UPDATE: THE RATIONALE FOR INCLUDING NON-BISHOPS IS VERY INTERESTING
This decision reinforces the solidity of the process as a whole, by incorporating into the Assembly the living memory of the preparatory phase, through the presence of some of those who were its protagonists, thus restoring the image of a Church-People of God, founded on the constitutive relationship between common priesthood and ministerial priesthood, and giving visibility to the circular relationship between the prophetic function of the People of God and the discernment function of the Pastors. Thanks to a better integration with the preparatory phase, the Assembly makes concrete the hope that it may “an expression of episcopal collegiality within an entirely synodal Church" (Francis, Address on the 50th anniversary of the Synod).
It is therefore in the role/function of memory that the presence of non-bishops is included, and not in that of representation. In this way, the specifically episcopal nature of the Synodal Assembly is not affected, but rather is confirmed. This is shown first of all by the numerical ratio between bishops and non-bishops, the latter being less than 25% of the total number of Assembly members. But above all this is shown by the way in which the non-bishops are appointed: in fact, they are not elected by some demos or coetus, whose representation they would take on, but are appointed by the Holy Father on the proposal of the bodies through which episcopal collegiality is realised at the level of continental areas, rooting their presence in the exercise of pastoral discernment.
From America:
For first time in history, Pope Francis gives women right to vote at the synod
For the first time in the history of the synod, Pope Francis has given women the right to vote and has also made a radical change to the membership of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality.
At the synod, which opens in October, between 21 and 25 percent of the members with a right to vote will not be bishops. These members will include consecrated women and men as well as lay women and men. All those who are members of the synod will have a right to vote.
Explaining the change in synod membership, Cardinal Hollerich explained that while in the past, 10 clerics belonging to Institutes of Consecrated Life and elected by the respective organizations representing the superiors general could participate in the synod, this is no longer the case. Instead of 10 clerics, these groups will now be represented by “five women religious and five men religious,” and “as members of the synod, they will have the right to vote.”
Cardinal Hollerich also noted that there will no longer be auditors present at the synod, as there were in the past. Instead, “an additional 70 non-bishop members have been added who represent various groupings of the faithful, of the people of God [priests, consecrated women, deacons, lay faithful] and who come from the local churches.” These will be chosen by Pope Francis from a list of 140 names presented to him by the seven international reunions of bishops’ conferences and the assembly of the patriarchs of Eastern Catholic Churches. The cardinal said that Francis requested that “50 percent of them be women, and that the presence of young people also be emphasized [in choosing these members].” All 70 will have a right to vote.
Asked whether this change in membership represents a “revolution” in the church, Cardinal Hollerich said: “It’s an important change, not a revolution. We don’t have victims.”
In an interview in March with Elisabetta Piqué (who is my wife), a correspondent for La Nacion, the Argentine daily, revealed for the first time that he intended to give a vote to both men and women at the synod on synodality. “All participants,” whether male or female, “will have the right to vote,” he said. “Everyone, everyone. That word ‘everyone’ is key for me.”
There will be other participants at the synod who are not members and will not have a right to vote. These are “experts,” who are competent on certain subjects of relevance to the synod, and, for the first time, “facilitators,” who will facilitate the work of the synod at various moments of the assembly.
As in past synods, “fraternal delegates,” that is, members of other churches and ecclesial communities, will also participate.
So what are they voting *on"? I don't understand what this phase of the synodality project is tasked with, and the article doesn't say. I guess it's always remarkable when the institutional Church lets women vote on stuff, more so if the women voting on the synod somehow sets a precedent for other coubdils, committees, task forces, etc.
ReplyDeleteBut it's hard to see this as much more than a yawn if this is just a bunch of meetings that result in resolutions and recommendations that are duly stamped and sealed and tossed in a drawer somewhere.
Coubdils = councils. I need more covefee ...
DeleteAt the end of the synod, the members draft a document which is given to the pope, who may or may not accept its recommendations. The members vote on each paragraph.
DeleteThe Synod of the Amazon recommended both women deacons and married priests by a majority of votes but failed to get a two-thirds majority. Francis declined to endorse either, but let the document stand as it was, an expression of the members views. In previous documents if any paragraph failed to get a two-thirds approval, it was deleted. The Pope's customarily write an exhortation in which they express their opinions on the topic. He said the Synod was functioning too much like a parliament.
Back in the days of Benedict at the Synod on the Word of God, the bishops recommended that the installed ministries of lector and acolyte be extended to women; Benedict ignored the request. The Synod of the Amazon repeated the request and Francis recently changed the rules.
I think this change in composition of the synod almost guarantees that women deacons and married priests will be debated and make it into the recommendations.
Remember that Francis has decided to have two meetings, one in October of this year and one in October of 2024. The delegates will remain the same. That sounds like he wants some serious debate and discussion in between.
I will trust to your analysis. The machinations of the Vatican strike me as purposely opaque and labyrinthine. Hard to blame any one person, group, or event if things go sideways.
DeleteI see deacons are on the list of new voting members. So let me just put this out there:
ReplyDeleteIf nominated, I will not run. If elected, I will not serve.
I've always wanted to say that. But - just kidding! Are you nuts? Of course I would go! And I'd let the Vatican pay for the trip, too! Who wouldn't want to be part of this thing?!
Jim I totally hope you get on the list!
DeleteI expect to hear criticism that with 70 non-episcopal voting members the Pope will be able to stack the synod in his favor. He might counter that he is committed to choosing from the 140 proposed to him, and that continental synods could do their own stacking. However, it does not sound like the pope is committed to choosing half the 20 people proposed to him from the North American synod. If the Americans do not choose creditable potential members, they might not end up with many non-bishop voters.
ReplyDelete.
Francis has also changed the rules so that the Vatican officials that he appoints no longer have to be archbishops. He will be in a good position to appoint non-bishops from the Vatican to represent the various departments.
Finally, I am presuming Francis will continue to be able to appoint bishops who have not been elected by their peers. Expect to see Tobin, Cupich, and McElroy there.
The two-session synod a year apart could become very exciting. Expect Francis at the end of the first session, to issue some heavy homework assignments for the next year's session.
"If the Americans do not choose creditable potential members, they might not end up with many non-bishop voters." LOL, you mean maybe they shouldn't choose all of them from Napa Conference attendees?
DeleteThe rationale for the inclusion of non-bishops is the clearest expression of how a synod differs from a parliament. The non-bishops represent the process not stakeholders, e.g. priests, deacons, religious, laity, men and women.
ReplyDeleteIt is important from the very start to get away from our notions that people represent interest groups. Otherwise, people will begin to haggle about how many priests, deacons, etc. Also, they will tend to think that only women can speak to the interests of women, youth to those of young people, various minorities, etc. Anyone can speak to any issue from the perspective of their experience in the synodal meetings at various levels. So, the complexity of the various synods and their differing viewpoints can be expressed.
Not to be a naysayer. I'm happy when the Church decides to widen its outlook with new people and not the same old (white male) schmoes.
ReplyDeleteBut I keep going back to Jack's contention that the American Church is out of sync with much of the Church worldwide, or at least countries where listening and responding is more common.
Raber and I were talking about this today. Americans tend to like autocracy. They want to elect their own autocrats and get rid of them whenever, but they don't have a lot of patience for or faith in processes that involve a lot of people sitting around a table and going really slow and nitpicking points.
Possibly Jack is more open to the process of effecting change through a thoughtfully selected committee because he saw that process actually work in the mental health system in Ohio.
Examining my apathy about synodality or any other initiative has been interesting and revealing of my attitudes about the Church generally.
Off topic update about the 21 year old who gave away top secrets on the internet. He was described as a devout Orthodox Catholic, among other things.
ReplyDeletehttps://apnews.com/article/leaked-documents-air-national-guardsman-jack-teixeira-d7c8dbaeb3b7a5ae69faeab04ede2ab0?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=TopNews&utm_campaign=position_07
What is mystifying to me is how he got a fairly high level security clearance with all the red flags that were out there. Bet the military is going to rethink how they vet people for clearances.
DeleteYes I had heard that he is an uber orthodox Catholic of some stripe. I think that is to mainstream Catholicism as the Westboro Baptists are to the American Baptist Church, which my maternal grandparents belonged to.
There are valid reasons that the FBI might watch Catholic extremists just as they watch the Westboro Baptist extremists. Yet some Catholics are in a rage because of it.
DeleteMany have questioned the process that gave him a TS clearance at 21. Well, I graduated from college at 20, a couple of months short of my 21st. My first job was with IBM, as a computer programmer working a DOD contract at the height of the Viêt Nam war. So I had a TS clearance a couple of months after I turned 21. My age was not a risk. At that time, and still, the clearance process included extensive in depth personal interviews of friends and acquaintances. There was no social media so if I had been secretly involved with questionable associates that the people who actually knew me in person didn’t know about, it would have been harder to trace. I would hope that the clearance process today would routinely require tracking clearance candidates’ online activity. However that might be illegal, I don’t know. It’s a massive job though and it might be skipped if there are no obvious red flags. It shouldn’t be skipped. The main perpetrators of the violent attack on the US via the Jan 6 attempt to overthrow the 2020 election results organized and recruited online.
Patheos, a platform for religious news and opinion, had this op piece about Teixeira from a Catholic commentator that might be of interest: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/steelmagnificat/2023/04/jack-teixeira-and-the-problem-of-the-basic-brand-catholic/
DeleteThis bit resonated with me: "I’m supposed to say that Jack [Teixeira] isn’t a REAL Catholic [because of his extremist views], but I’m not going to say that. Every Catholic is a real Catholic. We’re stuck with each other. Every unfortunate cultural movement that Catholics muck around with becomes part of the history of what it is to be a Catholic. If you’re Catholic, this is your circus. This is our circus."
Yeah, if people don't want to be on an FBI extremist watch list, they shouldn't hang out with extremist groups.
DeleteMy husband had a lower level security clearance when he was in the military. They actually did sort of a deep dive into his background. But of course that was way before the social media thing. My niece's husband was involved in cyber security when he was in the military. They made him delete his social media accounts.. She wasn't married to him yet, but she was very careful not to post pictures of him on FB, or any information about him.
One of my freelance jobs included editing some government manuals used by the DOD and intelligence communities. One of them was a very long ( more than 100 pages) manual used to adjudicate security clearances. It was unclassified. Since My clearance expired before I became a freelancer, it allowed me to read and edit, but personally I think it should be classified too, because it could be used as a tool to figure out how to beat the process. I have worked on projects also with retired CIA agents. Even after retiring they are not allowed to use social media. Cybersecurity is a specialty that desperately needs more people, which makes me worry a bit. The seminaries were desperate for candidates and failed to vet candidates enough, missing thousands of potential sexual abusers. I fear that something similar could happen when granting security clearances.
DeleteGood article Jean. Thanks for pointing it out. You decided to stay in the circus tent, even if only near the exits. I decided to exit the tent, partly because of the growing political influence of the right wing extremist wing of the church in the US, Hungary and elsewhere, who use the church as a blunt political instrument.
DeleteI appreciate the fact that Pezzulo is not letting American Catholics off the hook by branding Teixeira's views as some kind of anomaly. I wish clergy called out extremism, racism, and intolerance from the pulpit more often. Given the Catholic indifference to homilies and the penchant for the USCCB not to deal with anything divisive, as Jack pointed out in an earlier thread, I don't foresee it happening.
DeleteJean, that was a good article. Yes, we are stuck with one another, for better or worse.
DeleteThe author expressed surprise that the Texieras weren't Opus Dei. I clicked on the comments, and was a bit amused by the guy trying to make a case that Opus Dei isn't like she was portraying it. I am quite willing to believe that some Opus Dei members are good people. But I also know that there are problems with the organization, that in some ways it behaves like a cult. I am not at all surprised that the Texieras are not Opus Dei. Because one thing OD is, is elitist to the max (at least that's my impression). They're not going to mess around with working class people with no money and no connections
Well, in my eclectic life, I was in close contact at different times with both Opus Dei and the Legionaries of Christ. At one point, knowing nothing about Opus Dei, we sent our eldest son to one of their schools because our first choice school was full. He started coming home with some questionable ideas (4th grade). We went to a parent talk by an OD couple that I also found very strange. I also didn’t like some of the machismo that became evident after a while. Then, after I protested when they sent him into a very busy street to fetch a stray baseball during a game I complained that one of the adults should have done it. . (I had come to pick him up and saw it happen) The response - They sent me an article about how overprotective mothers are the reason boys become homosexual. I had chatted in a casual way with many OD parents during the semester and my concerns had already been mounting. We took him out at the end of the semester. ( I also noted when driving past the school later that they eventually put up a very tall fence on the busy road side of the baseball field. Perhaps an infuriated driver hit by a baseball convinced them). I was also unhappy that the high school kids were allowed to smoke on the school grounds, setting a bad example for the younger boys. They had a very macho attitude in general.
DeleteYes, Katherine, they are elitist. Most of the teachers (all men) had Ivy or similar degrees, even at the 1st-4th levels. They cultivated wealthy Catholics in the DC area. Some of the OD families lived an hour to an hour and a half away, which puzzled me until i realized that they are basically a cult. We moved our son to the other Catholic boys school once an opening came up, not until 6 th when they expanded to two sections through 8th. He was in public school until then. Unfortunately that school allowed a Legionary of Christ priest to become the school chaplain for a while. They also operated an after school program at their own LoC house on Fridays, driving them there in a van. Since I was an overprotective mother, I never allowed my 9 year old to spend the night there, or go on a ski vacation in Connecticut, staying at the same house that was the junior seminary - where Maciel mokested the kids. I thought it a bit odd that this charming young priest only invited my son ( a misfit in his school class) and it was only years later that I put together several incidents in my mind and came to believe that he had been grooming my son. Unhappy kids who don’t fit in are prime targets of pedophiles. The Legionaries also cultivated only students at private Catholic schools and parochial schools in affluent neighborhoods. So I got to know some of those priests fairly well too, and, after a while, realized that these priests were questionable people. After a couple of years, the school got rid of the Legionary chaplain and hired a new one (that chaplain is now a bishop). I still had sons at the school so I asked the Headmaster why they had fired the L o C chaplain. I had stopped allowing my sons to participate in the after school program and the school stopped allowing them to pick up boys at the school with their van. The Headmaster ducked the question, giving only a vague answer that some parents weren’t happy with him.
One odd thing (among many!) about OD is that they aren't under a diocesan bishop, they are a "personal prelature". I think it is the only one which now exists in the church. Not entirely sure how that even works. I have read that some bishops don't like having them in their dioceses. I can see their point, since they aren't really subject to their authority.
DeleteI get the idea that Pope Francis isn't really encouraging OD. Of course if he shut them down it would be open warfare with the right wingers.
"There are valid reasons that the FBI might watch Catholic extremists just as they watch the Westboro Baptist extremists. Yet some Catholics are in a rage because of it."
DeleteWho knows, maybe it will help those spittle-flecking Catholics identify more with Muslim men who are pulled aside for extra wanding at airport security checkpoints. Or whose requests to build mosques are denied by local government.
"They sent me an article about how overprotective mothers are the reason boys become homosexual. "
DeleteI guess the existence of that article is kind of appalling, but also funny in a way. At any rate, I guffawed when I read that.
Anne, FWIW, as a young man, I think I was scoped for Opus Dei once by a friend from college. Whatever the test was, apparently I didn't pass it.
Just to balance all the talk about Catholic extremists, here's a podcast episode I found uplifting about three little Catholic boys who knew some of the girls in the Magdalene laundry in Gallway, and decided to do something about it. It is perhaps an example of a well-informed Catholic conscience trumping hierarchical abuse. About 30 minutes: https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-216-the-magdalene-laundries-4-28-2023/
DeleteJim, I think that what was appalling is that the OD headmaster and teachers actually believed the premise of the article.
DeleteI have many OD stories but it would take too much time and too many comment boxes. Be grateful that they didn’t recruit you to live in the local House of Studies. Brainwashing central.
Is Opus Dei what Justice Amy Coney Barrett belonged to? I know that detractors made a big deal out of her affiliation with a Catholic group that was painted as "cult-like."
DeleteNot OD, but a charismatic community called People of Praise, a very cult- like group. It is similar to one near my home. The community tends to totally control its members. She lived in one of their houses, where she met her husband. Apparently the PTB have to approve marriages. What is scary about that is that she is pledged to always obey the direction of an assigned spiritual advisor. It is a very secretive organization. The similar community near me reached a point of such scandal that the Bishop interceded, tossing out the leadership completely. It is called the Mother of God community. Many years ago I responded to an ad for a Bible study they sponsored. When I went to the get acquainted meeting with two women I was very uncomfortable with them and with what I learned about them and how their community operated. It seemed very cult- like, and apparently the bishop agreed. . It still exists, but is much smaller and receives more oversight than it once did.
DeleteRocco Palmo gave one of his tweets, calling attention to his 9/11/2013 post,
ReplyDeletehttp://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2013/09/on-peters-chair-echo-of-911.html
"yet again, anyone who’s surprised hasn’t been paying attention… for 115 months"
Even if today sees the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, only this time around can it be said that the events of that horrific morning have made an irrevocable impact on the life of the Church Universal.
Here's why: only days after the destruction of the World Trade Center, the then-archbishop of New York, Cardinal Edward Egan, was expected in Rome. A year earlier, John Paul II had named the top-flight canonist – one of the Polish Pope's consultants on the 1983 revision of the Code – to the all-important post of Relator General (in essence, the principal discussion leader) of the Synod of Bishops slated to take place the following month, its focus on the role of the bishop in the Third Millennium.
Much as the Gotham church remained rattled in the aftermath, the cardinal – who, it should be noted, rushed downtown to (the now closed) St Vincent's Hospital on learning of the attacks to minister to the wounded and first responders while clad in scrubs – made the trip, opening the Synod with the usual pre-discussion Relatio completely in Latin on October 1st.
Three days later, though – with Egan facing a raft of criticism at home for leaving, which he later termed "the worst thing that ever happened to me in my life" – a special announcement was made from the dais at the beginning of the morning session.
"Eagerly expected by his people" to celebrate a Month's Mind Mass for the lost in St Patrick's Cathedral, the delegates were informed that Egan – shown above with Benedict XVI during the now Pope-emeritus' 2008 visit to Ground Zero – would return to New York.
In retrospect, the real kicker would end up being the second part: "so that our work can continue without any changes," it was revealed that John Paul had "appointed a Deputy Relator General in the person of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio SJ, archbishop of Buenos Aires," who would carry out the task for the remaining three weeks of the Synod.
Like Egan, Bergoglio had been given his red hat at the mega-consistory of the prior February, when John Paul created 42 cardinals – an all-time high – in one fell swoop. Yet in a distinct contrast to his New York counterpart – a three-decade veteran of the Rota and the university scene who was given the Presidential Suite of his favorite hotel whenever he was back in town – the low-profile Argentine Jesuit had never studied nor worked in Rome, and generally tended to avoid the place except when summoned under duress.
Even so, all of a sudden, the surprise turn at the Synod became Bergoglio's "launchpad" into the spotlight of the global church.
In the gathering's wake, the Argentine's performance was deemed so effective that his name would start being floated for key offices in the Curia – a place where he reputedly said "I would die" were he called to work in it.
Of course, that wouldn't be the end of the buzz – were it not for his stand-in role in the Aula, the Argentine's name would've attracted far less recognition (and, hence, been a non-starter) at the 2005 Conclave... and without Bergoglio's showing at the last election – burnished by the amplified status which resulted from it – his emergence eight years later as B16's successor simply never would've happened.
continued
What's more, the Synod has accordingly been at the forefront of the first Pope Francis' mind on the impending Curial reform. On June's feast of Saints Peter and Paul – by tradition, the nonpareil celebration of centralized papal authority – the pontiff's veering off-script to call the church "forward on the path of synodality" sent shockwaves through the old guard he inherited just days after the Pope declared that "we trust" (read: "I intend") that his Synod "will experience further development to ever more aid the dialogue and collaboration among the bishops and, with them, the Bishop of Rome."
ReplyDeleteJust in recent hours, meanwhile, Papa Bergoglio's top appointee to date offered his own homage to the new order as, in a Sunday interview with a Venezuelan newspaper before returning to Rome as Secretary of State, Archbishop Pietro Parolin said that though "the church isn't a democracy... it's good that, in these times, a more democratic spirit is brought about in the sense of listening attentively, and I believe that the Pope has indicated this as an objective of his pontificate.
Going further, Parolin explained the concept in play as "a collegial leadership of the church where [the participants] are able to express themselves in every instance."
As noted on his late August appointment, the incoming Secretary wrote his doctoral dissertation in canon law on... the Synod of Bishops.
Rocco is an interesting cat.
ReplyDeleteJack wrote, "I expect to hear criticism that with 70 non-episcopal voting members the Pope will be able to stack the synod in his favor. He might counter that he is committed to choosing from the 140 proposed to him, and that continental synods could do their own stacking."
ReplyDeleteYeah, I take the stacking-the-deck viewpoint as further evidence of what Jean noted somewhere: the synod is so foreign to American culture that most of us struggle to wrap our brains around it. Here is what Americans expect: we'd be represented by people we chose, and whom we can throw out in the next election if they do a bad job. Once at the synod, we expect our "representatives" to look out for our interests and forcefully express our points of view. If that requires partisanship and conflict, we Americans are just fine with that.