Exclusive self-selecting club at summit of Synodal Path

Söding reacts to criticism of the Synodal Path

"Synodality is just at the beginning".

Cathcon:  Hopefully the beginning of the end for this misjudged and mismanaged process based on erroneous ecclesiology.

The Synodal Path hoped for great reforms. But in many places the Vatican is showing the stop sign. ZdK Vice President Thomas Söding, however, sees the process of synodality as just beginning. This also applies to cooperation with Rome.

DOMRADIO.DE: The Synodal Path ended for the time being in March with the Fifth Synodal Assembly in Frankfurt. The documents have all been drafted and voted on. Is the issue now closed?

Prof. Dr Thomas Söding (Vice-President of the Central Committee of German Catholics / ZdK): Synodality is just at the beginning. We have completed a first phase. We have set signs. We know where the path is going. But we still have to organise sustainability. We are well positioned, but the implementation still has to come.

DOMRADIO.DE: The documents have been signed. They deal, for example, with the blessing of homosexual couples or the participation of the people of God in the election of bishops. In Paderborn and Osnabrück, however, it is clear that this is not so easy to implement because the Vatican objects to every reform idea. Was all the work done for nothing?

Söding: We approach the matter very seriously. That is to say, we are guided precisely by the decisions of the Synodal Path.

I would like to take up your two examples: On the participation of the people of the Church in the appointment of Bishops, we have said that a model order is needed which scrupulously observes the concordats and then, in discussion with all those involved, explores how much the participation of the people of the Church can be increased. We don't have the answer fixed yet. To secure it, we need some time. But it will not take too long.

It is similar with the blessing celebrations. It has been decided that we will agree on the forms in which these blessing celebrations can be organised. Not whether, but how is on the agenda. I am quite confident that we can also communicate this to Rome.

DOMRADIO.DE: So, it's not a question of yes or no, but rather of what form this will take, which will not meet with any opposition from Rome?

Söding: I am sure that if one becomes concrete, one can also dispel concerns that have been expressed and that we perceive from the Roman side.

I'll take the Synodal Council as an example. It has been said and written that it seems as if the bishop becomes a kind of "breakfast director" of his diocese. That is my formulation. Or that the Synodal Council at the federal level is becoming a kind of supreme authority over the Bishops' Conference.

We can say that it may seem that way, but it is not and will not be that way. However, a basic decision must be made. We have to get out of this purely monarchical understanding of the bishop and into a participative, synodal understanding of the Church.

DOMRADIO.DE: The critics say that you are not introducing the Synodal Council forbidden by Rome, but the preliminary stage of the Synodal Committee. Doesn't that just give the child a different name and still continue in exactly the same way?

Söding: The Synodal Committee has three tasks. The first task is to evaluate the decisions of the Synodal Path: How is implementation going?

Secondly, it has to deal carefully with the many issues that have been identified as problematic but could not yet be dealt with in the past period.

Thirdly, it is indeed a matter of coming to an understanding about what synodality actually means today and tomorrow. What does it mean in Germany, in Europe, in the world? How can this synodality be organised?

There are certain benchmarks that have been set, for example, that joint deliberation and joint decision-making belong together. But how this is communicated must first be worked out. And it will be worked out convincingly.

DOMRADIO.DE: How far along are the preparations for the Synodal Committee at the moment?

Söding: The people who want to and will work in this Synodal Committee have been determined. We have had a very large selection among very committed people from the Catholic Church who want to take on this work, which will not just be a pleasure tax. For me, this shows once again how much competence is on the way in the space of the Catholic Church. The Diocesan bishops will all be members, also 27 members elected by the ZdK - and then another 20.

We now know when the first meeting will be. We know how this work has to be organised. But with all the preparations that are of course already underway, we must also have respect for this Synodal Committee itself. It sets its own agenda. It must be prepared. But the decision will be taken in November.

DOMRADIO.DE: The worldwide synodal process is running in parallel. You yourself were present at the continental meeting in Prague. At the moment, we are preparing for the first meeting in Rome in autumn. How do you look forward to it? What do you expect from it? One could say that this is your competing project.

Söding: No, it is not our competing project. For me it is a clear sign that the Catholic Church recognises that it is in bad shape. I base this bad shape on the abuse syndrome.

But that is only the tip of the iceberg. Behind it lies a deeper problem, namely how the very strongly emphasised rights of the Pope on the one hand and the bishops on the other are placed in a constructive relationship with the much less pronounced rights of all the faithful.

Now, in the middle of the 21st century, we have reached the point where the faithful want to and can organise themselves. This traditional distinction between the teaching and the learning church is being differentiated in many ways. This is a huge opportunity for the Catholic Church.

I see all continents as places where it is being shown at the moment: Things cannot go on as they are now. We need new ways of being the Catholic Church.

Prof. Dr. Thomas Söding

"Things cannot go on as they are now. We need new forms of being the Catholic Church."

DOMRADIO.DE: What concrete changes do you expect?

Söding: For me, form and content always belong together. That has been shown on every continent so far. But I think that it is worthwhile to focus on the question of how we actually come together as a Catholic Church, how we can find common ground in consultation and decision-making or in listening, in judgement, but also in action and responsibility.

I do not believe that there is a world model for the whole Catholic Church. 

But I do believe that much more participation is possible than is currently envisaged.

DOMRADIO.DE: How do you look at the synodal efforts in other countries? What do you see there in comparison to Germany?

Söding: There is a very strong movement worldwide, a very intensive exchange. I see above all three places where synodal experiences have not only been conceived but also collected. The places are Australia, Germany and Latin America.

In Australia, attempts were made to operate with the prefabricated forms of canon law. It has been seen that good processes have only been achieved because the forms have been greatly expanded and changed.

There is a much longer tradition in Latin America, above all in the organisation of a continental church. We in Europe are still a long way from that. We can still learn a lot from Latin America.

In Germany, we have this special form of co-operation based on organisation and theology, a discursive but also spiritual cooperation between bishops and other believers, which has a very special profile in terms of form and content. Some don't quite like it, but a great many also think it's excellent.

DOMRADIO.DE: The Vatican doesn't think it's so good, does it?

Söding: You can't say that like that. There is a much larger field. It is unbelievably important that we talk to each other more, that we listen to each other, that we don't just write letters.

DOMRADIO.DE: The conflict seems to be mostly with Germany. Is that a problem of mentality? Are these two different mentalities that are clashing?

Söding: I don't want to speculate that Germany will always be in special focus because of its history. At the moment, there is a chance that people in the Catholic Church are gathering the different experiences that lead to different expectations.

The decision not to be ready in October 2023, but to allow oneself another year, shows in my eyes how big the construction site is that the Catholic Church is now embarking on. But thank God it is embarking on it. I trust in the process and I believe that in the end we will come out of this process with a more synodal structure of the Catholic Church.

The decision not to be ready in October 2023, but to allow themselves another year, shows in my eyes how big a building site the Catholic Church is now embarking on. But thank God it is embarking on it. I trust in the process and I believe that in the end we will come out of this process with a more synodal structure of the Catholic Church.

DOMRADIO.DE: You are also in contact with Rome yourself. Do you hear statements that this might not make sense in Germany?

Söding: As soon as you get to the level of theological argumentation in Rome, as soon as you talk face to face, as soon as you also talk about spiritual experiences, which are very controversial, as soon as you connect the internal perspective with the external perspective, something moves.

I am not saying that the triumphal march in Rome is then played. No, we in Germany also have a lot to learn. We have always said that. We are doing the same. We learn from the processes that take place in other countries. We are part of the Catholic Church, but we also want to raise our voice.

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