Pope Francis announced on Sunday (16) that the Vatican will postpone by one year the end of the synod that seeks to bring together all the faithful, priests and priests to discuss reforms of the Catholic Church. Previously scheduled to end in October next year, the movement will now last at least until the same month of 2024.
Created last year, the synod of synodality (the Church’s way of being and acting) is the largest movement of democratic consultation in the history of the Church, marked by centuries of rigid hierarchy, conservatism and little transparency.
Francis wanted the 1.3 billion Catholics to be heard about the future of the Church, but the number of faithful who came to participate directly in the meetings is uncertain.
In the first phase of the synod, which started in 2021, the suggestions were gathered in meetings in the local churches themselves. The second phase is scheduled to take place in March next year, when members of parishes from several countries on the same continent will meet to discuss the proposals received.
The third phase of the movement consists of the discussion of these ideas in the Synod of Bishops – a periodic assembly that helps the pontiff to make decisions about the activities of the Church in the world. The change announced this Sunday is precisely at this stage, now scheduled to take place in two sessions, scheduled for 2023 and 2024.
“The fruits of the synodal process are many, but in order for them to fully mature, it is necessary to not be in a hurry,” Francis told thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square. “I am confident that this decision [adiamento] can favor the understanding of synodality as a constitutive dimension of the Church and help everyone to live it on a journey of brothers and sisters who bear witness to the joy of the Gospel”, he added.
Later, the Vatican defended in a statement that “the Synod is not an event, but a process, in which the entire People of God is called to walk together so that the Holy Spirit helps them to discern the Lord’s will for his Church.” “.
The move is expected to help the Vatican accelerate greater female participation in decision-making and step up its embrace of groups still marginalized by traditional Catholicism — from homosexuals to remarried divorcees.
At the end of the discussions, however, the decisions follow as usual: respecting the traditional hierarchy —despite the democratic nature of the public consultation, the Pope will have the final word on the proposed topics.
Since taking over the Vatican, Francis has organized four synods. The first two discussed the family, the third addressed the issue of young people, and the last, which took place in 2019, dealt with religiosity in the Amazon, a stage of accelerated deforestation in recent years.
According to a BBC report published last year, “unlike previous popes, Francis has already been deepening this popular participation, encouraging that synods are not just meetings of bishops from various parts of the world, with their different views and experiences, but that these religious to bring to the Vatican the results of consultations carried out in their communities”.
The reform of the Catholic Church under Francis, by the way, is a constant agenda in the daily life of the Vatican. In June, for example, the reform of the Roman Curia, an administrative body that helps the Pope to exercise his power, came into force. Since then, ordinary Catholics, including women, have been able to preside over a dicastery. [departamentos do governo da Igreja Católica]. For centuries, leadership positions were held by male clerics, usually cardinals or bishops.
In the same vein, last year Francis for the first time named a woman to the number two position in the government of Vatican City, making Sister Raffaella Petrini the highest-ranking woman in the smallest state in the world. He also appointed Italian nun Sister Alessandra Smerilli to the interim post of secretary at the Vatican’s development office, which deals with justice and peace issues.
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