Synodalists hold their own "Conclave" in Rome

Congress of theologians discusses co-determination in the Church in Rome

High-profile international conference on Synodality ended on Saturday - Austria's pastoral theologian Polak was among the participants

A high-calibre theological conference on Synodality ended in Rome on Saturday. Several speakers explained the concept, which Pope Francis has declared to be a characteristic of the Church. At the Pontifical Gregorian University, some pointed out that the term has only existed since the 1990s. The Viennese pastoral theologian Professor Regina Polak took part in the congress from Austria.

Gregorian Professor Dario Vitale, theological advisor to the Vatican Synod Secretariat, saw no contradiction in this. Early in the history of the Church, the Bishops of the various local churches had gathered in synods to clarify open questions and problems. Each bishop represented the people of his diocese, Vitale explained.

Today, Pope Francis is striving for the participation of all the faithful in internal church consultations and decisions. The different models were explained during the conference. Archbishop Peter Comensoli of Melbourne presented the Plenary Council concluded in July 2022, which was held in accordance with canon law. After a broad consultation process among the people of the Church in Australia - 4 per cent of all Catholics and 35 per cent of all regular churchgoers are said to have participated - resolutions were drafted and ultimately approved by the bishops with a two-thirds majority. After confirmation by the Vatican, they become ecclesiastical law in Australia.

The Bochum theologian Thomas Söding, presented the Synodal Way, the reform process of the Catholic Church in Germany. Söding was one of the vice-presidents of the project. This was criticised by the German canon lawyer Markus Graulich during the congress. There had been no broad consultation process in Germany as in Australia, criticised the Vatican authority's undersecretary for legal texts. In Germany, there was also no distinction between "decision making" and "decision taking", i.e. between consultation and decision. The latter is still the sole responsibility of the bishops, Graulich said. The Holy See has made this clear several times.  (Cathcon: so why are the laity being given voting rights at the Synod in October!!!!)

In his lecture on Saturday, Peter Seewald, Professor of Dogmatics in Münster, described Synodality as an "experiment". Theologians could contribute to its success, but at the same time they should keep a critical distance from the explosive experimental arrangement, as it could also fail, Seewald said.

Other women theologians from universities in the German-speaking world took part in the congress "Theology in the Challenge of Synodality". They included Margit Eckholt (Osnabrück) and Myriam Wijlens (Erfurt).

In an interview with the Catholic News Agency (KNA), Prof. Söding said that a lack of trust was one reason for the difficult relations between the Vatican and the Catholic Church in Germany. In connection with the German reform project Synodal Path, some reactions from Rome aggravated its resolutions, and then they were rejected, Söding said on Saturday.

There were mutual communication problems and a lack of trust, he said. "In the Synodal Way, we have thought very carefully about what we can and cannot decide in accordance with church law in Germany," said Söding, who was one of the vice-presidents of the project.

Söding: "Everywhere the question arises of how the episcopal power of definition can be brought out of its monopoly position." At the moment, however, there is no form that can be considered a future model for all, said the theologian.

Söding said that the congress had shown that "when you get down to the level of theological argumentation, there are no insurmountable opposites". This exchange had happened too little in the past. We have to talk to each other and listen to each other in order to restore trust, he demanded with regard to the German-Roman situation.

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