VATICAN SYNOD: Synod Sounds Clarion Call on Church’s Need for Pastoral and Missionary Conversion
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
At the closure of the first session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, the assembly has called on the entire Church to re-examine her missionary work of proclaiming the Gospel.
In a letter from the Synod of bishops addressed to the people of God, the officials for the assembly expressed their concern after weeks of listening and discernment saying, “Day by day, we felt the pressing call to pastoral and missionary conversion. For the Church’s vocation is to proclaim the Gospel not by focusing on itself, but by placing itself at the service of the infinite love with which God loved the world.” (John 3:16).
“To progress in its discernment, the Church absolutely needs to listen to everyone, starting with the poorest. This requires a path of conversion on its part, which is also a path of praise,” reads part of the letter shared Wednesday, October 25, as it explains that the Church needs to listen to those who have been denied the right to speak in society or who feel excluded, even by the Church herself.
They expounded on the aspect of listening and emphasized that the Church which is expected not to leave anyone behind, needs to “listen to people who are victims of racism in all its forms, in particular in some regions to indigenous peoples whose cultures have been scorned.”
Above all, the letter endorsed by the Holy Father reads further in relation to listening to victims of abuse, “The Church of our time has the duty to listen, in a spirit of conversion, to those who have been victims of abuse committed by members of the ecclesial body, and to commit herself concretely and structurally to ensuring that this does not happen again.”
The monthlong assembly that commenced October 4, and is expected to conclude October 29, brought together bishops, clerics, laity, and youths in virtue of their baptism as the first synod ever where all sat at the same table to take part, not only in the discussions but also in the voting process of the Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.
The over 400 delegates from all corners of the world, stressed the need for the Church to listen to “the laity, to all people called to holiness by virtue of their baptismal vocation, to the testimony of catechists, who in many situations are the first proclaimers of the Gospel, to the simplicity and vivacity of children, the enthusiasm of youth, to their questions, and their pleas; to the dreams, the wisdom and the memory of elderly people.”
The Church needs to listen further “to families, to their educational concerns, to the Christian witness they offer in today’s world, and to welcome the voice of those who want to be involved in lay ministries and to participate in discernment and decision-making structures.”
Throughout the synodal assembly, delegates have engaged in Spiritual Conversation methodology which they reveal in the letter has made them “humbly share the wealth and poverty of our communities from every continent, seeking to discern what the Holy Spirit wants to say to the Church today.”
“We have thus also experienced the importance of fostering mutual exchanges between the Latin tradition and the traditions of Eastern Christianity. The participation of fraternal delegates from other Churches and Ecclesial Communities deeply enriched our discussions,” reads part of the letter from the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.
The synod officials disclosed that the assembly took place in the context of a world in crisis, “whose wounds and scandalous inequalities resonated painfully in our hearts, infusing our work with a particular gravity, especially since some of us come from countries where war rages.”
“We prayed for the victims of deadly violence, without forgetting all those who have been forced by misery and corruption to take the dangerous road of migration. We assured our solidarity and commitment alongside the women and men all over the world who are working to build justice and peace,” they said in the Wednesday letter.
Officials of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops hope that preparations for the second session of the Synod slated for October 2024, “will allow everyone to concretely participate in the dynamism of missionary communion indicated by the word “synod.” Not about ideology, but about an experience rooted in the apostolic tradition.”
