No one can say with certainty what St. Vincent would think about Pope Francis or “synodality’. Here I offer some perspectives as we think about a “synodal church”.
Let me first quickly review Vincent’s contributions to the church of his day, how the official church has tried to cope with monumental societal changes over the last 125 years. Finally what Pope Francis is calling for today.
Impact of St. Vincent on the Church and society of his day.
Most would agree that the following would be among the more exciting movements in the church today.
- A lay centered church focused more on the People of God and the poor than the hierarchy
- A recovery of the ideal of a church of the poor
- A concept of holiness that is more mission-oriented than a monastic emphasis on personal sanctification
- A practical vision of the role of women in ministry
These movements were not on my radar when I was ordained in 1965. Much less would I have associated them with St. Vincent. Yet each has clear roots back to Vincent.
In many ways, we are still trying to catch up to him!
A changing church?
When I entered the seminary in 1955 I had little awareness of a “changing church”. To me, it sounded like something Martin Luther said in the 1500s.
Nor had I heard St. John XXIII say “We in the Church are not called to guard a museum but to tend to a flourishing garden of life.”
I had little understanding of the challenge Pope Leo XIII was addressing when he wrote the landmark encyclical “Rerum Novarum” or “about these new things” (1891).
The Church has been grappling with a changing world for over 130 years
It takes time!
It took 60 years for the changes that Pope Pius X proposed in 1901 for active participation by the faithful in the liturgy to be enunciated by Vatican II (1962-65).
Something similar happened with regard to the concept of synodality.
It took almost 90 years after the First Vatican Council (1870) for the Second Vatican Council to mark another milestone. It called for the rediscovery of a tradition of synods going back to the first century.
Paul VI fostered Vatican II in a quite detailed Apostolic Letter about a Synod of Bishops (1965) Pope Francis’s call to synodality stands in continuity with the documents of Vatican II and three succeeding Popes,
The mustard seed sown by Lumen Gentium has risen boldly above the ground
“Vatican II produced a blueprint. Paul VI set to work constructing it. John Paul II made sure it kept to the exact specifications required. Benedict XVI added the finishing touches, and now, Francis has put it into action.” Cardinal Tobin
Mindwalk as “journey of dialogue“
Mindwalk seeks to function as a kitchen table around which those committed to following Christ the Evangelizer of the Poor can have meaningful conversations that foster personal and collective explorations of key questions.
Mindwalk is a vehicle for contact, inspiration, mutual support. In short, a place of mutual encounter where people share their experiences, learn from one another and are inspired in our mission of following Christ the Evangelizer of the Poor.
One of my favorite images of the synodal process is …
a ‘journey of dialogue’ in which we learn how to recognize ‘the presence of Christ walking besides us’…
Mindwalk can be an informal experience of synodality!
What are synodal questions today?
- How is this going to affect our lives?
- What can we anticipate?
- What can we hope for?
- Most importantly, do I recognize the many disguises of Christ walking beside us?
Click below for an audio version of this Vincentian Mindwalk
I doubt that this comment will contribute to “meaningful conversations that foster personal and collective explorations of key questions.” But just the same, the phrase “guard a museum” (in “Nor had I heard St. John XXIII say ‘We in the Church are not called to guard a museum but to tend to a flourishing garden of life’”) brought to mind stories:
First, the story of St. Lawrence whom the prefect of Rome ordered to turn over the treasures of the Church. This arch-deacon of Rome, who had the care of the treasury and riches of the church and the distribution of alms among the poor, presented to the prefect the poor, the crippled, the blind and the suffering.
Second, the story of either St. Dominic’s or St. Thomas Aquinas’ meeting with a pope who said, “The Church can no longer say, ‘Silver and gold I have none.’” “True, Holy Father,” was the saint’s reply; “neither can she now say, ‘Rise and walk.’”
Finally, the tales of treasures (persons, say, beautiful women, or things, like gold and silver) being guarded in caves by monsters, with which a treasure hunter will have to contend with. The monsters that guard the treasures, ironically, do not appreciate, let alone know, the value of what they’re guarding.
I took a poor attitude about how the bishops would react to this endeavor, but I was pleasantly surprised to check out the Philadelphia Archdiocesan website. You can register for various sessions being held in March throughout the archdiocese, about half of which are in Spanish. Some are also geared toward young professionals and about half are slated to be virtual while the others are in person.
A far greater response than I initially expected. I find myself being renewed somewhat in that. Here’s the website to sign up: https://www.catholicleaders.org/archphila-synod-sessions