Synodal ecclesiology is an ecclesiology without Christ

The following interview shows what happens when the Church as the People of God is promoted at the expense of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.   Synod becomes a law unto itself without reference to Christ.

The Venezuelan theologian Rafael Luciani is a Professor at the Andrés Bello Catholic University in Caracas (Venezuela). He is also an associate professor at Boston College (USA) and an advisor to the General Secretariat of the World Synod in the Vatican and the Latin American Bishops' Council CELAM. Luciani's research focuses on Christology, ecclesiology, Latin American theologies and the Second Vatican Council.

Has the Pope removed the "hot topics" from the Synod's agenda by setting up ten study groups? Rafael Luciani does not believe so. In an interview with katholisch.de, the Synod advisor explains why the Church is in a transitional period and when reforms can be expected.

Rafael Luciani is a Professor of Theology at the Catholic University Andrés Bello in Caracas, the capital of his home country of Venezuela. Luciani also advises the Latin American Bishops' Council CELAM and is an advisor to the Theological Commission of the World Synod. In an interview with katholisch.de, Luciani explains his understanding of synodality. The theologian considers the image of the Church as the people of God to be central in view of the upcoming changes in the Church.

Question: Mr. Luciani, the Instrumentum laboris for the second session of the Synod in October has now been published. This makes it clear what the members of the Church Assembly will be dealing with. Does this mean that the issues that Pope Francis decided in March that expert commissions should deal with are finally off the table?

Luciani: There was and is a lot of uncertainty in this context. If we look at the topics of the ten study groups, for example the point "Listening to the cry of the poor", these are questions that touch on several areas. They appear in the feedback from the Bishops' conferences that was incorporated into the Instrumentum laboris, but are also being dealt with by the relevant study groups. There are different positions on many of these topics, for example the female diaconate, which were also reflected in the synthesis report of the last session last October. In my opinion, however, the crucial question here is how the teachings of the Second Vatican Council were received on the various continents. Because that makes the discussion about them easier or more difficult.

Question: Could you explain this in more detail?

Luciani: An example: In Latin America, the concepts of the People of God and the option for the poor made the reception of the Council easier. But that was not the case on all continents. When the Pope has now set up a study group on the topic of the poor, he is not only referring to Latin America, but also to the frequent non-reception of the option for the poor in the universal Church. It is similar with regard to the diaconate of women. If an ecclesiology of the people of God has not been received in all local churches worldwide, it is very difficult to broaden the horizon to the ordained ministries and not just to understand them in isolation as individual topics. There must be a common vision of the Church of offices, charisms, services and other forms of activity in the community of believers. Therefore, it is not good to speak here of individual topics, but of a reception of the Second Vatican Council that makes discussion and consensus on certain points easier or more difficult. That was what the Pope wanted when he set up the study groups. He did not want to remove the ten topics from the Synod's agenda, but to hand them over to experts who will continue to work on them after the Synod. In addition, it is unfortunately the case that not all members of the Synod have the necessary theological knowledge to deal with such important topics for the Church in just under three weeks of discussion.

Question: The Pope's decision to create study groups on obviously controversial topics has been heavily criticized. Many see it as an attempt to remove "hot topics" from the Synod's agenda. So you don't see it that way?

Luciani: The context of every local Church since the Second Vatican Council is different, the reception of the Council's decisions very different. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland in particular there were Synods of the respective local Churches, in Italy and Spain there was a separate way of reflecting on the office and in Latin America the continental Bishops' Council, CELAM was founded. But these are all local or regional exceptions to the entire world Church. If you look at Africa, Asia or North America, you will see that the Council was not received through the ecclesiology of the image of the People of God. Therefore, it can be said that the World Synod on Synodality that is currently taking place has advanced the entire world church.

Question: So it's essentially about implementing the Second Vatican Council?

Luciani: We are currently in an ecclesiological transition: we are coming from a universalistic understanding of the Church that was consolidated in the 1980s and 1990s during the pontificate of John Paul II. Benedict XVI continued this image of the Church. The consequence was that the understanding of the Church as a local Church suffered. The Pope and the Vatican, on the other hand, were given too much weight. Francis has brought the theology of the local Churches back to the fore and is now deepening it. But all of this is happening in a context in which the vast majority of local Churches do not understand exactly what that means. For example, what authority means in relation to services, in relation to doctrine, also with regard to the local Churches and their bishops' conferences. That is why we are currently in a situation in which the decisions of the Synod cannot be understood, received and implemented in the same way in the different local Churches. When the ecclesiological transition is complete, the local churches will have their own authority.

Question: To what extent will you have your own authority?

Lucani: One example is that of the bishops' conferences: in his letter "Evangelii Gaudium" from 2013, Francis was the first pope to cite bishops' conferences and thereby honor them. This was an innovation that recognized that a bishops' conference, i.e. an institution on a level between bishops and the pope, can act as a doctrinal authority. The pope cited this in his teaching. Many of the local churches and local bishops' conferences have not yet understood the change that has taken place here.

Question: This means, conversely, that we have many local churches in the universal church that are progressing at very different speeds.

Lucani: If we see the universal church in transition to a church of the local churches, there are naturally differences in the forms and speed. In Latin America, the aforementioned bishops' council CELAM has existed since 1955. This body is a joint institution of various local churches. In Europe, there are similar institutions, such as COMECE and CCEE, but the European bishops there have never worked together as closely as in Latin America. The current synod is important because it has brought the individual local churches together in a real community for the first time on many continents. This contributes to greater maturity of the local churches and in the long term will lead to them becoming aware of the authority they have in doctrine and with regard to services. The synod also draws attention to certain local churches, such as those in the German-speaking countries, where major developments were made after the Council. At this point in time, it is the churches in these countries and in Latin America that are pushing forward.

Question: The church in Germany is often accused of taking a special path with the Synodal Path. Do you share this opinion?

Luciani: The Synodal Path in Germany is very important, especially the form that was chosen to implement it. The Synodal Path cannot be separated from the development of the Church in Germany after the Second Vatican Council. But not all parts of the world understand the Church in the same way as Germany, and explanatory work is needed. For example, the decisions of the Synodal Path need to be translated comprehensively into many languages. Another example of this is CELAM: This council not only represents the community of local churches, but has also set up an ecclesiastical assembly in which lay people, priests, religious and bishops meet to seek decisions together. The episcopal principle is not above the synodal principle, but the episcopal office is in the midst of the synodality of the entire people of God. This was unknown at the level of the universal Church until the worldwide synodal process was initiated by Francis. In Africa or the Middle East, the concept of an ecclesiastical assembly in which the voice of the laity is equal to the voice of the bishops is unknown. This is why the reception of this concept is difficult there. The same applies to North America: In the USA, the church is basically dysfunctional and unfortunately there seems to be no real community among the bishops there. If the German Synodal Path and the concept of the church assembly from Latin America do not enter into dialogue with the whole church, they will remain isolated experiences.

Question: In the past, there has been repeated criticism of the Synodal Path from Rome, but not of the church assemblies in Latin America, such as the Amazon Church Conference. Why?

Luciani: In Latin America, cooperation between the local churches began in the 1950s, before the Second Vatican Council. There is also CLAR, the Latin American Council of Religious, which works together at a continental level and links the individual local churches. Francis comes from Argentina and is a Jesuit, so he understands this concept very well and lives it. The local churches in Latin America speak with one voice, but in Europe the church in different countries has different voices - of which the Church in Germany stands out in particular. This can be difficult. Especially for those who are not familiar with the history of the German church and who are not familiar with the Würzburg Synod, for example.

Question: What will a synodal church look like?

Luciani: The future will be very complex and will progress slowly. Because such a reform process will not be completed in one generation. After the Council of Trent, it took 100 years for its decisions to be implemented and for the institutions it created, such as the seminary and the parish, to be established throughout the Church. We have only just passed six decades since Vatican II and are in the midst of the ecclesiological transition described, which only helps us to understand that this Council was not fully received. If we want synodality in the Church, but the ecclesiology of the Council, the People of God, was not accepted, there will be no synodal Church. And if we look at the universal Church, it is clear that in the majority of local Churches there has been no reception of the Church as the People of God.

Question: In which local Churches, for example?

Luciani: The Church in Africa, for example, says that the image of the Church as the People of God or the Tent of God among men does not represent their image of the Church. They prefer the image of the family. In Australia and Oceania, which are surrounded by the sea, the Church has also rejected this image. The great significance of Francis' pontificate is that it has ushered in a change towards a world church that sees itself as the people of God. But the Pope has a double task to perform: he must promote the change in the understanding of the church and also ensure that this innovation reaches all local churches. If at the end of the synod we have a document that makes this ecclesiological leap and constitutively establishes the understanding of the church as the people of God, there will then be further developments in the area of ​​offices and doctrine.

Question: Are these reforms taking so long to come about because the term synodality is new for the Catholic Church and everyone understands it in whatever way they like?

Luciani: When the Pope says that the church is constitutively synodal, this is not received in the same way in all local churches. The church is synodal in its being and doing. Synodality is therefore not a method, but it defines the church. But if many local churches are not clear about what the church actually is, they continue to see synodality as a method. This is a major difficulty for the universal Church. In addition, some local churches are asking how synodality affects decision-making in the Church. When the Amazon Church Conference was formed, a key question was how bishops and lay people make decisions together. But that only applies to very few local churches. That is why it is good that the Synod will not end in October. When Francis reformed the Synod of Bishops, he defined three major phases: the preparation phase, the implementation phase - which we are now in - and the last phase, reception. That is something new. That is why the Final Document of the Synod cannot be described as the conclusion. The ten study groups that Francis has set up have an important task here. They will deal with their topics, delve deeper into them and find a consensus on the content. The individual local churches must then implement the proposals. Ultimately, it is about a change in mentality: it should not be about clinging to everything that comes out of Rome. Francis spoke about ecclesiastical decentralization.

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