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B. Communion, mission, participation
Three priority issues for a synodal Church
“For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another” (Rom 12: 4-5).
43. Among the fruits of the first phase, and in particular of the Continental Assemblies, which came to the fore thanks to the way of proceeding just outlined, three priorities were identified that are now proposed to the Synodal Assembly of October 2023 for discernment. These are challenges with which the whole Church must measure itself in order to take a step forward and grow in its own synodal being at all levels and from a plurality of perspectives. They need to be addressed from the point of view of theology and canon law, as well as from that of pastoral care and spirituality. They call into question the way Dioceses plan as well as the daily choices and lifestyle of each member of the People of God. They are also authentically synodal because addressing them requires walking together as a people, with all its members. The three priorities will be illustrated in connection with the three key words of the Synod: communion, mission, participation. While this is done for the sake of simplicity and clarity of presentation, it risks presenting the three key words as three “pillars” independent of one another.
Instead, in the life of the synodal Church, communion, mission and participation are articulated, nourishing and supporting each other. They must always be understood with this integration in mind.
44. The different order in which the three terms appear, with mission taking the central place, is also rooted in the awareness of the links that unite that developed during the first phase. In particular, communion and mission are interwoven and mirror each other, as already taught by Saint John Paul II: “Communion and mission are profoundly connected with each other, they interpenetrate and mutually imply each other, to the point that communion represents both the source and the fruit of mission: communion gives rise to mission and mission is accomplished in communion” (CL 32, taken up in PE I,4). We are invited to move beyond a dualist understanding in which the relationships within the ecclesial community are the domain of communion, while mission concerns the momentum ad extra. The first phase has instead highlighted how communion is the condition for the credibility of proclamation, an insight which recalls that of the XV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment [1]. At the same time there is a growing awareness that the orientation for mission is the only evangelically founded criterion for the internal organisation of the Christian community, the distribution of roles and tasks, and the management of its institutions and structures. It is in relationship with communion and mission that participation can be understood, and for this reason, it can only be addressed after the other two. On the one hand, it gives them the concrete expression: attention to procedures, rules, structures and institutions allows the mission to be consolidated over time and frees communion from mere emotional spontaneity. On the other hand, it receives a meaning, orientation and dynamism that allows it to escape the risk of turning into a frenzy of individual rights claims that inevitably cause fragmentation rather than unity.
45. To accompany the preparation and structure of the work of the Assembly, five worksheets have been prepared to address each priority, to be found at the end of this section. Each of these constitutes an entry point to the priority in question which in this way can be approached from different but complementary perspectives related to different aspects of the life of the Church that have emerged through the work of the Continental Assemblies. In this case the three paragraphs that follow, to which the three groups of worksheets in the appendix correspond, should not be read as parallel and non-communicating columns. Rather, they are beams of light that illuminate the same reality, that is the synodal life of the Church, from different vantage points, continually intertwining and invoking one another, inviting us to growth.
B 1. A communion that radiates: How can we be more fully a sign and instrument of union with God and of the unity of all humanity?
46. Communion is not a sociological coming together as members of an identity group but is above all a gift of the Triune God, and at the same time a task, which is never exhausted, of building the “we” of the People of God. As the Continental Assemblies experienced, communion interweaves a vertical dimension, that Lumen gentium calls “union with God,” and a horizontal one, “the unity of all humanity”, in a strong eschatological dynamism. Communion is a journey in which we are called to grow, “until all of us come to the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ” (Eph 4:13).
47. We receive an anticipation of that moment in the liturgy, the place where the Church on its earthly journey experiences communion, nourishes it and builds it up. If the liturgy is in fact the “outstanding means whereby the Faithful may express in their lives, and manifest to others, the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church” (SC 2) then it is to the liturgy that we must look in order to understand the synodal life of the Church. First and foremost, it is through shared liturgical action, and in particular the eucharistic celebration, that the Church experiences radical unity, expressed in the same prayer but in a diversity of languages and rites: a fundamental point in a synodal key. From this point of view, the multiplicity of rites in the one Catholic Church is an authentic blessing, to be protected and promoted, as was also experienced during the liturgies of the Continental Assemblies.
48. A synodal assembly cannot be understood as representative and legislative, analogous to a parliamentary structure with its dynamics of majority building. Rather, we are called to understand it by analogy with the liturgical assembly. Ancient tradition tells us that when a synod is celebrated it begins with the invocation of the Holy Spirit, continues with the profession of faith, and arrives at shared determinations to ensure or re-establish ecclesial communion. In a synodal assembly Christ becomes present and acts, transforms history and daily events, and gives the Spirit to guide the Church to find a consensus on how to walk together towards the Kingdom and to help all of humanity to move towards greater unity. Walking together while listening to the Word and our brothers and sisters, that is, in seeking God’s will and mutual agreement, leads to thanksgiving to the Father through the Son in the one Spirit. In a synodal assembly, those who gather in the name of Christ listen to his Word, listen to each other, discern in docility to the Spirit, proclaim what they have heard and recognise it as light for the journey of the Church.
49. In this perspective, synodal life is not a strategy for organising the Church, but the experience of being able to find a unity that embraces diversity without erasing it, because it is founded on union with God in the confession of the same faith. This dynamism possesses an impelling force that continually seeks to widen the scope of communion, but which must come to terms with the contradictions, limits and wounds of history.
50. The first priority issue that emerged from the synodal process is rooted precisely in this point. In the concreteness of our historical reality, preserving and promoting communion requires taking on the incompleteness of being able to live unity in diversity (cf. 1 Cor 12). History produces divisions, which cause wounds that need to be healed and require pathways to be forged for reconciliation. In this context, in the name of the Gospel, which bonds need to be strengthened in order to overcome trenches and fences, and which shelters and protections need to be built, and to protect whom? Which divisions are unproductive? When does graduality make the path to complete communion possible? These seem like theoretical questions, but they are rooted in the concrete daily life of Christian communities consulted in the first phase. Indeed, they concern the question of whether there are limits to our willingness to welcome people and groups, how to engage in dialogue with cultures and religions without compromising our identity, and our determination to be the voice of those on the margins and reaffirm that no one should be left behind. The five Worksheets referring to this priority try to explore these questions from five complementary perspectives.
[1] For example, at 128, the Final Document states: “[It] is not enough to have structures, if authentic relationships are not developed within them; it is actually the quality of these relationships that evangelizes”.
At the presentation of the Fourth General Congregation of the Synod, the Synod's General Rapporteur, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, introduces Module B-1.
General Congregation 4 - 9 October 2023
A communion that radiates
Introduction to Module 2
Jean-Claude Card. Hollerich
General Rapporteur
Good morning, everyone, and welcome back to our Hall after the break that allowed us to celebrate Sunday. With this morning’s Holy Mass, we were able to savour the richness of one of the rites of our one and multifaceted Church, and in this way, we entered the second Module of our work, linked to Section B1 of the Instrumentum laboris.
In the first Module, we reconnected with the experience of the “journeying together” of the People of God over the past two years. We worked to bring the synodal Church into sharper focus as a comprehensive vision. With the second Module, we address the first of the three questions that have emerged from listening to the People of God and on which this Assembly is called to exercise its discernment. But let us not forget the first Module. To avoid losing the sense of what we are doing, we need to place the work of the next few days - which will lead us to confront specific and concrete questions - within the horizon of the work undertaken between last Wednesday and Saturday. We carry forwards from the first module a second fruit that is equally important. We gained experience in using the methodology of Conversation in the Spirit and can thus feel more at ease in a way of walking together that we will continue to practise. Above all, we have begun to weave relationships and build bonds. We have begun to move from the “I” to the “we”. In this Module, the composition of the Circuli Minores changes, but we are invited to carry the collaborative atmosphere of the past few days with us. I thank the facilitators again for their service.
This introduction to the second Module integrates several voices: in a moment I will hand the floor to Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP and Professor Anna Rowlands, who will give us an overview of the theme of Module 2 from a biblical-spiritual and theological perspective, respectively. I thank them for their willingness to help me launch the work of the next few days. Three testimonies by Assembly members will follow: they will share experiences of their local Churches related to the theme of our Module.
But the time has come to address the theme of Module 2. If your mind works anything like mine, when you read the many questions in the Worksheets of Section B1 of the Instrumentum laboris, you might find it helpful to focus first on the title “A communion that radiates”, and even more the question that immediately follows: “How can we be more fully a sign and instrument of union with God and of the unity of all humanity?”. This is the priority issue coming out of the synodal process that can help us find orientation in our discussions in Module 2.
We are first in communion with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity is the basis of all communions. The Triune God has created humanity, each human being; and this God, who is love, loves the whole of creation, every single creature and every human being in a special way. God’s love is so great that His saving power is the way His love manifests itself. As Church, as People of God, we are in this dynamic of salvation. And within this dynamic lie the foundations of the unity of humanity.
Each one’s own personal history, and the multiplicity of our human experiences, gathered in a synodal way, helps us to better understand the questions that Section B1 of the Instrumentum laboris raises, and to try to find answers.
Allow me to share one such experience. I happened to listen to the story of a family who had moved from Africa to a European country. They found it very difficult to find a parish in which to live their faith. The Catholic parish they first attended was a parish of churchgoers, but the community did not offer a deeper sense of communion. They were frowned upon because they had different religious customs. They felt excluded. They found a Methodist community where they were welcomed, they got concrete help in taking their first steps in their new country. Above all, they were welcomed as brothers and sisters, not as objects of charity, they were not simply a means for people who wanted to do good. They were accepted as fellow human beings, walking together. When I heard this testimony, I thought of my own country, my own Church. Probably the same thing would have happened, with the exception that we have no Methodist Church to welcome them.
All are invited to be part of the Church. At World Youth Day in Lisbon Pope Francis reiterated the words “todos…todos”. And in his homily at the opening Mass of our Assembly: “tutti… tutti”. In deep communion with His Father through the Holy Spirit, Jesus extended this communion to all the sinners. Are we ready to do the same? Are we ready to do this with groups which might irritate us because their way of being might seem to threaten our identity? Todos... tutti... If we act like Jesus, we will testify to God’s love for the world. Failing to do so will make us look like an identitarian club.
What does this mean for ecumenism? How can we live our Catholic faith in such a way that the deep communion we felt at the prayer vigil before our retreat is not a beautiful exception, but becomes ordinary reality? How can we live our faith deeply in our own culture without shutting out people of other cultures? How can we be committed with women and men of other faith traditions to justice, peace and integral ecology?
This is an example of what is at stake in Module 2. We need to think, we need to reflect, but our reflection should not take the form of a theological or sociological treatise. We need to start from concrete experiences, our own personal one and above all the collective experience of the People of God that has spoken through the listening phase.
Allow me one more minute to briefly go over the steps in this Module. This afternoon and tomorrow morning we will work in the Circuli Minores, according to the method of communal discernment inspired by conversation in the Spirit that we have already practised. We listen to each other, we listen to the Spirit, we will begin to draft the group’s report and prepare the speech that the rapporteur will read in the assembly, focusing on the points that your group wishes to submit to the assembly in order to go deeper in a common discernment.
There is also something new: the composition of the groups has changed. You realised this the moment you sat down at your table. This time, the groups are formed based on both language and thematic preferences. We have followed the choices you made as much as possible. Unlike the first Module, the groups do not all follow the same track, but each one tackles just one of the five Worksheets that the Instrumentum laboris sets out in Section B1. However, we do not inhabit different planets. As the Instrumentum laboris itself explains, “There are obvious points of contact and some overlaps between the Worksheets. [...] this highlights the rich network of interconnections between the topics covered.” Thus, we can imagine the five Worksheets as different perspectives from which to approach the basic question of our Module, the one in the title which I mentioned at the beginning: “How can we be more fully a sign and instrument of union with God and of the unity of all humanity?”
In different contexts this question has different resonances. The plurality of traces helps bring these resonances to the surface, allowing each one of us to offer a contribution rooted in the particular perspective of the local Church from which they come. Moreover, the variety of local contexts also finds space within individual Worksheets. Each one focuses on a “Question for discernment”, which the group should address. The other questions you find in the Worksheet are rooted in what was gathered from listening phase. They give expression to the concrete areas in which the question for discernment takes form in different regions. This helps us to avoid speaking in mere generalities. They bear the image and concerns of the People of God. However, the aim of the group work is not to tackle each of these more detailed questions one by one. The variety offered by diverse reflections on the Worksheets and the particularity of each group will make our plenary exchange even richer. That is why in Module 2, as in those on the other parts of Section B that will follow, we will have three General Congregations, that is, three half-days, and not just two, to listen to the communications of the Circuli Minores and to free interventions.
I now invite Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP and then Professor Anna Rowlands to take the floor. The pause for silence that will follow each of their interventions will encourage meditative listening on our part. We are not asking them for suggestions or pre-packaged answers, nor are we asking them to do the work for us. Rather, we expect them to illuminate the spiritual and theological horizon within which the issues we are called to deal with are situated and to provide us with some stimulus to help us to construct the language with which to address them.
Source: Vatican News - Image Screenshot from Vatican News' Facebook Page of the Synod
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