The meeting takes place between February 13 and 18 near the sanctuary of Our Lady of Lebanon. The Maronite Patriarch presided over the commemoration for the victims of the earthquake and the displaced. The assembly is made up of 120 top-level representatives from across the region, a third of whom are lay people, and is divided into 11 inter-church working groups.
Beirut () – “In the East we will only be Christians if we are together, otherwise we will not be.” With this prophetic exhortation for “common action” of the synodal type, launched for the first time in 1992 by the Eastern Churches, Father Khalil Alwan, moderator of the meeting, opened yesterday the regional phase of the synod on synodality, which takes place from 13 to February 18.
The reference point of the meeting is the theology of the “sensus fidei”, that spiritual instinct that allows the faithful to recognize – in the midst of the confusion of diverse opinions – the voice of the Good Shepherd, and the general theme is “For a Synodal Church : communion, participation and mission”. The works are carried out in the Bethania convention center, located near the sanctuary of Our Lady of Lebanon, in Harissa, and the seven Eastern Catholic Churches participate: Coptic, Syriac, Maronite, Melkite, Chaldean, Armenian and Latin, which together form a “continent” The 120 members of this assembly, who have gathered to hear “what the Spirit wants to say to the Churches”, represent their communities in the Holy Land, Jordan , Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Armenia and the Gulf countries, and a third of them are secular.
Presided over by the Maronite Patriarch, Card. Beshara Raï, yesterday’s session began with a prayer for the tens of thousands of people killed and displaced by the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6. In welcoming the assembly, the head of the Maronite Church warned against the risk of a purely intellectual approach to the meeting’s themes. The consultation on communication and the decision-making process within the Church was held in the presence of Cardinals Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synodal Assembly, and Jean-Claude Hollerich, its General Rapporteur, who spoke during the course of the journey.
At the opening of the session, Card. Grech focused the work by recalling that the theme has been well defined and that “adjusting to it means showing respect for the Church and for those who have dedicated themselves to delving into these issues.” The premise is based precisely on the fact that synodality is a fundamental pillar for Francis’ papacy, although it is foreseen that during the work other issues may arise in the various national and continental assemblies and that some of them may be “an element of division”.
However, it is very likely that this call to order will not affect the Christian East. On the other hand, it is clear that the participation of the historic Eastern Churches in this consultation, whose final assembly will take place in October 2023 in Rome, will produce a very different document from the one that will emerge at the conclusion of the work on the European continent.
A quick survey among the participants already defines a first idea of the issues that could be at the center of the debate: building a Church of proximity; solidarity against persecution and religious intolerance; purification of the memory of the war; simplification of relations between the faithful and the clergy; collaboration between the Churches present in the same territory; cooperation and strengthening of teamwork within the Churches; transparency of life; fight against indifference, rivalries and jealousy, etc.
On the other front, Card. Grech took pains to underline – in his opening message – that the Orthodox Churches have preserved “old synodal forms, even without integrating the primacy of Rome”, as well as “certain Reformed Churches and communities have also developed forms “of synodality among the people of God, to the detriment of the proper function of pastors”. The cardinal added that the universal Church “in respect for Tradition” could be inspired by this to develop new models of synodality, collegiality and primacy, “although remaining faithful to the functions proper to the people of God, the college of bishops and the bishop of Rome”. “We are all students”, commented Cardinal Grech, speaking on this subject with . “It is a big mistake – he added – to pretend to know everything”.
After the inaugural session, the synodal consultation itself began, which takes place behind closed doors. The members of the assembly were divided into 11 international and inter-ecclesial groups and began the phase of personal exchange and discussion following precise “starting questions”, according to an “Ignatian” dynamic. The process must be characterized by reciprocal listening, dialogue and discernment, to allow pastoral priorities to emerge and manifest themselves in a capillary manner, from the bottom up. With the hope, expressed yesterday by the entire hierarchy, that once again it is not just about “nice words”, which are not followed by concrete effects.
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