I read with some joy and some disquiet the words of Pope Francis in the last edition of The Tablet (25 October): "Personally I would be very worried and saddened...if all were...silent in a false and quietist peace... And I have felt that what was set before our eyes was the good of the Church, of families..."
Conscious of what Francis had said about the Synod's striving to read the signs of the times in relation to family life as it is lived today, I attended Sunday Mass here in Donegal. We have the usual gathering of married couples, single mothers, couples in another relationship after the breakdown of a marriage, people of a gay sexual orientation, partners living together without being married. We - the People of God in Inishowen - are examples of the reality of modern European life. Our attendance at Mass springs from motives ranging from conviction of faith to social tribalism. Not many of us are aware of Gradualism. We are who we are.
Since the Extraordinary Synod of the Family was first mooted last year, not one word about it has been spoken to us. I guess that most of us queuing to receive the Lord this morning have no idea what a Synod is and less about what has been discussed. We certainly were not asked to contribute to the Vatican's survey of opinion and I doubt if we will hear about the final document.
In the midst of Francis' and his brother bishops' affirmation of family values, last Thursday in our nearest town, an elderly wife and husband were hacked to death by their son. Nothing else has been spoken about in our community since this happened. The national press and other media have reported the tragedy. Local people are aghast and horrified.
This morning at Mass, the usual vacuous prayers that pass for Prayers of the Faithfull were read and we duly answered "Lord Hear Us!" No mention was made of the momentous discussions in Rome about family life; no mention of its barbaric antithesis down the road - the killing of parents by a child.
For some of us Irish Catholics, the Word never has and never will be made flesh. What we do on Sundays is a charade where reality does not impinge, where we remain "silent in a false and quietist peace". May the Lord indeed hear us.
Tom Finnigan, Co. Donegal, Ireland
In 1971, I attended a Newman Circle meeting addressed by Jack Dominion. In those difficult times [after Humanae Vitae], he said that he felt that the institutionalised Church would disintegrate and that the people of God would rise up. In the 50 years of hoping that the Church would more fully represent the Gospel, his thoughts have helped me to stay in the Church.
What now? Love thy neighbour seems to some to be second to love thy rule book.
I feel so sad for Pope Francis. Perhaps in 2016 he should call a “synod” of the people of God.
A. Melling, Bath
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