The Italian Church: The Latest Victim of Synodality

The Progress of the Italian Synodal Path

Thus, the first phase, known as the "narrative" phase, took advantage of the World Synod to relaunch the proposals "to listen to and gather the lives of individuals, communities, and territories" that the CEI had formulated on that occasion. In 2022, a series of "priorities" were identified and validated by the CEI General Assembly.

During the second phase, known as the "wisdom" phase, which ended in April 2024, Italian dioceses were invited to reflect on five questions established following the results of the first listening phase: mission according to the style of outreach; language and communication; formation in faith and life; ongoing synodality and co-responsibility; and structural change.

As an introduction to the third phase, known as the "prophetic" phase, the Outlines were presented to the Permanent Episcopal Council to serve as guidelines for the first Italian Synodal Assembly, which took place from November 15 to 17, 2024, in Rome. This text focused on formation, co-responsibility, language, communication, and culture.

The first Synodal Assembly prepared the Working Document, which emphasizes the themes emerging from the prophetic phase, indicating principles for developing concrete proposals. The Working Document was then sent to the local churches for their comments to the Secretariat of the Synodal Path by February 28, 2025.

The Working Document, once completed, was submitted to the spring session of the Permanent Episcopal Council (March 10-12), which approved it. It was then submitted to the second Synodal Assembly, held from March 31 to April 4, 2025.

This Assembly was responsible for developing Proposals in the form of guidelines for decisions and deliberations, which were to be submitted to the Permanent Episcopal Council and the 80th General Assembly of the CEI, scheduled for May 26-29, for finalization.

The timetable explains that these revised Proposals are intended to constitute the core of the Liber Synodalis, which will then be submitted to the local churches for reception and further verification. The final text of these Propositions, prepared during this second Synodal Assembly, was firmly and widely rejected.

Composition of the Synodal Assembly

The Vatican News portal gives the composition of this Assembly, which had convened "1,008 participants, including 168 bishops (and 7 cardinals), 252 priests, 34 religious, 17 deacons, and 530 lay people (253 men and 277 women)." There was therefore a majority of lay people in this Assembly, which is a strange anomaly, but not entirely surprising.

After the disaster of the "Dutch Pastoral Council," whose composition featured a majority of lay people, and then the Joint Synod of German Dioceses in Würzburg, which was also unbalanced, the 1983 Code of Canon Law permitted the presence of lay people in diocesan synods, but in smaller numbers than clergy.

This is why the German Synodal Path chose a sui generis formula, outside of canonically determined structures, which earned it comments from the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, comments disdainfully rejected by Cardinal Reinhard Marx. However, it had to be admitted that the assembly had no decision-making power in the dioceses.

The Italian Synodal Path finds itself in the same situation: it is neither a diocesan synod or joint diocesan synod, nor a national synod or council. Its decisions therefore have no authority. But, as with the German Synodal Path, the decisions will be approved by the CEI, then adopted by the bishops, each in their own diocese.

However, the participants undoubtedly believe they have this power, and they have demonstrated it. Indeed, when the final text was voted on April 3, a motion of 854 voters, with 835 votes in favor, 12 against, and 7 abstentions, rejected the text and requested that it be rewritten, as, according to the members, it did not satisfactorily incorporate the amendments.

The Assembly therefore decided that the text of the Proposals be entrusted to the Presidency of the Synodal Path to be finalized, with the support of the Committee and the leaders of the diocesan and general study groups, incorporating the amendments, priorities, and contributions that had been made.

At the same time, the Assembly set a new date for the vote on the document containing the Proposals for Saturday, October 25, on the occasion of the Jubilee of the synodal teams and participating organizations. This will be followed by the reception phase. 

The Reasons for the Rejection

The most sensitive issues, such as the role of women in the Church, pastoral care for homosexuals, and the fight against abuse, were barely addressed in the final text, which sparked deep resentment among the participants.

"The role of women was recognized, but no reference was made to the possibility of new female ministries, such as the diaconate," emphasized the newspaper La Repubblica, which also reported that the acronym LGBTQ+ did not even appear in the text, reflecting the concerns of the "advanced" members of the Assembly. 

Archbishop Erio Castellucci, president of the National Committee of the Synodal Path, admitted that the text had proved "unsuitable" for the delegates. "The numerous amendment proposals presented by the 28 groups require a comprehensive overhaul of the text and not just the adjustment of certain parts of it," he explained in a statement.

He added that "we should have better assessed how this literary genre, considered by some to be outdated, can prove arid and impoverished in a journey as rich as that of the four-year term, without being able to demonstrate any real continuity with previous documents."

In other words, even though the delegates, in a message sent to the Supreme Pontiff, declared that "the Church is not a Parliament," what we are witnessing is a kind of "lay power grab." The protests of progressive laypeople forced the Assembly to bow, and the bishops could do nothing about it, except to join the majority.