Pope Francis: Synodality belongs to the essence of the Church

According to Pope Francis, synodality is part of the essence of the Church. It is realised "in encounter, in listening to one another and in discernment", writes the head of the Church in a foreword to the current issue of the Catholic magazine "Communio".

Pope: Only the Holy Spirit makes a synod a synod

Francis said: "We need to be alert and attentive to the signs of the times, knowing that they are not to be confused with the spirit of the age." In doing so, he said, the voice of professors of theology should also be listened to, who are called to "reflect and witness ever anew" to the mystery of God.

In the booklet, Cardinals Walter Kasper and Peter Erdö, Bishop Stefan Oster of Passau, the former head of the Anglican Church, Rowan Williams, the theologians, Astrid Kaptijn, Johannes Oeldemann and Thomas Söding, as well as the former CSU politician and ex-President of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), Hans Maier, also deal with the concepts and understandings of synod and synodality. The topic is becoming increasingly important for the Church against the background of the reform process of the German Catholic Church called Synodal Path and the World Synod of Bishops planned for 2023 in Rome.

Cardinal Kasper

Kasper addresses the expectations and disappointments associated with the subsequent Synods of Bishops at the level of the universal Church and with the synodal processes in individual dioceses or countries after the revival of the synodal idea at the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). At the same time, the former Curia cardinal emphasises that the Pope's vision for more synodality is "the most conservative reform imaginable". Synods and councils have been part of the life of the Church since the second century. At "focal points in the history of the Church", "synods have always been of decisive importance", the Cardinal said.

Bishop Oster

In his contribution, Oster describes experiences he had at the 2018 World Synod of Bishops in Rome and compares them with his perceptions at the German Synodal Path. The Bishop of Passau criticises that the "protected space" considered necessary by the Pope for synods was "not given at any time" in Frankfurt. Instead, "the main actors in the presidium" had continuously formulated reform demands and expectations. Probably "no one" felt "protected" in the sense of the Pope from the minority position in the Synodal Way. With regard to the content of the debates, Oster emphasises: "There is always talk of conversion, but it is usually understood as a kind of conversion of the Church in its structures.

Thomas Söding

The Bochum theologian Söding, who is ZdK vice-president, formulates a different perspective and writes that the first assembly already showed: "The Catholic Church can synod." Many were committed, the bishops were fully involved and public interest was high. The accusation of "a Protestantisation of the Catholic Church" was already "misguided in its approach".

Williams and Oeldemann 

Williams and Oeldemann describe in their contributions the experiences with synodality in the Anglican Church and in Orthodoxy. Erdö, Cardinal in Budapest, focuses on synodal processes in the first centuries of Christianity. Astrid Kaptijn, who teaches Canon Law in Fribourg, Switzerland, explores the question of what role the relatively young institution of the national Bishops' conference in the Catholic Church can have for synodal processes. For conferences to be able to "act as subjects" themselves, they would need more competences. Maier looks at the question of what the state and the Church can learn from each other.

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