"The bishop is not the lord of the church, but the servant of the Lord, at the service of his community" Father Carlos María Galli, a Catholic University of Argentina professor, told synod participants and public members at a forum on October 9.

The forum "The Role and Authority of the Bishop in a Synodal Church" is part of a series on the theological foundations of synodality.

Over 200 participants including numerous cardinals and bishops attended the discussion. They and members of the public engaged in dialogue with the five theologians who made presentations.

The discussions acknowledged the heavy and stressful administrative and pastoral burdens placed on bishops.

However, the Synod's working document clarified that the role of a bishop is not one of power but to unify the diverse gifts of the Church. Bishops are called to foster communion among the faithful, not to act as sole authorities.

Prioritise pastoral care

Father Matteo Visioli, a canon law professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University, noted that all the baptised share in the mission of the Church. He called on bishops to delegate certain tasks and involve the laity in governance. This should not be as a matter of permission but because of their baptismal rights.

The theologians urged bishops to embrace a collaborative, synodal approach to leadership and prioritise their pastoral mission over administrative duties.

Sister Liliana Franco Echeverri, a member of the Company of Mary and president of the Confederation of Latin American and Caribbean Religious, told the bishops "We do not want your administrative tasks to take away from your most authentic vocation: to be a pastor, a caretaker who makes decisions with love".

"You, too, are disciples," she told them. "Your first mission is to be a witness of the Gospel."

Pope Francis recently called for a re-examination of the role of bishops in the Catholic Church. He emphasised the need for greater collaboration with laypeople.

"Never can a bishop, or any other Christian, think of himself ‘without others'" the pope said. "Just as no one is saved alone, the proclamation of salvation needs everyone and requires that everyone be heard."

Sources

Our Sunday Visitor

CathNews New Zealand

At the October 9 forum on "The Role and Authority of the Bishop in a Synodal Church," hosted in a conference hall near the Vatican, four theologians and a canon lawyer gave presentations on finding and following the correct interpretation of the Second Vatican Council's teaching on episcopal authority, with frequent citations of the council's dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium.

Speakers claimed an important part of synodality is implementing the proper understanding of a bishop's authority in his diocese, which demands cooperation with laypeople.

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It must engage widely with contemporary science, culture and people's lived experience as an essential starting point.

Citing the need to deal with "profound cultural transformations," Francis's vision for Catholic theology's future is encapsulated in a new motu proprio (apostolic letter) issued on Saturday.

Called "Ad theologiam promovendam" (To Promote Theology), the letter revises the Pontifical Academy of Theology (PATH) statutes.

Francis says his aim in doing so is "to make them more suitable for the mission that our time imposes on theology."

Theology can develop only in a culture of dialogue and encounter between different traditions and different knowledge, he says.

It needs to consider "different Christian confessions and different religions, openly engaging with everyone, believers and nonbelievers."

Fundamentally contextual

Catholic theology must experience a "courageous cultural revolution" to become a "fundamentally contextual theology" Francis wrote.

Guided by Christ's incarnation in time and space, this theological approach must be able to read and interpret the Gospel as and where people are.

Francis contrasted this approach with theology limited to "abstractly re-proposing formulas and schemes from the past."

Theological studies must be open to the world as a profound "turning point" in their method, which must be "inductive" Francis wrote.

He stressed that this bottom-up re-envisioning of theology is necessary to better aid the Church's evangelising mission.

"A synodal, missionary and outgoing Church can correspond only to an outgoing' theology" he wrote.

This dialogical approach can allow theology to "broaden the boundaries" of scientific reasoning, by allowing it to overcome dehumanising tendencies, he says.

‘Transdisciplinary' and pastoral

Theology must become a "transdisciplinary" part of a "web of relationships" to achieve change, Pope Francis explained.

Priority must be given to "the knowledge of people's common sense" he says.

This is a "theological source in which many images of God live, often not corresponding to the Christian face of God, only and always love."

This "pastoral stamp" must be placed upon all of Catholic theology, he insists.

Described as "popular theology," theological reflection can help with discerning the "signs of the times" he wrote. Theology serves with evangelisation and in transmitting faith, so that faith becomes culture.

Next steps

PATH's president, Bishop Antonio Staglianò, welcomes the fresh outlook.

"Pope Francis entrusts our Pontifical Academy with a new mission: that of promoting, in every area of knowledge, discussion and dialogue ... to reach and involve all of the people of God in theological research so ... [their life] becomes theological life."

PATH will now "network with universities and centres of production of culture and thought," he says.

It will also explore "culturally qualified" ways to propose the Gospel as a life guide, even to atheists.

In addition, PATH will exercise a commitment to "intellectual charity" by focusing on the questions and needs of those "on the existential peripheries."

Source

• AP News
• Eurasia Review

The archbishop, an Argentine, had been since 2018 the Archbishop of La Plata, and was before that the rector of Argentina's Catholic University — a role to which he was appointed by then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio.

Widely regarded as the author of the 2016 apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, Fernandez has long been a close collaborator of the pope.

Since his July 1 appointment, Fernandez has made waves — because of comments on the possibility of same-sex liturgical blessings, his handling of abuse allegations, and because of "Heal me with your mouth," a 1995 book the archbishop wrote on the subject of kissing.

Amid those waves, Pope Francis named Fernandez a cardinal July 9 — he will officially join the College of Cardinals in late September.

In an interview by email July 17, Fernandez offered his assessment of the moral landscape, and discussed his mandate in the Church, and his sense of the place and moment of Catholic theology.

Pillar: What, in your opinion, are the three or four central moral questions facing the Church at this moment in history? What is the role of the DDF in addressing them? What is the pope's approach to these issues?

Fernandez :If we talk only about morality, I would say these four:

• The absolute primacy of grace and charity in Catholic moral theology.
• The inalienable dignity of each human person, and the consequences of that.
• The preferential option for the poor, the last, and those abandoned by society.
• The individualistic, hedonistic and egocentric approaches to life that make the option for marriage, family and the common good difficult.

But we would be off to a bad start if we separated morality from theology.

We should remember that for Francis, moral issues must be approached with the great announcement of the kerygma: a Father who loves us and who seeks our human fulfillment, reflected in a Christ who saved us, who saves us today, and now lives to communicate his new life to us.

Pillar: In his letter to you on your appointment, Pope Francis said that previously, the [DDF], "rather than promoting theological knowledge, possible doctrinal errors were pursued. What I expect from you is certainly something very different," something you have since called a "turning point.

However, Praedicate evangelium, also written by Pope Francis says that the DDF "works to ensure that errors and dangerous teachings circulating among the Christian people do not go without suitable rebuttal."

These two documents seem to present different views of the role of the DDF in the safeguarding of doctrine. How do you think they can be reconciled? What is your approach to your appointment at the DDF?

Fernandez: Look, if you read the pope's letter carefully, it is clear that at no time does he say that the function of refuting errors should disappear.

Obviously, if someone says that Jesus is not a real man or that all immigrants should be killed, that will require strong intervention.

But at the same time, that [intervention] can be an opportunity to grow, to enrich our understanding.

For example, in those cases, it would be necessary to accompany that person in their legitimate intention to better show the divinity of Jesus Christ, or it will be necessary to talk about some imperfect, incomplete or problematic immigration legislation.

In the letter, the pope says very explicitly that the dicastery has to "guard" the teaching of the Church. Only that at the same time - and this is his right - he asks me for a greater commitment to help the development of thought, such as when difficult questions arise, because growth is more effective than control.

Heresies were eradicated better and faster when there was adequate theological development, and they spread and perpetuated when there were only condemnations.

But Francis also asks me to help collect the recent magisterium, and this evidently includes his own. It is part of what must be "guarded." Read more

• Edgar Beltrán is a philosopher and political scientist from Maracaibo, Venezuela. He is doing a Master's in Philosophy of Religion at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.