Synodalists prepare for October in Rome without reference to Jesus Christ

Cathcon: For balance, God was mentioned 6 times but 4 of these references are by Cardinal Müller.  One of the other references is to the People of God.   Germany is mentioned more often than God.

Very interesting that the Cardinal has prepared a theological-critical assessment of the "Instrumentum laboris" for Cardinal Grech. 

There are seven references to the Holy Spirit by 5 people.   Two of these are by Father James Martin SJ who is using the Holy Spirit as a justifier for his views

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It is the most ambitious reform project of the Catholic Church since the Council: at the World Synod called by Pope Francis, Christians from all over the world will discuss the future of the Catholic Church.  Participants from all continents will come to Rome in October.  For the first time, lay people, women as well as men, are entitled to vote at a Synod of Bishops.

What do the participants hope for from this not uncontroversial project?  DOMRADIO.DE has collected the voices and opinions of Synod members and experts in advance.  The 16 commentators include lay people and clerics from nine countries, among them three cardinals and five presidents of national bishops' conferences.  The order corresponds to the receipt of feedback by DOMRADIO.DE.

Professor Thomas Söding (Vice President Central Committee of German Catholics, Bochum)

I have been nominated as an "expert".  I am expected to critically analyse the debates and to constructively prepare resolutions that are then "proposals" for the Pope.  I appreciate that expertise from Germany is in demand.  I will bring it as a New Testament scholar and theologian, with the experience as Vice-President of the Synodal Path and the ZdK.

From three previous Synods I know how productive the dense moments of exchange are.  I am confident that it will be possible to dispel prejudices against the Synodical Way in Germany.  But my task is not to lobby.  I want to make my contribution in the sense of the Pope to make Synodality a structural principle of the Church.  I will also feed the experience I gain on the Roman stage of the universal Church into the Synodal work in Germany, next into the Synodal Committee.

James Martin SJ (Jesuit, author and LGBTQ activist, New York)

I am honoured to be invited by the Holy Father to participate in the Synod.  I ask you all to pray that we try to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

What will the Synod achieve?  That is up to the Holy Spirit!  From my point of view, the title of the working document is apt: "Make wide the space of your tabernacle" (Isaiah 54:2).  That should be our direction and goal.  I hope that we can give more space to all those in the church who have not felt welcome in the church so far.  This includes the LGBTQ community.

Blaise Cardinal Cupich (Archbishop of Chicago)

Pope Francis has a firm conviction to listen to the whole Church, laity and clergy from all parts of the world.

Sister Anna Mirijam Kaschner cps (General Secretary of the Nordic Bishops' Conference, Copenhagen)

Personally, I am very happy about the nomination, even though I have a lot of respect for this task.  But I am even more pleased that through this nomination, the voice of Catholics in the Nordic countries will be even more clearly represented in the Synod's discussions, as both Bishop Kozon and I will be participating.

The situation of Catholics in the Nordic countries is very different from that in other European countries.  We are a Church in an extreme diaspora, but at the same time a strongly growing Church - through immigration and conversions - and at the same time a poor Church in rich, strongly secularised countries.  Therefore, it is very important to bring these experiences into the world church.  From the Synod I hope that the role of women in the Church will be appreciated, strengthened and promoted.  Especially with regard to the situation of our Nordic countries, I hope for new impulses for mission and new evangelisation, new joy and hope, but above all a strong sign of the unity of our Church in all the different attitudes and opinions.

Gerhard Ludwig Cardinal Müller (Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Rome)

Cardinal Grech, the Secretary General of the Synod, had asked me for a theological-critical assessment of the "Instrumentum laboris".   Apparently he was impressed by it and therefore successfully recommended me to the Pope as a Synod participant.

The Cardinals of the Roman Church do not represent the particular Churches (or language groups) but participate by virtue of their office in the universal ecclesial responsibility of the Pope for the unity of the Church in faith in "Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mt 16:16) and for the sacramental communion of the bishops with the priests and faithful of their respective dioceses.  It will be crucial that the project of a "Synodically" lived Church does not get tangled in the undergrowth of an ideological agenda or in the power struggles of church-political factions.  Its three guiding concepts are to be interpreted theo-centrically, incarnationally and sacramentally (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 1-8).  By virtue of baptism, being a Christian is participation (participatio) in the life of the Triune God (2 Peter 1:4), communion (communio) with God and humanity through Jesus Christ (1 John 1:3) and mission (missio) to the world (Matthew 28:19; John 20:21). Thus the universal will of God is fulfilled, "that all men may be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:4 following)

Kurt Cardinal Koch (Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, Rome)

The Prefects of the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, and thus also of the Dicastery I lead, are always invited to the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. Moreover, Synodality is an important theme in ecumenical relations and dialogues.

The theme of the Synod of Bishops is Synodality.  I hope that there will be helpful clarification of this important concept throughout the Church, as there are still not a few diffuse ideas today.

Professor Renée Köhler-Ryan (National Chair of the School of Theology and Philosophy, Notre Dame University, Sydney)

I am honoured and also excited to participate in the Synod.  At this moment we feel that the Church is trying to respond to the questions of the Second Vatican Council, which re-emphasised the need for unity among baptised Christians.  At the same time, I am aware of the responsibility to represent all those Christians who cannot attend the Synod.  Australia has already gained some experience on the issue of Synodality.  We completed our so-called "Plenary Council" last year.  I was involved in it at various levels.  I hope that our experiences can enrich the Synod in walking a path full of meaning and hope.  But most of all, as an academic, a wife and a mother, I hope that the Synod will bear rich fruit and good food for thought for many years to come.  I hope that my grandchildren will one day be able to look back on this time and be grateful for this Synod.  I hope that this will lead the Church into a good future and that we will still feel the effects decades from now.

Bertram Meier (Bishop of Augsburg)

I am happy and grateful for the tailwind that the Plenary Assembly of the German Bishops' Conference has given me with its election.  Excited and curious, I am travelling to Rome to be enriched and to grasp more and more what Synodality as a lifestyle of the Church means in concrete terms.

I hope that in the Diocese of Augsburg I can implement the Synodal triad: Listening - Encountering - Discernment, so that together we can come to responsible decisions for the future.  The motto of the Saint Ulrich Jubilee 2023/24 can serve as a model for this: With the ear of the heart.

Paolo Pezzi (Archbishop of Moscow, President of the Russian Bishops' Conference)

I received the nomination to the Synod positively, as a mission for me personally and for our Church in Russia.

For our Church, I hope that it will experience more deeply what communion and communication means and how it can be expanded through mission.

Stefan Oster (Bishop of Passau)

At first I was very surprised, because we had already elected three delegates in the Bishops' Conference.  And then I asked myself how my appointment had come about.  Possibly because I have also dealt intensively with the topic of "Synodality" in public.  Now I am very happy to be able to reflect together with the Pope and representatives from the entire universal Church on how we can be Church together tomorrow in a good sense and live the Gospel and carry it into the world.

I would hope that the many participants will actually live and experience Synodality as the Pope means it.  In truly listening to each other and to the Holy Spirit.  In appreciation for one another - without political calculation, with a lot of frankness - and yet without the ambition of necessarily having to assert oneself.  If this results in a style that the participants take home with them, then it can be a spark for the church.   I am especially curious to see how the two topics of "participation" and "mission" will be discussed and taken further.

Franz-Josef Overbeck (Bishop of Essen)

During the Spring Plenary Assembly of the German Bishops' Conference, I was elected as one of the three bishops whom Pope Francis then appointed as full members of the Synod of Bishops. So, together with the President of the DBK, Bishop Dr Georg Bätzing, and the Bishop of Augsburg, Dr Bertram Meier, I am pleased to be heard as the voice of the German Bishops' Conference and thus also of the Catholic Church in Germany at the World Synod, to bear witness to the Synodal steps of the Church in Germany and at the same time to be part of a learning Church that is embarking with Pope Francis and the world on such a path, which is still unknown in many respects but is guided by the Holy Spirit.

The Catholic Church consists in and of the particular Churches under the primacy of the Successor of Saint Peter, that is, under the leadership of the Pope.  This shows our self-evident obligation to follow such a Synodal path in unity with the universal Church, also for our local Church in Germany, and to shape the next steps on the path of being Church in Germany in a process of discernment of spirits that is pastorally sensitive, spiritually awake and theologically responsible, and in awareness of the culture in which we live.  In doing so, I am confident that we can learn from the many positive forces that can grow for us on the part of the universal Church.  At the same time, I am soberly taking this path step by step and am happy about all the good things that are developing.

Felix Gmür (Bishop of Basel, President of the Swiss Bishops' Conference)

I was elected by the members of the Bishops' Conference and am pleased that the Pope has confirmed this election.  I can contribute our experience with various forms of participation.  This concerns above all the deployment of staff in parishes and the use of financial resources, for which elected representatives of the People of God are responsible in many places.  It is gratifying that for the first time non-consecrated men and women are also entitled to vote.  "What concerns everyone should be decided by everyone".

It seems important to me that groundbreaking decisions can be made at the regional level according to the principle of subsidiarity.  The Pope himself speaks again and again of the salutary decentralisation.  This would defuse many questions, especially concerning access to the Sacraments and women.  

Cathcon: No it would not.  Catholic truth is indivisible.

Some of our Church's traditional attitudes towards this are hardly communicable anymore, and this blocks the transmission of the message of the "joy of the Gospel".  If we make progress on these issues, we will have a framework that allows us to witness to the Gospel more credibly.  And here, of course, it also depends on ourselves and our dynamism.

Professor Thomas Schwartz (Managing Director of the Eastern European relief organisation Renovabis)

First of all, I consider this a great honour for Renovabis, the organisation that stands not only for aid to Eastern Europe, but above all for successful dialogue and partnership. And of course it is also a great, exciting challenge for myself, who as head of Renovabis has always been in dialogue with bishops and partners from these different countries - and was also able to make my contribution at the continental assembly in Prague.

For our German participants, it is certainly a great challenge to simply be able to listen to the sometimes critical questions of our other Synod participants - to deal with a situation that is not only characterised by German culture and German problems, but to have to discuss questions in a world church debate that are also assessed and have to be assessed differently for all people.  But this leads us further: this will certainly not take us backwards, also with regard to what we see as a challenge in Germany but will show us a way forward.  And that is what the Synod is there for.  We will gladly do what Renovabis can do and contribute.

Whether the people in Germany can appreciate this depends on the extent to which we, who are participating in the Synod, appreciate what is happening there - and also communicate it in such a way that people feel that it is really about shaping the future in the Church.  Not against the Church, but in the Church.  And this is not only done by talking, but also by listening.  This is not only done by planning, but also by praying.  And all these elements are foreseen in this World Synod, and therefore I think it is a very exciting experience that we are all facing.

Franz Lackner (Archbishop of Salzburg, President of the Austrian Bishops' Conference)

The proclamation of the World Synod by Pope Francis was a real surprise, which I also consider a prophetic step. For the first time, lay people will have a voice in this assembly alongside bishops and religious superiors. Both for the diocese entrusted to me and the Church in Austria as well as for the universal Church, I pray and hope that under the guidance of the Holy Spirit we will be able to enter into a profound exchange in which decisions are not made purely according to majorities, but in listening to God and discerning one another. So that we - like once the first Synod in Jerusalem - can say at the end: "The Holy Spirit and we have decided...".

Czeslaw Kozon (Bishop of Copenhagen, President of the Nordic Bishops' Conference)

I have been nominated as a delegate by our Bishops' Conference and I see this as a sign of trust.

I have no expectations which can be expressed the Synod.  This is not an expression of pessimism or indifference, but rather a sign of openness to what the Holy Spirit may whisper to the participants in the Synod.  My hopes are not specifically for the Church in the Nordic countries, but for the Church as a whole, for which I wish a greater inner unity, also in order to meet the challenges coming from outside with courage and qualification.

Martin Kivuva Musonde (Archbishop of Mombasa and President of the Kenyan Bishops' Conference)

How do I feel about the nomination to the Synod?  I feel like Peter when Jesus asked him to use his boat.  Yes O Lord, use my boat!

I would like us to look at our current Church more in the light of the Second Vatican Council in the future.  But more than that, we should really take the concept of Synodality seriously and become a church of communion, participation and mission.

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