Steps to a Synodal Church - Reflections on the recent CPW conference

Synodality (an awkward sounding word) is set to become a defining concept for the Catholic church in the coming years. And it will be the guiding principle for CPW as it explores how it is to re-form itself in its next stage of life.

So it was very timely that we should have a conference to explore this theme now; and how fortunate we were to have Greg Ryan a professor in the Theology Department of Durham University to act as our guide.

The impetus for this reorientation in the Church has come from Pope Francis. Although there have been Synods of Bishops for some years, which is now envisaged is a much wider and deeper implementation of the synodal process at all levels in the church.

But what do we mean by "synodal"? The Pope in one of his typically homely phrases describes it as "holding hands and walking together". This simple phrase picks up some of the key ideas:

- holding hands - the process must be carried out in friendship, respect and fellowship
- walking - it is a process not an event
- together - it is a joint exercise; no longer the teachers and the taught as two separate groups but all the church together, listening and learning from each other.

Greg's talk, packed in a huge amount of material - a weekend or a week would hardly do justice to it - so this report inevitably does no more than touch on one or two points which struck me.

The call for synodality and the holding of synods in a number of parts of the world already, with extensive collaboration in preparation for them involving in all levels with the church, is not just a minor shift in systems but is potentially momentous. It is a Kairos moment for the church. It is what God is calling the Church to be in the third millennium. But as was stressed in the talk, it is not enough just to hold periodic synods; we have to develop ways of being a synodal church at all levels.

One of the key documents on synodality is the 2018 report from the International Theological Commission (ITC) - a group of some thirty distinguished theologians from all parts of the world - who advise the church on important issues. (Having attempted to get to grips with the lengthy document, I can only admire the way Greg managed to make it both comprehensible and lively).

He picked out three key aspects from it:
1. Synodality is a style of being church; it makes no distinction between the taught and the teachers; it is not a superficial change but one rooted in mutual respect and prayer; it requires time, openness to others and mutual respect and love.
2. It requires well established systems and processes which are easy to understand and are accessible to all, including those on the margins of the church; it should include openness to the insights of other churches.
3. Specific synods need to be held either covering a topic e.g. youth, the Amazon or involving the church in a particular region such as the recent one in the Liverpool archdiocese. Or they may be general ones covering the whole church.

The application to CPW of the insights of the ITC report and Greg's talks, occupied us during the afternoon session. It was felt that CPW already incorporated many aspects of synodality in the way we work and act but we still have to continue to learn on our journey in the crucial period which we are now entering.

I would like to conclude by making a special mention of the contributions of Diane Ryan - Diane is an Anglican priest and her leading us in prayer and her insights from her experience of the synodal processes in the Anglican church were especially helpful.

A wonderful first step on our journey to become truly synodal in our way of being church - thanks to Brid and all who helped to organise and facilitate this Zoom event.

~ Mike Monaghan