VATICAN: Ten Synod on Synodality Themes the Study Groups Need to Reflect On
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
Mid-last month, the Vatican created study groups of experts to reflect on ten thematic areas on issues raised from the first phase of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.
In the work outline which states that the study groups need to work in collaboration with the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, it reads in part, “In the Letter sent to the Secretary General of the Synod on 22 February 2024, the Holy Father gathered these issues into ten points, indicating them as questions that, “by their nature, must be addressed with in-depth study.”
In the first theme, Church experts are expected to look into ‘aspects of relations between the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Latin Church.’ From the first Synod Assembly in October 2023, delegates noted that the Eastern and Latin Churches need to have mutual understanding to the increasing number of immigrants.
“For various reasons, the establishment of Oriental hierarchies in the countries of immigration is not sufficient to solve the problem, but it is necessary that the local Churches of the Latin rite, in the name of synodality, help the Oriental faithful who have emigrated to preserve their identity and cultivate their specific heritage, without undergoing processes of assimilation,” reads the Synthesis Report (SR) in chapter 6 article c.
The second thematic area is “Listening to the cry of the poor,” which allows Christians to “assume the attitude of Jesus towards the people he met” (SR 16d).
“Each person has his or her own story; what unites them all is the experience of being victims of forms of marginalization, exclusion, abuse or oppression, in many different situations and even in the Christian community,” the Vatican statement reads and continues, “For these people, being listened to is an experience of affirmation and recognition of their own dignity that is deeply transformative.”
The study group focusing on this concern is therefore to investigate how to strengthen the Church’s capacity to listen to the different forms of poverty and marginalization at different levels and, above all, at the local level.
The experts will be coordinated by the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development (PIHD), together with the General Secretariat of the Synod and the Dicastery for the Service of Charity.
The third issue is on ‘The Mission in the Digital Environment,’ which stresses that “every aspect of human life must be recognized as a culture and not only as an area of activity.”
Even though this area concerns everyone, the Vatican highlights that the digital environment is specially marked by the youths since many of these young people “have abandoned the physical spaces of the Church,” hence the need to involve them in online spaces.
The study group to examine this issue will be coordinated by the Dicastery for Communications and the General Secretariat of the Synod; the Dicastery for Culture and Education and the Dicastery for Evangelization.
The fourth theme will deeply reflect on ‘The revision of the Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis in a missionary synodal perspective,’ on formation of deacons and priests.
According to the concern raised from the first phase of synod in October 2023, “seminaries or other courses of formation for candidates for the ministry need to be linked to the daily life of the communities” (SR 11e). Delegates noted that “the formation path should not create “an artificial environment, separate from the common life of the faithful” (SR 14n).
The task force for this area of reflection will be coordinated by the Dicastery for the Clergy, the General Secretariat of the Synod, and the Dicasteries for Evangelisation; for the Eastern Churches; for the Laity, Family, and Life; for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; for Culture and Education.
The fifth thematic area is on ‘theological and canonical questions about specific ministerial forms,’ to strengthen the relationship between charisms and ministries from a missionary perspective which do not oppose each other. Besides proposing practical ways, from a theological and canonical point of view, to promote and support the participation of all the baptized in the mission of the Church in different contexts, the group will need to reflect on the question of women’s possible access to the diaconate.
The study group for this concern will be coordinated by the General Secretariat of the Synod in collaboration with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and in dialogue with the various relevant Dicasteries.
The sixth theme on ‘revision, in a synodal missionary perspective, of the documents on the relations between Bishops, Consecrated life, Ecclesial aggregations,’ the Vatican says, is to reflect on the guiding criteria of this relationship proposed in the 1978 document Mutuae relations” (SR 10g).
Since synodality goes hand in hand with the recognition and enhancement of the charisms of all members of the People of God, Vatican notes that the October Assembly highlighted “the importance of the articulation of hierarchical and charismatic gifts in the life and mission of the Church.”
The Study Group will be coordinated by the General Secretariat of the Synod, in collaboration with the Dicasteries for Bishops, for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, for Evangelization (Section for the First Evangelization and the New Particular Churches), and the Laity, Family and Life which should also involve and include the international bodies of representation of consecrated life (UISG and USG) and the different ecclesial aggregations.
The seventh theme will focus on ‘the person and ministry of the Bishop’ thus looking at the criteria for selecting candidates for episcopacy, judicial function of the Bishops, nature and course of ad limina Apostolorum visits.
The theme will be discussed in two different groups with the first group coordinated by the Dicastery of Bishops and the General Secretariat of the Synod, and the Dicastery for Evangelisation and the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches reflecting on the selection procedures and ad limina Apostolorum visits.
The second study group coordinated by the Dicastery for Legislative Texts and the General Secretariat of the Synod, with the participation of the Dicasteries for Bishops and Evangelisation, will delve into the topic of the Bishop’s judicial function and how to bring out the thin line difference on the role of father and that of judge (cf. SR 12i).
The eighth theme is to discuss ‘the role of Papal Representatives in a missionary synodal perspective,’ and “reconsider how this ministry can help consolidate the bonds of communion between the local Churches and the Successor of Peter, enabling him to know, with more certainty, their needs and aspirations.”
This group will be coordinated by the Secretariat of State and the General Secretariat of the Synod, with the involvement of the Dicasteries for Bishops and for Evangelisation.
The ninth theme will concentrate on ‘Theological criteria and synodal methodologies as a basis for shared discernment of controversial doctrinal, pastoral, and ethical issues,’ where experts will reflect on the relationship between love and truth witnessed by Jesus and the repercussions that it has on many controversial issues.
According to the Vatican’s statement the group “would reinterpret the traditional categories of anthropology, soteriology, and theological ethics to better clarify the relationship between charity and truth in fidelity to Jesus’s life and teaching, and consequently also between pastoral care and (moral) doctrine.
This group will be coordinated by the Prefect of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith and the Secretary of the International Theological Commission, with the support of the General Secretariat of the Synod. The Pontifical Academy for Life is invited to make its contribution.
The last theme will be ‘The reception of the fruits of the ecumenical journey in ecclesial practices.’ This needs a deeper reflection “In light of theological dialogues and paying attention to the concrete ecclesial repercussions deepening the mutual interdependence between synodality and primacy at different ecclesial levels, with particular reference to “the way of understanding the Petrine ministry at the service of unity” (SR 7h);
The Study Group will be coordinated by the General Secretary of the Synod and the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity.
These study groups comprise of theologians, canon lawyers, and other experts from among the competent Dicasteries of the Roman Curia and the General Secretariat of the Synod. They are expected to submit a progress report by 5 September 2024 to be presented to the Second Session of the Synodal Assembly in October, and the reflection continues through to June 2025.
