Synod, October 8: final document commission members chosen; leading Latin American prelate raises prospect of married priests

October 09, 2024

On October 8, 350 of the 365 participants in the second and final session of the synod on synodality gathered in Paul VI Audience Hall for the second day of their four-day consideration of the session’s second module, “Relations” (synod agenda).

“Relations” is the title of the first part of the session’s instrumentum laboris, or working document (pp. 11-22).

L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, reported that the day began with some songs, followed by the reading of the Gospel of the day (Luke 10:38-42) in Italian by an unnamed priest and in English by Father Rafael Simbane, Jr., secretary general of SECAM (the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar). In between the readings, an unnamed religious sister spoke, and music was performed. Pope Francis offered the opening prayer and imparted a blessing.

The General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, led by Cardinal Mario Grech, has imposed tight secrecy on synod participants (Regulations, Article 24), binding them to confidentiality, even with respect to their own contributions, and even after the session concludes. The regulations stand in marked contrast to the relative transparency of the Synod of Bishops under St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, during which the Vatican routinely published the Synod fathers’ interventions (speeches).

Consistent with this opacity, L’Osservatore Romano reported that “yesterday afternoon, Monday the 7th, the fifth session of the circuli minores [working groups] focused on conversation in the Spirit took place, followed by the meeting of the representatives of the linguistic tables.”

“In the morning, the fourth General Congregation took place with the vote for the election of the Members of the Commission for the drafting of the Final Document, the presentation of the reports of the linguistic tables and the vote on the Agenda for discussion, followed by free interventions,” the newspaper added.

Press briefing

Participants in the daily press briefing included

• Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Dicastery for Communication and chair of the synod’s Commission for Information
• Sheila Leocádia Pires, communications officer of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference and secretary of the synod’s Commission for Information
• Cardinal-designate Ignace Bessi Dogbo of Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire (an attentive observer noted that the Holy See Press Office misidentified him as archbishop of Korhogo)
• Cardinal-designate Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, SVD, of Tokyo
• Cardinal-designate Jaime Spengler, OFM, of Porto Alegre, Brazil, the president of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (CELAM)

Ruffini announced the election by synod participants of seven of the 14 members of the commission that will draft the synod’s final document. (The other members are ex officio members of the commission or are appointed by the Pontiff.) One of the synod session’s two special secretaries, Msgr. Riccardo Battocchio, is also the secretary of the commission; “before the votes, he recalled that the Commission does not materially draft the Final Document but supervises its work,” the Vatican newspaper reported.

The seven elected members, chosen on the basis of geographical region, are

• Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, OFM Cap
• Cardinal Luis José Rueda Aparicio
• Catherine Clifford
• Father Clarence Sandanaraj Davedassan
• Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline
• Bishop Mounir Khairallah
• Bishop Shane Anthony MacKinlay

The three members appointed by Pope Francis are

• Father Giuseppe Bonfrate
• Cardinal Filipe Neri António Sebastião do Rosário Ferrão
• Sister Leticia Salazar

The four ex officio members of the commission are

• Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, SJ (the commission’s president, and the synod session’s relator general)
• Cardinal Mario Grech (Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops)
• Msgr. Riccardo Battocchio (one of the synod session’s two special secretaries)
• Father Giacomo Costa, SJ (one of the synod session’s two special secretaries)

Ruffini also discussed topics mentioned in the reports from the synod participants’ various language group tables:

• “the importance of Christian initiation”
• “relationships in creating a more synodal Church”
• “the necessary synodal and relational conversion”
• “the relationship between charisms and ministries”
• “how to avoid clerical narcissism”
• “the important role of consecrated life”
• “the ministry of listening”
• “differentiated discernment regarding ministries connected to missions”
• “cultural and local contexts”

Pires said that 18 speakers, in their interventions, raised the following topics:

• “several speakers expressed the need to put relationships, relational conversion, at the center”
• “some have proposed a deepening of the diaconate to renew the Church, while others have insisted on the ecclesiology of the people of God and the importance of charity and mission”
• “love for the poor, it was emphasized, is born from the Eucharist: we must be charitable, as the Gospel teaches, especially with those who are marginalized, unwanted and who sometimes feel excluded even from the Church”
• “in the secularized world, the process of Christian initiation becomes increasingly fundamental”
• “the participation of women in the leadership of the Church”
• “the theme of forgiveness linked to the love of Christ was addressed, and it was reiterated that there can be no Christian initiation without community”
• “an insufficient mention in the instrumentum laboris of some ecclesial realities, of some movements, was also reported, while their importance in the life of the Church should be valued”
• “the documents of the Church, including those of the Synod,” shoud be in “a language that is understandable to all”

Ruffini announced that synod participants donated 32,000 euros ($35,080) to the previous day’s special collection for the parish in Gaza—approximately $100 per synod participant. The Dicastery for the Service of Charity donated an additional 30,000 euros ($32,890). Ruffini showed a video from Gaza’s grateful parish priest.

Cardinal-designate Dogbo emphasized the importance of involving the entire Catholic community in Christian initiation and formation and spoke of the “extraordinary climate” of listening and sharing in the synod session. Highlighting the joy of African Catholic, Archbishop Dogbo “shared how, upon hearing of his election as Cardinal, his village community took to the streets and the local band played to celebrate,” Vatican News reported.

Cardinal-designate Kikuchi discussed synodality in Japan and emphasized the need for the Church to move away from a pyramidal style and toward a synodal one; in doing so, he echoed comments made the previous day by Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, SJ, the synod session’s relator general. Archbishop Kikuchi said that a synodal style does not mean decisions are made by consensus, and he conceded that even with “common discernment, there is still someone who must make the final decisions.”

“We are aware that we are not materially changing the Church, but we are in a process that will lead to modifying the way of living the Church in the near future,” he said.

Cardinal-designate Spengler discussed migrants and the dignity of indigenous believers, as well as “the idea of an inculturation of the traditional Roman rite among local populations.”

Archbishop Spengler said that he was surprised when he was named a cardinal two days earlier.

“I was finishing reading a beautiful book by Carlo Maria Martini, titled Sequela Christi, when my phone started ringing and vibrating. I was receiving many congratulatory messages, but I didn’t know why,” he said. “It was naturally a great joy, in the awareness that being a cardinal means serving the Pope and the Church. I am grateful to the Holy Father for the opportunity to collaborate at such a delicate moment in the history of the world, humanity, and the ecclesial community itself.”

L’Osservatore Romano reported:

Finally, the archbishop of Porto Alegre was questioned on the “delicate” topic of priestly celibacy. “There is a need for frankness and openness,” he said, citing the case of a bishop appointed in the Rio Xingu region, in the center of Brazil and twice the size of Italy. The day after the installation celebration, “he and only one other priest found themselves there.” Starting from the experience of the “permanent diaconate,” Spengler concluded, “perhaps, in the future, these men could be ordained priests for a specific community.” The way forward? “I don’t know, but we can deal with it keeping in mind the theological aspects as well as the signs of the times,” he replied.

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Earlier coverage

• Synod retreat, day 1: ‘Stripping ourselves before the other and before God’ (CWN, 10/1)
• Synod retreat touches on homosexuality, ‘new ministries’; culminates in penitential vigil (CWN, 10/2)
• Opening Synod session, Pope stresses listening (CWN, 10/2)
• Synod, October 2: Pope defends inclusion of non-bishops; Cardinal Fernández: ‘no’ to women deacons (CWN, 10/3)
• Synod, October 3: Working groups discuss ‘Foundations’; ‘nothing new,’ says Cardinal Hollerich (CWN, 10/4)
• Cardinal Grech: Every Catholic is invited to weigh in on synod study groups’ deliberations (CWN, 10/4)
• Synod study group calls for ‘paradigm shift’ on controversial moral issues (CWN, 10/4)
• African bishops preparing document on polygamy (CWN, 10/4)
• Synod, October 4: leading African cardinal criticized for inadequate consultation in rejecting same-sex blessings (CWN, 10/5)
• Synod, October 5: work on ‘Foundations’ concludes; Lebanese, Haitian prelates recount suffering (CWN, 10/7)
• No synod meetings on Sunday, October 6
• Synod, October 7: Cardinal Hollerich calls for suggestions to make Church less ‘pyramidal’; women’s ministry discussion resurfaces (CWN, 10/8)
• Jesuits hold outsized influence at Synod on Synodality (CWN, 10/8)

 

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