The Open House conference on 8 June will focus on Scotland’s synodal journey – how we have responded to Pope Francis’ invitation to take part in the global Synod on Synodality, which he initiated in October 2021. He has described synodality as the path which God expects of the Church in the third millennium (Address on the 50th anniversary of the institution of the Synod of Bishops, 2015).

In calling the Synod, Pope Francis invites the whole church to reflect together on how we should live in communion, achieve greater participation, and open ourselves to mission. What steps, he asks, do we need to take in order to grow as a synodal church?

The process has already undergone diocesan, national, and continental stages, and the first global assembly took place last October in Rome. The second and final session will be held in Rome in October this year.

New model of church

Synods have traditionally been gatherings of bishops who meet with the Pope to discuss topics like evangelisation or priestly formation. The Code of Canon law describes a synod as

‘…a group of bishops who have been chosen from different regions of the world and meet at fixed times to foster closer unity between the Roman Pontiff and bishops, to assist the Roman pontiff with their counsel in the preservation and growth of faith and morals and in the observance and strengthening of ecclesiastical discipline, and to consider questions pertaining to the activity of the church in the world’ (canon 342).

The synod on synodality could not be more different. It offers a new way of being church. As well as bishops, participants include lay women and men, religious, priests and deacons. They all have an equal say and equal voting rights, and the issues they are called to discuss are drawn from the experience of local churches around the world.

As Michele Dillon observed in her book, Postsecular Catholicism (OUP 2018), where we once spoke of the voice of the church, we now hear the voices of the church (p.150).

Conversations in the spirit

At the heart of this process is an understanding of synod as a ‘conversation in the spirit’. Participants gather in small groups to listen carefully to one another in the belief that the Holy Spirit is present in their listening and sharing. They are invited to be attentive to one another, and to the insights that are shared. Many lay people who took part in last October’s assembly were astonished that church leaders actually listened to them.

This way of being church has major implications for the church’s culture, its decision making, and for the way we relate to one another. Conversations in the spirit can take place at all levels, from parish councils to episcopal gatherings to global synods. They aim to discover the truth which the Spirit reveals, opening up a process of uncovering what is already revealed by God. Synods are not, Pope Francis has insisted, parliaments, where arguments are made and compromises reached; rather they seek to find a way forward by listening carefully to what is in the heart of participants. They are like pausing on a journey to hear each other’s experience of travel in order to understand and agree the best way ahead.

The Open House conference on 8 June will invite participants to take part in round table conversations in response to four aspects of Scotland’s synodal journey. The first will consider what has shaped the culture of the Scottish Church, and what we might want to change; the second will focus on Scotland’s response to the Synod on Synodality; the third will reflect on the concept of discernment, which is at the heart of the synodal process; and the final session will place Scotland’s experience within the wider European context.

Speakers include the distinguished theologian and author Werner Jeanrond, who was Professor of Divinity at the University of Glasgow from 2008 to 2012; Dr Gemma Simmonds CJ, a senior research fellow at the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology, Cambridge; Dr Tom Magill, a retired priest of the Diocese of Motherwell and former lecturer in Scripture; and Dr Mary Cullen, Open House editor.

It promises to be a great day of listening and learning and looking ahead.

The conference will conclude with the launch of a theology forum which will invite people with an interest in theology, including those with postgraduate theology degrees, to come together in service of the church. No such qualification is needed to take part in the conference – t is open to all with an interest in the church and its future.

Please join us at the Archdiocesan offices at 196 Clyde St, Glasgow, on Saturday 8 June. Doors will be open for registration from 9.30am and the conference will run from 10am-4.30pm.

See the conference poster for more details and registration.