Synod on Synodality: A Ripe Fruit of the Second Vatican Council (1)

Many commentators have noted that this text has been “sterilized” of all the elements that could have been factors of discussion, or even divisions, contained in the synthesis of the first session in October 2023, some to complain, others to rejoice. But before passing judgment, we must examine the content of this Final Document (FD).

A Ripe Fruit of the Second Vatican Council

Right from No. 5, the document presents itself as a fruit of the Second Vatican Council: “Rooted in the Tradition of the Church, the entire synodal journey took place in the light of the conciliar Magisterium,” it notes. And it adds: “the synodal journey constitutes a further act of reception of the Council, thus deepening its inspiration and reinvigorating its prophetic force for today’s world.”

This observation and assertion are quite right in themselves: the Synod of Bishops is a fruit of the Council, set up by Paul VI, and Francis' synodality is an “authentic” interpretation of it, so to speak. The reigning Pope is undoubtedly the one who, since the conciliar event, has best understood the profound intention of the Council.

In no. 9, the FD is careful to warn that “The synodal process does not conclude with the end of the current Assembly of the Synod of Bishops but also includes the implementation phase,” and would like an “an evaluation of the progress made in terms of synodality”: a kind of continued synod, and through it, the dream of a continued Council.

The Heart of Synodality

The first of the five parts that make up the FD gives a “definition” of synodality. As with this session’s Instrumentum laboris (IL), it has a certain precision, for the good and simple reason that it is merely an outline from the International Theological Commission's (ITC) 2018 text, Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church, abundantly quoted elsewhere.

There are several reasons for this: firstly, the inability of the synodal process to produce a clear definition of synodality; secondly, the need to refocus a wayward process; thirdly, to promote synodality according to Francis, as the ITC text is merely a systematization of the Pope's thinking, set out in his Address at the Ceremony Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Institution of the Synod of Bishops (October 17, 2015).

As with the IL, many elements borrowed from the ITC are not referenced, such as the reflections on the sensus fidei, dealt with in another ITC study, Sensus Fidei in the Life of the Church, from 2014. The inability of this “episcopal” synod to provide its own theological study is symptomatic of the sterility of the process desired by Francis.

Finally, the FD expresses that “Synodality is the walking together of Christians with Christ and towards God’s Kingdom, in union with all humanity. Orientated towards mission, synodality involves gathering at all levels of the Church for mutual listening, dialogue, and communal discernment. It also involves reaching consensus as an expression of Christ rendering Himself present, He who is alive in the Spirit. Furthermore, it consists in reaching decisions according to differentiated co-responsibilities” (no. 28).

This is a description, not a definition. The FD adds: “In simple and concise terms, synodality is a path of spiritual renewal and structural reform that enables the Church to be more participatory and missionary so that it can walk with every man and woman, radiating the light of Christ” (ibid.), which is even vaguer...

The FD then turns to the ITC document at no. 30, to explain, with the help of three long quotations, that “Specifically, synodality designates three distinct aspects of the life of the Church: a) in the first instance, it refers to ‘the particular style that qualifies the life and mission of the Church [...]’ (ITC 70.a); b) secondly, ‘[...] structures and ecclesial processes in which the synodal nature of the Church is expressed at an institutional level [...]’ (ITC 70.b); c) thirdly, synodality designates ‘the programme of those synodal events in which the Church is called together by the competent authority in accordance with the specific procedures laid down by ecclesiastical discipline [...]’ (ITC 70.c).”

To complete the illustration of the Synod's incompetence, the FD concludes with another quotation from the ITC, which sums up in three lines what it has said in several pages of verbiage: “synodality ‘is the specific modus vivendi et operandi of the Church, the People of God, which reveals and gives substance to her being as communion when all her members journey together, gather in assembly and take an active part in her evangelising mission’ (ITC 6)” (no. 31).

An Error That Reveals Itself in Contradiction

To close this first chapter, let us point out an error laid out in obvious contradiction, which does not seem to have struck the editors. Firstly, in no. 22 it is stated that:

“The anointing by the Holy Spirit received at Baptism (cf. 1 Jn 2.20. 27) enables all believers to possess an instinct for the truth of the Gospel. We refer to this as the sensus fidei. This consists in a certain connaturality with divine realities based on the fact that, in the Holy Spirit, the Baptised become ‘sharers [participants] in the divine nature’ (DV 2). From this participation comes the aptitude to grasp intuitively what conforms to the truth of Revelation in the communion of the Church.”

And then, in no. 23, that “All Christians participate in the sensus fidei through Baptism. Therefore, as well as constituting the basis of synodality, Baptism is also the foundation of ecumenism.” Which begs the question: how can the sensus fidei of the Orthodox keep them in schism? How can the sensus fidei of the Protestants keep them in heresy? This is a mystery that the text does not explain...

This consequence stems from the flawed and inadequate way in which the sensus fidei is understood, both by the ITC in the document generated and by the Synod participants. In fact, in their eyes, it seems that everyone is in the right... This is the inevitable consequence of the principles laid down at the Second Vatican Council, which are “ripening” before our very eyes.