Cardinal enraptured by the spirit of Synodality

Cardinal Patriarch  Louis R. Sako

The first session of the Synod of Synodality in the Catholic Church of the World will be held in early October 2023 and the second session next year. The Synod, as expressed many times by His Holiness Pope Francis, is to walk together as a faithful, committed and responsible community to actively participate in the study of very important topics and issues that affect the fundamental life of the faithful within the framework of reform and to find new strategies for the Church to address the challenges.

I closely followed the preparations for the Synodality, participated in the "listening and discernment" phase in Iraq, read the Instrumentum Laboris working document, which contains beautiful and important ideas, and read the sometimes striking statements and criticisms. I also participated with representatives of the Chaldean Church in the local continental meeting of the Catholic Churches in the Middle East, which included lay people of both sexes.

I truly felt that, like the first disciples in the Upper Room, we were under the outpouring of the Spirit, exchanging ideas, experiences and aspirations so that the Church could express its mission, its orientation and its activities, in a new and understandable language, and proclaim and give effective witness to the truth of its liberating faith in appropriate forms.

At a time of instability, of difficulties encountered by today's culture in difficult matters, and in particular the dominance of secular liberalism, the Church, mother and teacher, and the Pope, the successor of Peter, the rock on which the Church rests and guarantees her unity, must use his teaching authority in the process of self-renewal and its structures with full conviction, faithfully preserving the deposit of faith and basic morals. A distinction must be made between what is real and expresses the spirit, which cannot be abandoned, and what is immediate-practical related to the conditions of time and space, which must be updated.

(Cathcon: Synodality is turning the Church into a victim of secular liberalism)

The Synod should give priority to the proclamation (of the Gospel) in the light of the signs of the times "proclaim the Word, insist on every opportune and inopportune occasion" (2 Tim 4:2), so that the Church can present the faith to all with clarity, comprehensible language, different style, new forms, and address the liturgy of the celebration of the sacraments and some structures with greater participation to make some structures more efficient and less bureaucratic, so that Christians feel at home, have their role and do not feel marginalised. It is necessary to update the formation of the clergy at the human, psychological, spiritual, theological, liturgical and pastoral levels, but also discipline.

Pope Francis with his insight can help to listen to the voice of God, the voice of the Spirit by reading the Bible, talking about the Spirit, God's love and mercy, service, repentance and forgiveness towards all within the framework of pastoral work, reading the signs of the times to discover God's will and work for harmonious human and Christian growth.

As Eastern Patriarch, in retreat in the seminary of Erbil far from his seat in Baghdad, I hope that there will be a true renewal, learned in all aspects of the Church's life, her activity and her goals with extraordinary effectiveness, with the active participation and consultation of the faithful, but without cancelling the 'collegial' participation of the Church hierarchy and its authority.

The hopes of the Christian faithful await a new horizon opened up by the 'Synodal Path' in the life of the Church, strengthened by theological, administrative and pastoral cohesion in perfect harmony with the essential mission of the Church and the 'synodal spirit'.

I hope that the Synod, and His Holiness the Holy Father and the Roman dicasteries will pay special attention to the Eastern Churches, the cradle of Christianity, whose existence is threatened!

I also hope that the Church will play a prophetic and vital role in the creation of a more human, peaceful, just and dignified world.

 السابق

الى أين يجب أن يقود المسار السينودسي القادم؟

التالي 

ابينا البطريرك مار لويس روفائيل ساكو يقيم قدا الستناول الإحتفالي في كرمليس

البحث

Source