Pope Francis blesses Synod Final Report

Releases it as official Church teaching!

I didn’t see that coming!  On Saturday, October 26, 2024, after voting to approve it paragraph by paragraph, the members of the Synod on Synodality, The 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops - For a Synodal Church:  Communion, Participation and Mission - released its final report.  Shortly thereafter, Pope Francis released a statement that he would not be issuing an Apostolic Exhortation with his reflections on the Synod but would promulgate the final report itself as Official Church Teaching. Wait! What?!?

Can he do that? What does this mean? 

Apparently, the Pope has options when it comes to summing up a Synod. Who knew? 

The usual path is to issue an Apostolic Exhortation in which the Pope considers the recommendations of the Synod and issues his own reflections on the topic and how the Church will change going forward.  

The tactic of directly promulgating (releasing with authority) a synod document is something new for Pope Francis.  In the case of the other three synods held during his papacy, he always issued an Apostolic Exhortation.

For his Synod on the Family, he issued “Amoris Laetitia” - The Joy of Love! - on love in the family; For his Synod on Youth, he issued “Christus Vivit” - Christ is Alive! - to young people; For his Synod on the Amazon, he issued “Querida Amazonia” - Beloved Amazonia! - to the people of the Amazon.

So, this direct promulgation is something new.  But it is not without precedent.  Most of the documents coming out of Vatican II were also promulgated by Pope Paul VI directly from the documents released from the Second Vatican Council.  

What does Pope Francis mean by this?  Is it a vote of confidence? Or a tactical decision to not ruffle additional feathers?  Does it empower the Synod? Or undercut it? And what does it mean for the “hot topic” issues removed from the Synod’s discernment?  Hmmm. Let me think about this.  

I have to admit I am both a bit surprised and a bit dismayed by this result. 

Surprised, because it breaks from the Pope’s usual stance of sifting through the results of the Synod and choosing what he approves of going forward. This is a sort of “check and balance” that I was reconciled to.  A step that builds confidence in the result. Is the Church ready for this? Am I?

Dismayed, because I think it opens up an opportunity for those opposed to this Synod to doubt the validity of its recommendations and drag their feet in implementing them.  They may claim the results of the Synod will harm the Church by adding to confusion instead of giving clear guidance. The very “newness” of it will open it up to extra scrutiny.

And what about the controversial issues the Synod hadn’t been able to agree on - like women deacons, how bishops are selected and exercise their authority, how LGBTQ Catholics and divorced Catholics are ministered to, how seminarians are trained, etc.  Well, those are still off the table.  They remain outside the authority of the Synod members and their report, handed over to the Ten Working Groups which won’t report to the Pope until June. 

So, the Synod participants get to make pronouncements on the process of synodality, on synodality itself, but not on some of the key decisions that will support or undermine it?  I tell myself I’ll just have to continue to be patient and trust the Holy Spirit.

The Synod on Synodality has been different from the start.  It began with the consultation of literally millions of ordinary Catholics about how the Church could change in order to accomplish its mission of preaching the Gospel to everyone, everywhere.  That information, gathered from all corners of the globe, was synthesized, prayed over, witnessed to, and discerned about in two month-long sessions a year apart.  The “dicerners” were not only Bishops, (although Bishops made up 72% of the group), but religious and lay people, men and women, all of whom were equal participants with equal votes on the results. It is an unparallelled attempt to create a more engaged and engaging Church. 

So maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that the results of empowering the whole “People of God” feels revolutionary.  It is an ambitious and unprecedented event.

In fact, this is beginning to feel like the first real Synod of the Vatican II era.  A Synod of the “People of God” which includes both clergy and lay people, men and women.  It only took 60 years to get here.  

How are you feeling? A little frightened? A little excited?  Ready to step up for your Church in new ways?

Stay tuned for future posts in which I will break down the actual contents of the Final Report:  For A Synodal Church:  Communion, Participation and Mission.  (Right now it’s only available in Italian!) A report that now is part of the official teaching of the Church. Wow!!