What’s the only thing better than travelling for the first time in two years after a stressful and claustrophobic period of pandemic? It’s having the privilege of visiting the Vatican as part of the opening ceremonies of the Catholic Church’s synod on the topic of synodality itself, entitled Synod 2023: Communion, Participation, and Mission.
I was grateful to have the opportunity, but began the trip with a lot of questions and, frankly, confusion. What’s a “synod” again? What does “synodality” mean?
A colleague jokingly said, “Joe, you’re attending the opening meeting for the three-year meeting on the very idea of meetings.”
I had ample time on my 10-hour journey to Rome with a stopover in Munich to reflect on this perplexity. What am I doing in Rome? What are we really going to talk about? What kind of outcomes or fruit are we meant to observe as a result of this process?
The reason for my own attendance at this synodal process was my first clue. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, I was invited to participate as a member of the newly-formed International Youth Advisory Body, itself a fruit of the 2018 Synod on Youth. Our body was called to provide the Church with direct access to a representative body of young people from around the world who could share their voice on crucial issues in the Church.
Due to travel restrictions imposed because of the pandemic, our gatherings were cancelled. The opening ceremonies in Rome were the first opportunity to finally gather together in person.
As a member of the advisory body, I shared the responsibility and burden of making sure the Church the voice of young people, especially Canadian youth. We were no longer on the outside looking in. Synodality, as I was coming to discover, was akin to Alexander Burr in Broadway’s Hamilton, wanting to be “in the room where it happens.”
As I sat waiting for my connecting flight, I remembered hearing a reflection on the etymological origins of the word synod. In Luke’s Gospel, Mary and Joseph lost track of Jesus on the way home from their visit to the Temple in Jerusalem, assuming he was still in their midst, among the “company.” In the original Greek the word used for “company” was synodia – the literal translation meaning “walking together.” So the synod, and by extension, synodality, means “walking together.” As a Church, we could not be “walking together” if the voices of youth were not represented.
I began to understand how through this particular synod we were trying to ensure that everyone is included in this process of “walking together.”
What is supposed to look like? There were many intentional steps taken by the body organizing the synod opening ceremonies that signalled at least the beginning attitudes and starting points of this three-year process.
Most memorably, we spent several hours in small breakout groups (remember when breakout groups used to be actual rooms instead of a Zoom channel?) I remember entering the room and sitting down next to someone who appeared to be a bishop. I didn’t immediately recognize him and said, “Hi, my name is Joseph!”
He answered, “My name is also Joseph … Jose.” His nametag was lying on a table, so I asked, “Oh, where are you the bishop of?”
“Los Angeles,” he said plainly.
“Oh, you’re Archbishop Jose …,” I muttered, slowly beginning to realize. “… Gomez of Los Angeles.”
“Yes.”
“… the president of the USCCB,” I stuttered.
“Yes.”
Such humility.
Also in our group was Cardinal Joseph Coutts of Pakistan. Many other groups were similarly composed, but, curiously, there was no hierarchy of speaking or sharing in the rooms based on canonical status in the Church. We all had the opportunity to speak, be heard, and respond. Everything was written down to be synthesized and submitted for consideration as part of the overall synodal process.
This was just a small sample of what is meant to be lived out globally over the next three years. A key word that bears repeating throughout the synodal process is “listening.” From my experience in Rome, I believe synodality means a Church that is more thoroughly equipped to listen to everyone, including those on the periphery.
Why? What’s the point?
As I reviewed the accompanying documentation (the vademecum) to the opening ceremonies of the Synod (available online) on the flight home, it became clear that the synod means to explore synodality from the lens of “communion, participation, and mission.”
The synod’s goal is to bring people to deeper communion in Jesus, resulting in a greater, universal participation by the body that is the Church, and a Church that is sent out on mission. A synodal Church, as I have come to understand and believe, is a Church more thoroughly equipped to evangelize, to welcome the lost into relationship with Jesus. A listening Church is a Church that is ready to reach out to the world.
This is the time, more than any other time in recent history, that the Church is structurally and systematically creating the space for everyone to be heard around the world, including in the Archdiocese of Vancouver.
That means the ball is now in our court. If the Church is listening – and I do believe our own shepherd Archbishop Miller is listening – then we must be courageous in raising and sharing our voices. If we want renewal to happen in Vancouver, it must begin with our own yes, our own response. We must all individually respond to the synodal call, and, in communion, “walk together.”
If we’re going to be part of bringing renewal to Vancouver through Jesus, it will be through the synodal path. Nobody is excluded. Everyone is called.
The local diocesan synodal process begins in January. I encourage you to stay up to date by visiting rcav.org/synod to find out how you can be involved.
Prayer for the Synod
We stand before You, Holy Spirit, as we gather together in Your name.
With You alone to guide us, make Yourself at home in our hearts;
Teach us the way we must go and how we are to pursue it.
We are weak and sinful; do not let us promote disorder.
Do not let ignorance lead us down the wrong path nor partiality influence our actions.
Let us find in You our unity so that we may journey together to eternal life and not stray from the way of truth and what is right.
All this we ask of You, who are at work in every place and time, in the communion of the Father and the Son, forever and ever.
Amen.
