Step up to the synod

So far there have been few signs that the leaders of the Catholic Church in Britain are ready to grasp the nettle labelled “synodality”, even though it is clear that that is the direction in which Pope Francis wants to drive them. Now he is piling on the pressure and they have no choice but to respond. Given that in recent decades the Catholic Church in England and Wales has been a fairly placid institution, even with the scandals surrounding child abuse by clergy, it is not surprising that the bishops would prefer to maintain the status quo. By and large they manage the institution that has been handed on to them as best they can, until it is time to pass it on to their successors. Or, to put it another way, it is not going anywhere fast.

The bishops’ fundamental difficulty is the relationship they have with their own laity. Pope Francis has decreed that later this year in every diocese, bishop, priests and people must dialogue together in preparation for wider consultations, leading up to an international synod in Rome in October 2023 – on the subject of synodality itself. This time, the synod will not be just bishops talking to each other. Lay voices will be given due weight. The big issue that Francis has laid before the Church is how it can become in reality what it currently is only – for the most part – in theory: the People of God. To hear the voice of the Holy Spirit in all its creativity, the Church needs to listen with all its ears, not just those beneath episcopal mitres. And not just the ears of men. And that is where the answer to the question – where should it be going? – is to be found. 
This synodal process is the theology of the Second Vatican Council spelt out. The best reason for not doing it – that it will be messy – is also the best reason for doing it. There are a number of controversies that have not had space to erupt in the past, but could now do so. These are the issues that tend to dominate the Letters pages of The Tablet, concerning child abuse, women, homosexuality, liturgy, social justice, racism and so on. Most bishops would prefer they would go away. In most instances there is tension between what the official Church has had to say, sometimes several generations ago, and where modern Catholics feel the truth must lie.

It is now more than 40 years since the last genuinely synodical exercise in the Catholic Church in England and Wales took place, the 1980 National Pastoral Congress in Liverpool. It did not avoid difficult questions, such as contraception and divorce, but it was well handled and did not cause disunity. It was a sincere search for the sensus fidei, and the great majority of bishops – as well as the great majority of priests and laypeople – seemed satisfied that it had been found. It did not, however, produce structural changes that would have made synodality a permanent feature of the life of the Church. What it did demonstrate is that the bishops really have nothing to fear from the laity, and that the laity were and are an extraordinary – and extraordinarily neglected – resource. One of the bishops said afterwards he felt he had met the Catholic laity for the first time – and added: “Wow!” That is the spirit waiting to be captured again.