Outside, the storms rumbled; the sky over Sydney was dark. Inside the room, a wind blew through the doors; the curtains billowed. There were no tongues of fire but the presence of the Spirit was real and she wasn’t happy.
Yes; there is a tradition in the ancient Church that the Spirit of Pentecost, and the third person of the Trinity, is Ruah, a female. With gender and identity such hot buttons in our world today, how appropriate was it for the Spirit to reveal herself during last year’s Australian Plenary Council debate on Section 4 of the agenda, ‘The Role of Women’.
The intervention at such a critical point in deliberations, turned the Council on its head and led it down a whole new path. The Spirit saved.
As Christopher Lamb reflected in The Tablet magazine, the Australian Plenary Council may well offer a model for future synods around the world, if not so much for its own outcomes, for the promise of its processes.
REVIEW OF PRACTICES
To unpack synodality, let’s take a look at what we know to be ‘A-synodal’ (my newest word) the very antithesis of it. What traditions and practices need review in the Church today?
During the Listening phase of the Plenary process, individuals, local parishes, religious orders, Catholic agencies, institutions and various think tanks workshopped priority lists for the Church to consider – challenges for the Plenary and suggestions on ways forward.
The ‘Top 10’ challenges on most lists sought action on (and not necessarily in the same order):
– optional celibacy;
– participation of women and men;
– clericalism;
– formation of priests and ‘priestly people’;
– governance/co-responsibility for church management;
– inclusion;
– the joy of liturgy/language;
– defining mission and ministry;
– reconciliation, Communion, mercy; and
– a visible and meaningful lament for the tragedy of abuse.
I dare say upcoming Synods will wrestle with these same issues.
FRESH APPROACH
What entered the room at the Australian Plenary were fairly entrenched positions around the above issues; non-negotiable lines in the sand. What emerged from the room was a fresh approach, a new direction. A ‘synodal’ way of thinking. Led by the Spirit, we were asked to abandon our ramparts and ask ourselves one question – ‘What can I live with?’
The clouds broke; it was mid-week, and the sun shone through the skylights. The Spirit was lighting our way.
The decrees from the 5th Australian Plenary Council are now in the hands of Pope Francis who will return them to our bishops before the end of this year with his responses. Most of the top 10 made it into decrees in one shape or form, though not all.
Optional celibacy did not make it; nor the related issues around women clergy. Reflecting on this, I feel that delegates were too captive by the present and did not look to the future role of priest and priestly people. They were not convinced that celibacy was relevant to current clergy, given their average age.
However, there was no real discussion on the obstacles to attracting and keeping future clergy or indeed on the role of women as partners of clergy and maybe as members of the future ordained clergy themselves. The priests did not take, as a group, take up the issue up, despite the lay participants across the nation initiating the opportunity in the Listening and Discernment phases of the Plenary Process. These issues remain unresolved.
SYNODAL CHURCH
So, what could a synodal Church look like? How do we address the Plenary ‘Top Ten’ and turn the things around? The glimpses we receive from Pope Francis describe a listening, sharing, joyful, inclusive, prayerful, hope filled and Christ-centred Church. This links our time to the origins of Christianity. It is a stirring idea.
The village of Magdella is a stone’s throw from Capernaum, Christ’s refuge on the shores of Galilee. From there Mary Magdalene stepped into the Christian story from its beginning, later elevated to be the first witness to the Resurrection. Mary, apostle to the apostles.
A Synodal Church must welcome, treasure and nurture its women and harness the power of the female spirit, together with men, to renew their mission as apostles. There should be no limits to the role of women.
Future Synods and Plenary Councils would have equal participation of lay and clerical delegates with equal voting values. This structure would be reflected across the Church with co-responsibility for governance being the key.
The formation of both priests and priestly people should be integrated and take full advantage of the latest evidence-based education strategies – on-the-job training, co-educational cohorts, multiple entry and exit points, online and face-to-face options. The required skill set for ministry should be common across all streams of Mission, as dictated by job needs. Less seminary time would allow more engagement and give better opportunities to develop relationship building skills.
LOVE, MERCY AND PEACE
A synodal Church would offer the love, the mercy and the peace of Christ to all. Communion would be the food of mercy not the reward of the righteous.
Cross-fertilisation between the various streams of Church mission would strengthen outcomes for schools, service agencies, hospitals, diocesan and parish operations. Collaborative liturgies in the synodal Church would respect, and celebrate the cultures and languages of local communities and incorporate them into ceremony.
Above all, the Spirit of Pentecost and third person of the Trinity would breathe life into the mission of a more joyful, Christ-centred, prayerful and hopeful Church.
Paul Fleming is retired and lives on the South Coast of NSW with wife of 43 years Janet. He enjoys cryptic crosswords, fun with a few pets, the local wild birds and a volunteer role at St Vincent De Paul, Ulladulla. Paul was elected secretary of the local Milton parish Plenary Animation Team gathering the ideas, suggestions and concerns of local parishioners in the Listening and Discernment phases; then selected by the Bishops Council as a lay delegate to the 5th Australian Plenary Council.
Image: Jesper Storgaard Jensen
