Commenting on Facebook, Martin said it was difficult to examine Synod's first session synthesis and see how it was expressed in the second session's instrumentum laboris (agenda).

It's not what you'd call a task for the fainthearted: it took quite a lot of thinking and reflection.

On the plus side, the task has left him with several hopes for the synod outcome.

Hopes for the synod

"I hope at the synod we're aware of what we as a Church are going through and experiencing now" Martin said .

"We need to consider the hopes of people and try to be faithful to that, while also being faithful to what the Church calls us to be and do."

He hopes confidently that he, Pa Dennis Nacorda and Mr Manuel Beazley (the Vicar for Maori in the Diocese of Auckland) "will try to be authentically faithful to our people, ... [and] to the church".

As to how that will emerge, Martin says "we'll just have to wait and see" what happens at the synod.

A Synodal Church on Mission

The second session is asking us how can we be a synodal church on mission, Martin explains.

Many points raised in the synthesis report have been picked up in the instrumentum and presented as topics and ways of discussing.

"There's some theological reflection around the points and then how that might look" he says.

There are also questions around authority - and what it looks like.

Other questions delve into the baptismal call of all people or examine how we as a Church can be faithful to our tradition, while looking at how we might live that more fully and fruitfully.

Martin said he has come to appreciate the instrumentum is a practical document: it provides practical things to talk about at the synod, he found.

Several key topics are being dealt with separately from the synod, which will feed into the bigger questions for the Church, he noted.

He sees a tension in being aware of what the Church is going through and experiencing now, the many and varied hopes of people - and trying to be faithful to those - while being faithful to the Church.

Ongoing mission

Synodality is not a box you can tick and then say we're now synodal, Martin said.

"It's a process, it's an attitude, it's a way of living, being people of the spirit, of allowing the church to be the fullness of who it should and is called to be.

"I don't think that come the 26th of October we'll all walk away and say 'Well that's done now, isn't that helpful?'" he said.

Source

• La Croix
• NZCBC - Facebook

The document was relatively stunning in its admission of challenges, beauty of language on the Trinity and Christ and mission; and, for its announcement that opening the diaconate for women will not be a topic of discussion at this coming October synod in Rome.

But there were many omissions — too many for a document that was to lay out the next steps in the "listening" process called synodality.

When it comes to my beloved Catholic Church, I am a realist.

I did not expect there to be a decision on women deacons finalised and announced after the October synod.

I did, however, expect input from experts, robust dialogue, learning and discerning among those present.

Last year's proposal

The synthesis report from last October contained 81 proposals.

Those proposals included bishop accountability, enhancing priest engagement in the synod, more formation for laity and priests, establishing ministries for youth in local parishes, and increasing awareness of Catholic social doctrine, among many others.

The proposals were contained within the document's three major parts: "The Face of the Synodal Church," "All Disciples, All Missionaries," and "Weaving Bonds, Building Communities."

These proposals were the outcome of global listening sessions in parishes, schools and other institutions; with results compiled into diocesan, national and then continental reports.

These reports from around the world were reviewed, analysed and summarised in the Document for the Continental Stage. That information then led to the instrumentum laboris, which guided the discussions for the October 2023 in Rome.

Each of these reports contained the aspirations and frustrations of Catholics from around the world and provided a foundation for future listening and discussion.

The Document for the Continental Stage, for example, opened with the call for us to "enlarge the space of your tent, spread out your tent clothes unsparingly; lengthen your ropes and make firm your pegs" (Isaiah 54:2), urging the church to expand the horizons of our structure and mission.

This month, the instrumentum laboris for the October 2024 synod discussions in Rome was released, with 112 separate assertions. Paragraph 17 notes:

"While some local Churches call for women to be admitted to the diaconal ministry, others reiterate their opposition.

"On this issue, which will not be the subject of the work of the Second Session, it is good that theological reflection should continue, on an appropriate timescale and in the appropriate ways.

"The fruits of Study Group 5, which will take into consideration the results of the two Commissions that have dealt with the question in the past, will contribute to its maturation."

The problem

Here's my fundamental issue with this declaration.

The synthesis report from last October included 81 separate proposals.

Of those 81, the only one itemised as "not … the subject of work of the second session" is one regarding women's ordination as deacons.

That, along with Pope Francis' "no" response during a recent interview about whether little girls can look forward to being deacons in the future, is a bit chilling.

While there is language about continued theological reflection — it does seem odd to call out this issue as the only one off the synod table.

Also odd is the rationale.

The fact that some churches call for women's ordination and others do not is an inadequate reason for not discussing an issue.

I would argue every one of those 81 proposals has some support and some opposition.

Since when has 100 percent agreement in the Catholic Church been a criterion for moving forward?

Aside from a handful of the obvious, I can't name a single theological, social, political or moral issue all Catholics can agree with. (Even the "obvious" might be a challenge.)

Here are the practical impacts of this decision.

Catholics around the world are hopeful about changes that could arise from collective listening to the Holy Spirit.

People have spent hours engaged in the process; speaking from the heart about what they love about the church — and what breaks their heart.

My simple expectation is to continue the process.

We know the church is proud of "thinking in centuries" and that change comes slowly. It is, however, even slower when you don't bother to fully discuss an issue in an ongoing listening and discerning process.

Women deacons necessary

Fundamentally, the church needs women deacons.

I attended Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry and the Jesuit School of Theology Sabbatical Renewal Program. I also participated in the Loyola Institute of Spirituality Spiritual Exercises for Everyday Life.

In each of these sessions, as well as in my parishes, I have met many women capable of serving as deacons, and frankly, as priests. Read more

• Daryl Grigsby is an author and is currently a presenter in the Jesuit School of Theology Sabbatical Renewal Program.

Women deacons, the ministry of bishops, and synodal formation for future priests are some of these issues.

Mainly male groups, none local

The Vatican says 15 study groups will work together to tease out the universal Church concerns.

A look at the individuals the Vatican has selected shows not one is a New Zealander.

Three of those invited to participate in the study groups are from Australia; one of the three is female.

They are Bishop Shane Mackinlay, theologian Fr Ormond Rush and social justice leader Professor Sandie Cornish.

The study groups' male-female makeup seems curiously unbalanced, with most groups being at least three quarters men.

Study topics

At the Pope's request the Roman Curia dicasteries have been collaborating with the Synod General Secretariat about the topics the study groups will consider.

They are working together to deepen theological, pastoral and canonical reflections on themes that emerged during the synodal assembly in October 2023.

Francis also asked for additional study groups to provide deeper theological analysis of "five perspectives" ahead of the synod.

Instrumentum Laboris, the guiding document for this October's assembly, makes frequent reference to these study groups and their individual briefs.

New Zealand's contribution

Instrumentum Laboris is based on 108 national summaries provided to the General Secretariat by bishops' conferences around the world.

At the end of May the NZ Bishops Conference sent New Zealand's contribution to Rome.

"Towards October 2024" includes Catholic voices from the length and breadth of Aotearoa New Zealand.

CathNews sought comment from Catholic Communications about the lack of New Zealand involvement in the study groups and a range of other issues, but the person we needed to speak to is on leave.

Source

• CNA
• CathNews Australia
• NZ Catholic Bishops Conference
• NZ Catholic Bishops Conference

The Vatican-published document - called the Instrumentum Laboris (or Working Instrument) - is based on 108 national summaries of bishops' conferences from around the world presented to the General Secretariat.

It is not a magisterial document or a catechism, but a way to encourage prayer, dialogue, discernment and the "maturing of a consensus", according to an explanatory paper.

The second round of the Synod on Synodality is to focus more on how decision-making processes in the church can be made more transparent at all levels.

The NZCBC also says the General Secretariat considered submissions from the 300 parish priests from around the world who attended a three-day working session in Rome in April, including Whanganui Parish Priest Fr Craig Butler.

The working paper

The working paper consists of five sections - the introduction, a section on "foundations" of the understanding of synodality, and three "perspectives" sections covering relationships, paths and places.

The NZCBC says the assembly will conclude with a final document,

After that, the synodal process will continue as "the entire People of God in each local Church will be called to concretise the call to grow as a synodal missionary people".

Transparency, accountability, synodality

The working paper focuses particularly on the need for transparency and accountability, and also on the role of women in the Church.

"A synodal church needs a culture and practice of transparency and accountability, which are essential to foster the mutual trust necessary to walk together and take co-responsibility for the common mission" the working paper says.

Demands for transparency and accountability are especially high-profile because of the Church's loss of credibility due to sexual abuse and financial scandals.

The paper also emphasises the fundamental need to make synodality visible in the Church through concrete changes.

"Without concrete changes, the vision of a synodal Church will not be credible, and this will alienate those members of the people of God who have drawn strength and hope from the synodal way."

The need to recognise and strengthen the position of women in all areas of Church life has become clear in the course of the synodal process, the paper says.

"The contributions from all over the world called for a broader participation of women in all phases of church decision-making processes as well as better access to positions of responsibility in dioceses and church organisations in accordance with existing regulations."

The Australian Bishops Conference welcomes the Instrumentum Laboris' publication.

President Archbishop Timothy Costelloe says the working document "will help guide the members of the second assembly of the Synod during their meeting in October in Rome.

"The fruits of that meeting and the consensus that emerges will be entrusted to the Holy Father. He will then, after his own prayerful discernment, offer guidance and direction for the universal Church as it enters the implementation phase of the synodal journey."

Source

• NZ Catholic Bishops Conference
• Australian Catholic Bishops Conference
• Katholisch.de