In the run-up to the October Assembly, the dioceses of Bangladesh organised a seminar with the participation of the undersecretary of the Vatican dicastery, Sr. Nathalie Becquart. The participants said it was “an awakening of the Catholic Church in the country.” Archbishop Bejoy N. D’Cruze: “The laity want to participate in decisions and expect greater recognition of their dignity.”
Dhaka () – A training meeting entitled “Synod and synodality: a seminar for the Church in Bangladesh” was held a few days ago in Dhaka. Bishops, priests, nuns and 90 lay people from the country participated, and considered that it constitutes a rebirth of the Catholic Church. The synodal journey also began in Bangladesh in 2021 with numerous meetings in different places, but this seminar has strengthened it thanks to the visit of Sr. Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, who led the event together with Fr. George Plathottam, executive secretary of the Office of Social Communications of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences.
“In the seminary I understood that all members of the Church – bishops, priests, nuns, lay people – have the same dignity in the Church. And that includes the needy, the disabled and the marginalized. In the past only bishops participated in the Synod. It is an important change in the Catholic Church,” he told Theophil Nokrek, director of the Institute for Development of Caritas, said at the end of the seminar: “If the ordination of married permanent deacons also begins in Bangladesh, lay people will be able to contribute more to the life of the Church,” Nokrek suggested.
Sr. Nathalie Becquart said during the event that “the Synod on Synodality is a journey of the entire People of God, in the spirit of the values of Christ. The three key themes of the Synod are communion, mission and participation.” Regarding the theme “youth, women and Christian responsibilities in synodal leadership,” she added that synodality is a matter of experience and understanding, and that it constitutes a new way of practicing leadership in today’s complex world. She then explained that the global consultation process had numerous stages. After the initial phases in parishes and dioceses, 112 out of 114 episcopal conferences submitted reports to Rome. At the beginning of 2023, seven continental ecclesial assemblies, including that of Bangkok, produced their own document on the topic, entitled “Enlarge the space of your tent” (Is 54:2). The Digital Synod also involved thousands of young people via the Internet.
During the proceedings, Father George Plathottam said that in the synodal journey dialogue must take place not only between Christians but also with people of other religions. Referring to the final document of the Asian Continental Assembly on synodality, Father Plathottam stressed the need to overcome clericalism and the question of the participation in the Church of women, young people, the poor, immigrants, refugees and displaced persons. He spoke about the challenges of inclusion and hospitality, in dialogue with Asian culture.
Archbishop Kevin S. Randal, apostolic nuncio in Bangladesh, presided over a Eucharistic celebration during the seminar. On that occasion he said that “it is a question of love, because God is love, but love is not normally known but felt. A hug, an empathetic look in a moment of pain, a caress, are expressions of love.” The saints – he recalled – are people who knew how to come out of the shell of isolation and embarked on a new path, similar to the synodal one. “Many saints had difficulties living in community. Let us think of Peter and Paul. But their enthusiasm for the faith led them to give their lives: let us look at their example and imitate it.”
On the last day of the seminar, during a press conference, the Archbishop of Dacca, Bejoy N. D’Cruze, took stock of the issues raised by the synodal journey of Bangladesh. “The laity – he said – expect that the clergy and religious will recognize a greater dignity for them. They also want to participate in the decision-making process of the Church,” added Mgr. D’Cruze, and assured that the leaders of the Church are moving in that direction.
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