Synod preparations show the Church is fracturing, perhaps even imploding

The preparatory phase of the Synod at the local level aroused mistrust in Rome. The fractures revealed by this vast reflection on Catholicism's future could lead to the Church's implosion.

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Many wonder what will come out of the "Synod on Synodality," the first session of which will be held this coming October in Rome. And if they are voicing this concern, it's because they have doubts. That is despite the encouraging tone set by the people Pope Francis has put in charge of the synodal process – Cardinals Jean-Claude Hollerich and Mario Grech, and Sister Nathalie Becquart. And there are a number of reasons for this concern. First of all, is perhaps the disappointment caused by previous Synod assemblies. 

But we are also now hearing bishops say that the essential thing is the event itself, more than its results. For its preparation – and, hopefully, for its aftermath –  this unprecedented Synod process will have mobilized and invited a significant number of Catholics in the world "to walk together". Others say that they prefer a Church that has become synodal for good. In other words, a Church that is permanently on the move, rather than one that opts for occasional reforms that are then soon forgotten, reinforcing a general sense of inertia. All this is true, but isn't it to prevent disappointment in advance that we make these comments that lower expectations?

Issues that make people angry

The expectations are known, thanks to synodal feedback from the base – that is, the parishes, communities, and other groups that responded. Catholics everywhere have expressed a desire for reform with an insistence that is both common and different depending on the continent. When reading the requests and wishes, it is not necessary to be a high-ranking cleric to see which issues can be calmly addressed and which will cause difficulties on the Synod's agenda.

Even if the answers are not simple, one can always discuss the exclusion of people on the margins (homosexuals, polygamists, young people, women...), openness to foreigners, a revival of the preferential option for the poor, economic colonialism, new inequalities due to climate change, the gap between the hierarchical Church and the synodal Church or between the Roman center and its peripheries of all kinds, and – naturally – the extent and consequences of a secularization that is making its effects felt everywhere.

But it will be a different matter when it comes to talking about the role and status of priests (i.e. mandatory celibacy), women in the Church (their exclusion from the diaconate and the priesthood), and the exercise of ecclesial power/authority. Then there are also the doctrinal and pastoral consequences concerning the systemic causes of sexual abuse, which must be dealt with imperatively and rapidly if the Church is to regain any credibility.

The plenary assembly that the French Bishops' Conference (CEF) held at the end of March in Lourdes was devoted to the proposals of the working groups that were set up after the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Chruch (CIASE) issued its report. If the more than cautious reactions of the French bishops is a foreshadowing of what is going to happen with the authorities in Rome, one cannot be reasonably optimistic.

A good Protestant Church

The Synodal Path that German Catholics held could have been looked at with interest and benevolence. But the Roman Curia's very stiff opposition to all the intellectually well-founded decisions of that synodal assembly (which included an equal number of clergy and laity) does not bode well either. Pope Francis even took the liberty of ironically saying that Germany already has a very good Protestant Church and that there is no need for a second one...

But as far as I know, the Synodal Path – which was directly motivated by the shame and discredit born of the sexual abuse revelations – has never called into question the pope's authority or the obedience due to him.

The one obstacle that we prefer to ignore

But let's face it, fears that people who participated in the preparatory assemblies will be disappointed are premature. Let the synodal discussion on the proposals coming from the grassroots take place, without prejudging its results. Perhaps the participants will enter into an unforeseen dynamic of aggiornamento, as they did during the Second Vatican Council (1962-65).

But it would be in our interest not to sweep under the carpet a formidable difficulty that surfaced during the Synod's preparatory phase and was then passed over very quickly – namely, confirmation that the Catholic Church is currently in a  state of fragmentation and even implosion. Many priests — the ordinary and essential transmission belts of the Synod's decisions – abstained from participating in the synodal consultation or did nothing to launch or promote it.

There was also little or no participation of lay people under 40-45 years of age, while the few young participants who did speak out took up the most conservative positions. Is there any need to say that, on social networks and in its own media, the traditionalist family has widely echoed its bitterness and its rejection of the conclusions, too progressive in its eyes, of the grassroots consultation?

Trads and conciliars

The "trads", as they are called, see the very word "reform" (of structures and the ecclesial system) as offensive. They believe only in personal conversion, in individual fault, in the urgency of praying and worshiping more intensely, in a revival of piety and adoration. Leaving the Second Vatican Council behind would be good news for many of them. And they would be happier if there were less talk about sex abuse in the Church. Moreover, they are on a roll in terms of recruiting priests and young people to their cause, unlike their conciliar opponents… the ones who provided the program for the Synod!

It was also pointed out that the consultations carried in France were dominated by the same "elitist" component for which Pope Francis also criticized the Synodal Path in Germany. In fact, most of the people who got involved in the synodal assemblies were committed parishioners, Church insiders and activists who have studied theology or received special training, members of the Catholic media, and so on… In other words, in France as everywhere else, those who participated were motivated and cultivated middle and upper-middle class Catholics who make up the Church's "conciliar" generation, a group not much loved by the "trads".

So we find ourselves before two groups on the opposite ends of the spectrum. Can the "multipolar Church" (Nathalie Becquart's phrase) – which is generational and strongly divided by its recent past – be reconciled? It is difficult to imagine, because we are now dealing with radically opposed and parallel visions of the Church, the liturgy, priesthood, faith and morals, Christian life in the modern world, and – finally – the meaning of religion and the "sacred". But isn't this precisely what we should also be talking about at the Synod? 

Jean-Louis Schlegel (b. 1946) is a French Catholic philosopher and sociologist of religion. He is also editor and author of numerous books and articles.