Synod briefing–Day 17: Delegates propose amendments to final document

By Christopher Wells

Synod participants have proposed more than one thousand “modi”, or amendments, to the so-called “Final Document” which will mark the end of the General Assembly’s work.

More than 900 of the amendments were proposed by the Synod’s small working groups, where each suggestion had to be approved by a simple majority. The writing group charged with preparing the final document also received about 100 proposed amendments from individuals at the synod.

The writing group is now preparing a final draft of the document, which will be read to at the Synod on Saturday morning and voted on in the afternoon.

At Wednesday’s press briefing at the Holy See Press Office, Dr. Paolo Ruffini, the president of the Synod’s Commission for Information, informed journalists that Synod members will now vote on the renewal of the Ordinary Council of the Synod, which is charged with preparing for the next General Assembly. Newly elected members will take office at the close of the current gathering.

Statement of Cardinal-elect Timothy Radcliffe

Dr. Ruffini also advised journalists of a statement by Cardinal-elect Timothy Radcliffe concerning Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo’s response to a question during Tuesday’s press conference.

Referring to an address by Cardinal-elect Radcliffe that was republished in L’Osservatore Romano, a journalist asked Cardinal Ambongo to respond to the suggestion that financial considerations were behind the African response to Fiducia supplicans. Cardinal Ambongo strongly defended the Cardinal-elect, saying that he had spoken to Cardinal-elect Radcliffe, who assured him that he had never suggested anything of the kind.

In the statement released on Wednesday, Cardinal-elect Radcliffe explained that his conversation with Cardinal Ambongo referred not to the original speech published by L'Osservatore Romano, but to an article by Phil Lawler that appeared on the website of Catholic Culture.

“Lawler’s reading of the Osservatore article misinterpreted what I had written,” Cardinal-elect Radcliffe affirmed. “I never wrote or suggested that positions taken by the Catholic Church in Africa were influenced by financial considerations. I was acknowledging only that the Catholic Church in Africa is under tremendous pressure from other religions and church which are well funded by outside sources.”

Cardinal-elect Radcliffe concluded his statement by saying he is “most grateful to Cardinal Ambongo for his clear defence of my position.”

The authority and role of bishops in the Church

Following Dr. Ruffini’s presentation, Wednesday’s guest speakers took the floor, beginning with Cardinal Robert Prevost, OSA.

The Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops spoke on the role and authority of bishops and bishops’ conferences, beginning with a discussion on the process of selecting bishops. He went on to emphasize that bishops are not “business administrators," but should be pastors first and foremost, walking with the people of God entrusted to their care.

Cardinal Prevost noted the tension felt by bishops in regard to their role of fathers and pastors while also having, at times, to be judges and disciplinarians.

The Cardinal repeatedly emphasized that a bishop’s authority is based on “service,” saying it is very important to change the dynamic of power structures within the Church by emphasizing the need to serve all members of a diocese. In this context, he highlighted the need for bishops to consult and work with priests, religious, and laity, as well as the various synodal structures already recognized in canon law.

He went on to encourage bishops to get to know their people and to listen to them.

Finally, Cardinal Prevost said it is “very important” for bishops to reach out to those on the margins of society and those who feel excluded, and to invite them to be part of the Church. 

He highlighted the refrain of Pope Francis, “everyone, everyone, everyone,” meaning all must be welcomed, and noted that bishops are especially called to be the expression of that welcoming and openness.

The role of canon law in the synodal process

The next speaker, Professor Myriam Wijlens, an expert at the Synod, addressed the role of canon law with regard to synodality.

She used the metaphor of “hitting the reset button,” referring to an earlier lecture she had given, and said this involves changing the system in which we work to optimise working conditions for a particular task.

The current Synod, she said, is an invitation by the Pope for the Church to be “reconfigured” with regard to the acting subjects in order to optimise the Church’s missionary task.

Rooted in the Second Vatican Council, this involves the members of the Church discerning together, in light of the variety of vocations, charisms, etc., and in the various contexts in which they find themselves, how they can help make the Church’s mission more credible and effective.

Professor Wijlens also remarked on the “great consistency” of the people of God who have insisted that the transformative process initiated by the Synod must be accompanied by canonical structures. She noted calls for episcopal and ecclesial gatherings involving the whole people of God at every level of the Church, including the continental level, as well as calls for mandatory pastoral councils, which she said should be strengthened.

Finally, Professor Wijlens emphasized the importance of accountability, transparency and evaluation, noting that abuses within the Church have had an impact on the Church’s credibility.

She noted an increased awareness that all the faithful are bound together and that this implies a mutual responsibility to hold one another. She added that this realization flows not from a societal but from a deeply theological perspective.

The doctrinal authority of episcopal conferences

Father Gilles Routhier, a theologian and an expert in ecclesiology and the history of the Church, spoke next, discussing the question of the doctrinal authority of episcopal conferences.

He noted that the question is not new, having been addressed in several magisterial documents since Vatican II.

He insisted on a rigorous description of what is meant by the term, emphasizing that bishops’ conferences do not have the authority to propose new dogmas but must act in communion with the whole Church and with the Pope.

Concretely, he spoke about the competence of bishops' conferences to teach the common faith of the Church in a way that responds to the needs of a particular people—that is, not to leave the teaching as an abstract idea but to apply Church teaching to the needs and challenges facing their people.

Eastern Catholic Churches and the Synod

Finally, Father Khalil Alwan, ML, a witness of the synodal process from the Maronite Church, spoke about the various Eastern Catholic Churches.

He began by noting a novelty of the current Synod, which, on the initiative of Pope Francis, has invited non-bishops—priests, deacons, men and women religious, and laymen and women—to take part as members with full voting rights. He said this is very much appreciated by the laity and allows this Assembly “to be the best expression of the sensus fidei of the universal Church.”

Father Alwan went on to discuss the Eastern Catholic Churches, which are not simply local Churches, but Apostolic and Patriarchal Churches with their own jurisdiction, traditions, and heritage.

Eastern Catholics, he said, have travelled beyond their homelands as migrants throughout the world, bringing the consensus of their Churches which often suffer from various afflictions, including war.

Eastern Catholics dispersed throughout the world carry “the pain of the people” while remaining attached to their lands of origin. Often marked by “martyrdom,” they maintain the hope of the Resurrection.

Father Alwan said that during this Synod, Eastern Catholics have experienced the richness of the unity of the Church that is yet diverse. “Through discernment in the Spirit,” he said, “we have found, on the part of others, compassion, understanding, and hope.”

He highlighted the importance of “weaving relationships and building bridges of dialogue” aimed at mutual understanding and working together for the common good.

He also noted concrete signs of solidarity, including Pope Francis’ letter to the Catholics of the Near East and the call for a day of prayer and fasting for an end to the “atrocities” of the war in the Holy Land, as well as the canonization of eleven martyrs from Damascus during Mass on Sunday, October 20.

Finally, after adding his voice to the call for the international community and the UN Security Council to put an end to the war in the Holy Land, Fr. Alwan explained that Christian hope is not mere superficial optimism.

The Cross, he said, is not the last word. God has prepared a path of life even in suffering, “giving us hope to go on, hope for a peaceful future in the Middle East, even if it seems far away.”