At the start of the World Synod in Rome, Pope Francis dampened hopes for concrete reforms in the Catholic Church. “We are not here to promote a parliamentary session or a reform plan,” the 86-year-old made clear on Wednesday at the start of the church conference. Many believers expected concrete reforms, for example, regarding women’s access to ordination or the treatment of homosexuals.
However, the pontiff and his coordinator of the Luxembourg Synod, Jean-Claude Hollerich, stressed repeatedly and in advance that the global Synod was not initially about concrete changes, but rather about how Catholics wanted to interact with each other within the Church and make decisions in the future. So you want to talk about “how” and not “what”. This will come later, in later stages.
The World Synod is considered one of Pope Francis’ most important reform projects in his ten years in office. The pontiff presents the Synod as a major co-management project: around 365 voting members will participate in the conference from October 4th to 29th. The vast majority are bishops, but there are also other clergy and lay people – non-clerics. For the first time in the history of the Catholic Church, 54 women were admitted as voting members.
Criticism of Francis’s worldwide Synod has already been voiced by both sides of the Catholic spectrum. Reformers hope that the World Synod will not bring any tangible changes either. They complain that the working document previously drawn up in local churches is too vague. For conservatives, however, the entire process went too far. The former prefect of the Roman Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, German Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, said there was a danger that the Synod would lose sight of what was truly Catholic and slide into a general sociology.
Given such disputes, the pontiff warned all participants in the opening ceremony on Wednesday that ideological battles should not play a role in the meeting. Political considerations should not be important either. “It is not necessary for the Synod to grant this or that permission, to open this or that door.” He wanted attendees to present a picture of a church that “is not divided internally and is never harsh externally.” The Synod is not about strategies – and above all, the assembly should not be misinterpreted as a parliament, Francis made clear.
In his speech at the first plenary session of the afternoon, Francis once again focused on the expectations of the World Synod. “The Synod is not a meeting of friends to resolve certain problems or express opinions. It’s something different.” It should not be forgotten that the protagonist of the Synod is not the participants, but the Holy Spirit, said Francis in the Vatican’s large audience hall.
Among the synodals were Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna, and the Archbishop of Salzburg, Franz Lackner. Linz pastoral theologian Klara Csiszar was among the non-voting theological advisors at the meeting.