curia in Rome, Tucho Cardinal Fernández will present a document on the titles of the Blessed Virgin Mary that refer to her cooperation in the work of salvation. Honestly, we don’t really know what the Vatican will say, but a couple of my thoughts. The early announcement of this press conference and document means that the Vatican itself thinks it is a big deal. I doubt dogma will be proclaimed. I also doubt that titles popular among certain groups of laity will be condemned either.
I do believe that the question of Mary as co-redemptrix will finally be addressed by the Vatican. I expect it to be a fudge, much in the same way that the Vatican refuses to say whether or not the apparitions in Medjugorje are of a supernatural origin. Ever since Vatican II, the Church has been reticent to do things that may harm ecumenical efforts, so I also doubt we will see an official ringing endorsement.
The current leadership of the Church’s Doctrinal Office has lost much credibility after the debacle that followed Fiducia supplicans, where it took a document and two clarifications, to say that the Church can bless individuals as it has done since its founding. The damage done by that document included the Coptic Orthodox Church formally breaking ecumenical dialogue with Rome. I think Tucho has learnt his lesson, but that may be irrelevant, because what matters is the truth. Either Our Lady is co-redemptrix or she is not. Either the Blessed Virgin has appeared daily for decades at Medjugorje, as a postwoman as Pope Francis famously said, or she hasn’t. Ambiguity brings with it an artificial peace, the truth, no matter how hard it is to take, sets us free.
ent of great joy for the Universal Church and in particular for converts to Catholicism, the Oratorians and English Catholics.
Pope Leo XIV opened his homily thusly, “on this Solemnity of All Saints, it is a great joy to include Saint John Henry Newman among the Doctors of the Church, and, at the same time, on the occasion of the Jubilee of the World of Education, to name him, together with Saint Thomas Aquinas, as co-Patron of the Church’s educational mission. Newman’s impressive spiritual and cultural stature will surely serve as an inspiration to new generations whose hearts thirst for the infinite, and who, through research and knowledge, are willing to undertake that journey which, as the ancients said, takes us per aspera ad astra, through difficulties to the stars.”
The Holy Father addressing staff and students of Catholic schools and universities, concluded by saying, “I pray that Catholic education will help each person to discover their own call to holiness. Saint Augustine, whom Saint John Henry Newman greatly admired, once said that we are fellow students who have one Teacher, whose school is on earth and whose chair is in heaven.”
The importance of this moment will probably not be appreciated for sometime, as the Church grapples to define what is true development of doctrine. Ambiguity in texts, more on this later, have become the norm, a means to stave off controversy. This may have worked in something like Nostra aetate, which celebrated its 60th Anniversary this week, but caused absolute mayhem in Fiducia supplicans. St. John Henry Newman may be the key to dogmatising doctrinal development, or at least we can hope.
Synodality
Pope Leo XIV continues moulding Synodality in his own image. Last Sunday for the Mass concluding the Jubilee of Synodal Teams and Participatory Bodies of the Synod of Synodality, the Holy Father gave more direct clues to the direction he wants to take Synodality and the Church:
“Dear friends, we must dream of and build a more humble Church; a Church that does not stand upright like the Pharisee, triumphant and inflated with pride, but bends down to wash the feet of humanity; a Church that does not judge as the Pharisee does the tax collector, but becomes a welcoming place for all; a Church that does not close in on itself, but remains attentive to God so that it can similarly listen to everyone. Let us commit ourselves to building a Church that is entirely synodal, ministerial and attracted to Christ and therefore committed to serving the world.”
Leo emphasis on a Christocentric Synodality, may help reassure those with concerns about the project, with the Holy Father convinced that listening in the Spirit, “will enable us to live with confidence and a new spirit amid the tensions that run through the life of the Church: between unity and diversity, tradition and novelty, authority and participation. We must allow the Spirit to transform them, so that they do not become ideological contrapositions and harmful polarizations. It is not a question of resolving them by reducing one to the other, but of allowing them to be purified by the Spirit, so that they may be harmonized and oriented toward a common discernment.”
The most striking part of his sermon; “The supreme rule in the Church is love. No one is called to dominate; all are called to serve. No one should impose his or her own ideas; we must all listen to one another. No one is excluded; we are all called to participate. No one possesses the whole truth; we must all humbly seek it and seek it together.”
It is true that from the start of this process well organised lobbies have tried to drive talking points and dominate the conversation in Synodality. Pope Francis to his credit, did a masterful job in not allowing these to groups to get any hold in the actual process. One had the feeling with Francis, he was the Synod and he was not going to be made to do things he was vehemently against – married priests and woman deacons. Pope Leo XIV I think here is reiterating this ever-present danger in Synodality, and highlighting that these cliques may be putting others off from wanting to or to be motivated to participate in the process.
To this end, speaking to an international group of young people that advise the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life on Thursday, Pope Leo said: “In the synodal Church, therefore, we want to listen to what the Holy Spirit says to young people; we want to welcome their charisms, the gifts that are specific to their age and their sensibilities.” This is what Synodality means to Pope Leo XIV, people actively participating in their parishes, young people injecting life, to places where the Vatican II generation has been holding the fort.
Co-redemptrix
I might of buried the lede. Next Tuesday at a press conference at the Jesuit Curia in Rome, Tucho Cardinal Fernández will present a document on the titles of the Blessed Virgin Mary that refer to her cooperation in the work of salvation. Honestly, we don’t really know what the Vatican will say, but a couple of my thoughts. The early announcement of this press conference and document means that the Vatican itself thinks it is a big deal. I doubt dogma will be proclaimed. I also doubt that titles popular among certain groups of laity will be condemned either.
I do believe that the question of Mary as co-redemptrix will finally be addressed by the Vatican. I expect it to be a fudge, much in the same way that the Vatican refuses to say whether or not the apparitions in Medjugorje are of a supernatural origin. Ever since Vatican II, the Church has been reticent to do things that may harm ecumenical efforts, so I also doubt we will see an official ringing endorsement.
The current leadership of the Church’s Doctrinal Office has lost much credibility after the debacle that followed Fiducia supplicans, where it took a document and two clarifications, to say that the Church can bless individuals as it has done since its founding. The damage done by that document included the Coptic Orthodox Church formally breaking ecumenical dialogue with Rome. I think Tucho has learnt his lesson, but that may be irrelevant, because what matters is the truth. Either Our Lady is co-redemptrix or she is not. Either the Blessed Virgin has appeared daily for decades at Medjugorje, as a postwoman as Pope Francis famously said, or she hasn’t. Ambiguity brings with it an artificial peace, the truth, no matter how hard it is to take, sets us free.