A “synodal church”, where all the baptised participate and take responsibility for mission, will need structures and processes to help church members listen to the Holy Spirit and to one another, members of the synod on synodality were told.
While “the big media” is looking for changes in Catholic practices on just a few issues, “even the people closest to us, our collaborators, members of pastoral councils, people who are involved in parishes are wondering what will change for them, how they will be able to concretely experience in their lives that missionary discipleship and co-responsibility on which we have reflected in our work,” Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, the synod relator general, told the assembly on 18th October.
Those collaborators, he said, “are wondering how this is possible in a church that is still not very synodal, where they feel that their opinion does not count and a few or just one person decides everything.”
On 18th October, Members of the synod assembly moved on to the theme of “participation” and prepared to spend four days discussing the exercise of authority and responsibility in the church, as well as the processes and structures needed to promote greater participation in the life and mission of the church.
Picture: Members of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops start a working session in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall, 18th October 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)