The document is entitled “Widen the space of your store” and collects the ideas proposed by the 112 Episcopal Conferences from around the world that sent their contributions to the Vatican. The voices of the Churches of Asia. Based on this document, the dialogue is now resumed at the local level to choose the priorities that will be addressed by the first stage of the Synodal Assembly in October 2023.
Vatican City () – “Widen the space of your tent, unfold your tarpaulins without sparing, lengthen your ropes, firm up your stakes!” Borrowing the words of a verse from the prophet Isaiah (Is 54:2), it is presents the task that the Church must face today, committed to the itinerary proposed by Pope Francis on the theme “For a synodal Church. Participation, communion, mission”, says the Work document for the Continental Stage, which was unveiled today at the Vatican to guide reflection on a new stage of the journey that began a year ago.
A commission of experts has worked in recent weeks on the ideas proposed by the 112 Episcopal Conferences (out of 114) that responded to the consultation requested by Pope Francis by sending national summaries to Rome, together with the results of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia and even from many realities and individual faithful who have sent their contributions directly by email to the Secretariat of the Synod. Thousands of suggestions condensed in a 46-page document that is openly proposed as an intermediate stage to reconsider the reflection on a continental scale. Taking as a reference -precisely- the image of the tent that accompanied the people of Israel in the desert with the tabernacle inside. “The firmness of the tent is guaranteed by the solidity of its stakes, that is, the foundations of faith that do not change, but can be moved and planted in ever new land, so that the tent can accompany the people in their walk through history.
In the document the effort to value the voices of all the local Churches of the world is evident. Although it makes no pretense of condensing extensive and detailed reflections into a few dozen pages, citations from the contributions of individual national Churches form the basis of each statement. And among these references there are many voices from Asia. For example, the Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan underlines the new and fresh experience that the Synod is offering to the communities: “People commented that it was the first time they had been asked to speak even though they had been attending Church for decades.” At the same time, however, there is no lack of efforts on this path: “The Philippines synthesis points out that “many of those who belong to the lower classes of society and the marginalized also feel excluded from the Church”.
The perspective indicated in the document is a “missionary synodal Church”, oriented by five main guidelines: listening to everyone as an openness to welcome, the drive to go out on mission, an ecclesial style based on the participation of all, a leap qualitative in formation and spirituality and the centrality of the liturgy as a tangible place for a communion nourished by the Word of God and the Sacraments. The most concrete challenges are inserted in this frame of reference. For example, the Episcopal Conference of Korea is one of those that underline the issue of the role of women in the Church: “Despite the great participation of women in various ecclesial activities, they are often excluded from the main decision-making processes. of decisions. Therefore, the Church needs to improve its own awareness and the institutional aspects of its activities».
There are several experiences on the theme of ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, also highly influenced by the contexts. The bishops of Laos and Cambodia say that the meeting between the Catholic Church and Buddhist monks and laity “creates a new culture” and that “all our activities influence each other and influence everyone.” On the contrary, the Catholic Church in India recognizes that despite the attempts “there is a feeling that the commitment in this area of the mission is minimal. Dialogue efforts have only involved small elites and have remained, for the most part, brain exercises relegated to the realm of ideas and concepts, rather than becoming a mass movement and a dialogue of life.’
Then there are the contexts where the testimony of the faith is lived to the point of martyrdom: countries where Christians, especially young people, have to face the challenge of a systematic forced conversion to other religions. «There are many – says the document – the summaries that highlight the insecurity and violence faced by persecuted Christian minorities. In these cases, walking alongside people of other faiths instead of retreating behind the wall of separation requires the courage of prophecy.”
Another much-discussed issue is how to ensure that the style of synodality becomes the normal modality of the Church’s journey. And if – on the one hand – the tension between the need to welcome all the charisms without emptying the ministry of guidance that the bishops have is clear in the document, on the other it is evident that synodality must be adequately supported with educational work. “Education and formation programs aimed at clergy and laity are urgently needed – write the Myanmar bishops – to develop a shared understanding of synodality that is crucial to being able to ‘walk together’ in the local Churches”.
These and many other ideas now return to each of the local Churches, which are entrusted with the task of recognizing the points of agreement and divergence with respect to this synthesis, pointing out from them the priorities that the Synod should discuss. Until the month of March, a moment of assembly will be held on each continent whose protagonists – as Pope Francis requested from the beginning – will be not only bishops but also priests, religious and laity. The final documents of these assemblies will be the basis for the drafting of the Instrumentum laboris of the first phase of the Synodal Assembly that will take place in Rome in October 2023. Afterwards -as Pope Francis announced a few days ago- the path will continue a another year, with a second session of the Synod proper already scheduled for October 2024.
