The upcoming synod must not follow the German path

We need to be wary of factions who will try to manipulate the planned meeting for their own purposes, writes David Quinn

The bishops have announced that they are to hold a national synod of the Church within the next five years. It will be a meeting of priests, religious and laypeople to discuss the future of the Church in Ireland. But is such a meeting necessary, or wise? Might it be hijacked? Could it make unmeetable demands for changes in core doctrines? The idea will be to renew the Church, but it might create division and anger instead.

The bishops made their announcement following their latest quarterly meeting. The initial phase, to last two years, is to be one of prayer, listening, consultation, discernment.

Synodality is about the whole People of God helping each other listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church”

They say this will allow “individuals and parishes, religious orders and associations as well as groups, movements and organisations both within the Church and in Irish society at large, to share their insights into the Church in Ireland – past, present and future”.

The synod itself is to address the issues of “solidarity, outreach to the peripheries and the promise of a new Pentecost”.

It will examine the secularisation of society, the scandals, the “need to promote peace-making and a culture of welcome”, transparency, the family, young people and their relationship with the Church, the contribution of women.

The bishops say in their statement announcing the synod that the word itself “evokes the image of walking together on the way”.  They say “it is a time-honoured way of working out together the navigation map” for the Church at particular times. Synodality is about the whole People of God helping each other listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church”.

In June, the bishops aim to set up a working group to examine how best to progress things. This “will be made up of lay women and men, including young people, religious, priests and bishops”.

Main purpose

Encouragingly, they say the main purpose of the synod will be “finding the best ways for every baptised person to fulfil the Church’s mission of proclaiming to the world, God’s love and salvation in Jesus Christ”.

Why am I personally sceptical about the idea? Shouldn’t we simply trust that the Holy Spirit will bring the best out of it? Ultimately, of course, the Holy Spirit brings the best out of everything, but to simply say ‘trust the Holy Spirit’ would mean abandoning the need for prudence when embarking on any enterprise. It is a way of short-circuiting debate about the wisdom of something.

For example, the Catholic Church as a whole, has held only 21 ‘ecumenical councils’ in its history, the last one being the Second Vatican Council which ran from 1962-1965.

The reason they are rare is that, even when necessary, they take a very long time to absorb. They are often very controversial. The first, the Council of Nicaea in the Fourth Century was controversial, so was the Council of Trent, and Vatican I as well as Vatican II.

Something similar will definitely be at play before, during and after the upcoming synod as various factions try to manipulate the meeting to their purposes”

They were the scenes of rows and machinations.

Often kings and emperors would try and interfere. I always remember a remark by Archbishop Tom Morris who said at the beginning of the Second Vatican Council that in the past monarchs sought to influence councils, and this time it would be the media.

The famous letters of ‘Xavier Rynne’, which were published by The New Yorker magazine, were a good example of that.

Something similar will definitely be at play before, during and after the upcoming synod as various factions try to manipulate the meeting to their purposes. There is no doubt that the national media will provide a very willing platform to those calling for women priests, married clergy, a change to the teaching on contraception and sexual morality more generally.

We will be told that these are the voices that must be listened to most of all if the Church wants to pull itself out of its rut, make progress, and reconnect with modern Ireland.

None of that would work, of course. It has never done so for any of the Churches which have tried it, that is to say, the Churches which comprise liberal Protestantism.

In the US, what they call ‘mainline Protestantism’ has gone into steeper decline than practically any other part of the broader Christian Church precisely by going down this path.

The German Catholic Church has been holding a synod and the voices beckoning the Church down this road have been loud and insistent.

This is why Pope Francis, who likes and supports synods generally, has had to warn the German Church to avoid calling for reforms that will only break the German Church away from the universal Church.

Bishop Heinz Josef Algermissen, the retired bishop of Fulda, met the Pope in October and they discussed the German synod.

According to the online magazine, Crux Now, the pontiff expressed a “‘dramatic concern’ over the Catholic Church in Germany and its ‘synodal path’ of reform that began last year, which could include reviewing ‘taboo’ issues such as priestly celibacy and a female priesthood”.

Holy Spirit

If the Pope simply ‘trusted the Holy Spirit’, he would not have spoken about his concerns.

In fact, before the German synod even began, he issued a letter warning that the synod should not think restructuring the Church and making impossible doctrinal demands would substitute for evangelisation.

Ultimately, this synod will only succeed if it is faithful to the revealed Word of God. Only then will the Holy Spirit allow it to bear fruit.