Synod slowly being suffocated in Rome, to be replaced by Papal dictatorship

Extraction of ten topic groupings causes irritation

Has Pope Francis taken the wind out of the sails of the World Synod?

The second and final round of the World Synod will take place in the Vatican in October. The canon law and theological debates will continue - but without the Synodalists. Some people find this irritating and questionable.

It is Pope Francis' great vision: a church for all.  An essential component on the way, there is the World Synod, which has been running for around two and a half years. It should be about a new way of living together, about new ways of consulting and more participation of the “people of God”.

Accordingly, the makers of the World Synod - General Secretary Mario Grech and content co-ordinator Jean Claude-Hollerich - also present the idea of the new Synodality like a prayer wheel.  However, at a recent press conference with the two churchmen it became clear: explosive issues will ultimately be dealt with in a "non-synodal" manner.

Expert groups should take care of matters

About six months before the last round of World Synods in the Vatican, Pope Francis identified ten topics from the Synodal process.  Experts should work in so-called study groups to address these questions that have emerged along the way.  They are due to present their results to the Pope in June 2025 – long after the conclusion of the World Synod.

The question of preaching in a digitalised world is among the topics, as are possible changes in priestly training and the future role of bishops.  The best ecclesiastical language also deals with "theological criteria and synodal methods for the joint discussion of controversial doctrinal, pastoral and ethical questions" as well as "theological and canon law questions regarding certain ecclesiastical offices".

Vatican journalists learned that the last-mentioned point refers, among other things, to the controversial topic of the “diaconate of women”.  Another controversial point - the abolition of compulsory celibacy - is not included in any of the ten topic grouping, some of which are formulated hieroglyphically.  This question was never on the table, said Grech at the press conference, almost somewhat piqued.

“There are decisions to be made,” warns ZdK Vice President Thomas Söding with a view to the second round of the World Synod.

Which isn't entirely true.  At least the approximately 350 synod members - including women who were eligible to vote for the first time - certainly identified the topic of celibacy as worthy of discussion during their first round in the Vatican in October 2023. “Some (Synodists) ask whether the appropriateness of celibacy must theologically necessarily lead to it being mandatory for priestly service in the Latin Church,” says the Synod Report of World Synod Part One.

What will happen next with Part Two in October 2024 was not entirely clear at the press conference. Apparently the Study Groups are now in control when it comes to the theological and canon law debate. This prospect must frustrate many synod members, especially since many of them have been talking their mouths out for months trying to explain the synod idea in their dioceses and parishes. It is of little consolation that the study groups are supposed to present their preliminary status of discussion before the World Synod in October.

Warning about delaying tactics

Synod member Helena Jeppesen-Spuhler from Switzerland, for example, appeared irritated.  In her homeland, it is difficult to convey to people the slowness of the process, she told the online portal Vatican News.  The issue of women's diaconate "cannot be ignored" next October.  The Vice-President of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), Thomas Söding, also warned against delaying tactics.  “There are decisions to be made,” he told the Catholic News Agency (KNA).

To be fair, it must be admitted that Grech, Hollerich and their team have always spoken of a “Synod about Synodality”.  No decisions are being made on specific individual questions and no ecclesiastical politics are being played out but rather the big picture is being talked about, namely a new co-existence in the Catholic Church - this is what has been said again and again from the Synod Secretariat and those groups associated with it.

And: The fact that there are several topics that require theological and canon law clarification became apparent at the latest during the first October meeting in the Vatican.  Less than two months later, the General Secretariat published the further roadmap for the World Synod and stated, among other things, that there would be a separate process on such fundamental questions.

Women's diaconate: That's what the Pope's new advisors say

There will be no vote on the women's diaconate at the World Synod finale in the fall. Nevertheless, expectations in this regard are high.  The Pope recently expanded his circle of advisors to include three women.  Now they comment on the women's diaconate.

“These are questions of great importance, some of which need to be addressed at the level of the entire Church in collaboration with the Roman Curia,” said the letter from the Synod Secretariat at the time.  The questions should be formulated by the Pope and then forwarded to “Synodal Working Groups”.

There was no excitement at the time, also because the Synod secretariat did not make the significance of this separation clear.  Some Synod members now feel even more offended because they learned from the media that the theological and canonical debate about the women's diaconate, for example, was basically taken out of their hands.

“The effect on the Synod is ambivalent”

Neither the Pope nor Grech nor Hollerich ever promised that the synods would be allowed to have a say on such questions.  However, they were promised a new way of working together in consultation and decision-making processes - synodality.

“The effect on the Synod is ambivalent,” says ZdK vice-president Söding. "On the one hand, the leadership is continuing to pursue the plan to focus on synodality itself and not immediately deal with all topics that seem problematic and need to be discussed and decided by the synod.  On the other hand, it would be consistent to also include all substantive topics for which study groups are now set up , to be treated in a synodal manner.  But this consequence is not yet there."

In other words: The new togetherness that is supposed to emerge primarily with the help of the World Synod does not yet exist.  Until then, there will continue to be "un-synodal" consultation channels, especially when it comes to tough theological and canon law questions. Which doesn't have to be negative in every case.  The fact that a Working Group set up by the Vatican is now dealing with the women's diaconate could also help the matter in the interests of its supporters. In addition, the following still applies: the Pope alone makes the final decisions – study groups and World Synods alike.

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Cathcon:  What an extraordinary waste of time.  Raising expectations and dashing them again.  The Pope becomes a law unto himself.   This is dangerous.