Switzerland: National Synodality Commission obtains financing. Churches told to restrain themselves in the public arena "for their own good".
Switzerland: a synodality commission at the national level
The Roman Catholic Central Conference of Switzerland (RKZ) has approved a credit of 140,000 francs per year for the creation, in collaboration with the Conference of Swiss Bishops (CES), of a synodality commission at the national level. The umbrella organization of ecclesiastical corporations links this to the expectation that the synodal process will also bear fruit in Switzerland.
A working group made up of four women and four men has developed, on behalf of the CES and the Central Conference, a proposal on how the Church can exercise this participation at Swiss level, notes the RKZ in a press release of July 5, 2023. A national “synodal commission” of around thirty members must be created for the period 2024-2028. This will be responsible for finding solutions to certain outstanding issues. A larger forum will also meet once a year to choose work topics and discuss the proposals drawn up. Pope Francis launched the Synodal process of the Universal Church in October 2021.
What place for the Church in the political debate?
As a prelude to the plenary assembly of the Central Conference which was held on June 23 and 24, 2023 at the Thurgau convent in Fischingen, State Councilor Dominik Diezi and the President of the Protestant Church Council of the Canton of Thurgau, Christina Aus der Au, made a presentation on the tensions between Churches and politics.
The two speakers agreed on the fact that the Churches, by their identity, want to exert an influence on the organization of the common life of people and therefore inevitably act on the political level. Christina Aus der Au recalled the Reformed idea of the prophetic watchdog function of the Church. It understands it in the sense of an early warning system of society.
Dominik Diezi addressed the issue that the Churches could be prohibited from expressing themselves politically before the votes because of their recognition of public law. However, he cited on this subject a decision of the Thurgau government which does not consider the Churches as being in a sovereign position within the State, but as actors of civil society. Consequently, the ban on influencing votes does not apply to them. Nevertheless, Dominik Diezi advised the churches to show some restraint, in their own interest.
Cathcon: So the Synodal Path becomes an even bigger self-referential talking shop than it already is, with zero influence on society.
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