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There are days when you
are sure God is having her way. Today was one such day at the synod.
The tone of the voices
rising from the great marble synod hall could not have been more different from
the tones heard yesterday.
Yesterday, stern warnings fell all
around and weighed heavy on hopes for a more generous, just and
compassionate Church. Today, elation and even laughter filled the air as we
heard that participants talked about all that the Church could be if it dared to
risk being one with the God of surprises; the God that is the living, loving
source.
A Francis stragegy for
change: Small groups will have a critical role in shaping the final
document
Seven persons spoke
during the daily press briefing about the activities of the morning, but it was
Archbishop Paul-Andre
Durocher, Archbishop Claudio M Celli
and Fr. Thomas Rosica who really
conveyed the sense of hope heard in the synod hall.
According to Rosica,
Pope Francis had made the unusual move of intervening in the morning to stress
the importance of small group input for fashioning the final document. All
would begin with the Instrumentum Laboris but,
because so many participants are new, the document's final form was likely to
change a great deal, a Francis signal that the process was wide open. He also stressed the synod was not a one-issue
forum.
Interventions for
justice and inclusivity
Seventy two Synod
participants gave three-minute interventions today. Rosica summarized them and
below are some of the most promising from his list.
- Exclusionary language is to be
avoided. The Church should not pity gay persons, but recognize them for who they
are: our sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, colleagues, friends,
etc.
- The domination of men over women must
be eliminated. For many women and children, home can be a dangerous place, but
our Churches can also be dangerous places.
- We need to welcome the huge numbers of
unbaptized and ask, "Are we the masters or the servants of the Eucharistic
table?" We need a Eucharist that "is not a prize for the perfect, but
nourishment for the weak."
- The Instrumentum Laboris is
too focused on the brokenness and not the joys of the family. We need a new
anthropology where human nature is seen as good and beautiful and not fallen and
broken.
- The family should teach the Church.
- On issues like divorce and remarriage,
polygamy, and other cultural challenges, there is no universal solution.
Instead there should be discussions and solutions at the regional and
continental level.
- The Church should use form three of
the general absolution as a clear signal for Catholics to "come
home."
The Synod discussions
are not closed
Both Archbishop Celli
and Archbishop Durocher stressed the fact that the synod was wide open to input.
Durocher shared his view of the natural tensions between
bishops.
One of the things
that strikes me as I listen to the bishops, is their
awareness of the growing
gulf between the culture of marriage
and the teaching of
Jesus. Some fear we are losing our way so they
react by emphasizing
Church teaching. Others fear we will lose
touch with people who
live in the culture and that we will no longer
have an impact in the
culture. The teaching of Jesus is a gift for the
world. So how on the
one hand do you hold onto the truth but also
dialogue with the world
to provoke interaction?
That is why this [synod
process] is an important exercise. We need
to bring together those
who fear losing the teaching and those who
want to find a way to
enter into dialogue with this world.
The Big Finale:
Women
During a 90 minute press
briefing no one on the seven person panel mentioned the
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proposal that Archbishop
Durocher made on the synod floor regarding women deacons and expanding women's
roles, not even Archbishop Durocher himself. Omitting such an important story in
a daily press briefing is difficult to understand.
But thank goodness, Carol Glatz of Catholic News Service
broke the story. Here is the straight
scoop.
Speaking to participants
at the Synod of Bishops on the family Oct. 6, Archbishop Durocher said he
dedicated his three-minute intervention to the role of women in the church --
one of the many themes highlighted in the synod's working
document.
... he said the synod should reflect on the possibility of allowing for female
deacons as it seeks ways
to open up more opportunities for women in church life.
Where possible,
qualified women should be given higher positions
and decision-making
authority within church structures and new
opportunities in
ministry.
Discussing a number of
proposals he offered the synod fathers
to think about, he said,
"I think we should really start looking seriously
at the possibility of
ordaining women deacons because the diaconate
in the church's
tradition has been defined as not being ordered toward priesthood but toward
ministry."
He reminded the synod
fathers that in the apostolic exhortation "Familiaris Consortio" in 1981, St.
John Paul II basically told the church that "we
have to make a concerted
and clear effort to make sure that there is no
more degradation of
women in our world, particularly in marriage. And
I
said, '
Well, here we are 30
years later and we're still facing these kinds of
numbers.'"
He said he recommended
one thing they could do to address this problem was, "as a synod, clearly state
that you cannot justify the domination of men over women -- certainly not
violence -- through biblical interpretation," particularly incorrect
interpretations of St. Paul's call for women to be submissive to their
husbands.
This is a stunning event
and a stunning proposal. FutureChurch, always working to expand the roles and
ministry of women, is launching a petition to support Archbishop Durocher's
proposal during the synod and to make as many people aware of it as possible.
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