It is important for people to hear about some of the challenges the bishops face and how they believe synodality could develop a more collaborative leadership in the Church, the chair of the steering committee for Ireland’s national synodal pathway has said.
Answering questions following her address on synod and national synodal pathway to members of the lay reform group, We Are Church Ireland, Dr Nicola Brady said that there are bishops who are “very strong advocates of the synodal model and who really want this to work”.
Dr Brady, who is general secretary of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI), warned that the challenges from the model of church that gave rise to clericalism are “deep rooted” and that “it is not just the bishops who are propping up the system”.
“There are some lay people who are passionate advocates of a more authoritarian model of church and there are people who have a very passive attitude to church and faith and want the bishops and clergy to make the decisions for them.”
Synodality, she said, is giving the Church the space to capture a range of different voices and people speaking out of different experiences. However, she recognised that there are “very strong tensions inherent in the process” and that Pope Francis himself faces opposition in trying to promote a synodal model of church.
The Church's Radical Reform – Inclusion and Reconciliation: Voices from AfricaMuch of the media focus on the synod has been on western churches with the underlining question centred on how the process can reverse declining congregations and respond to the abuse crisis. But what does it all mean for Africa, a part of the Catholic world where churches are overflowing and vocations booming? Is the synod having any impact?
In this latest Tablet podcast, Christopher Lamb put these questions to two leading Catholic figures: Fr Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, the President of the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar, and Dominique Yon, a youth ministry co-ordinator in the Cape Town archdiocese and a Vatican adviser.
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Meanwhile, Bishop Kevin Doran of Elphin has said the synodal process is a time of listening to one another and trying to walk together in a new way.
“Some people are disappointed and even angry, because other people who seem not to be faithful to the teaching of the Church are being invited to participate. They are afraid that some of the essential teaching of the Church might be changed.”
He added that others who feel excluded from the life of the Church are afraid that, “no matter how much we talk, nothing at all will change”.
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