by Tom Magill

The second session of the Synod on Synodality takes place in Rome from 2nd- 27th October. The first session last year discussed what a synodal Church might look like. The Working Document for this session focuses on how we might be a missionary, synodal church. It urges participants to be as concrete and specific as possible and not to be distracted by abstract theorising. Under three broad headlines of relationships, pathways, and places, it suggests the following concrete conversations:

How to be a synodal Church in mission

How to engage in deep listening and dialogue

How to be co responsible in the light of the dynamism of our personal and communal baptismal vocation

How to transform structures and processes so that all may participate and share the charisms that the Spirit pours out on each for the common good

How to exercise power and authority as service.

These are useful starting points for our own personal and communal reflections so that we see ourselves as part of the process, and ready ourselves for the Pope’s Apostolic Exhortation which will be issued after the conclusion of the synod. In what follows I outline some of my own hopes and thoughts.

How to be a synodal Church in mission

I hope the link between synodality and mission will be strongly emphasised. Synodality is not for its own sake but is always in view of mission. Mission, of course, is not proselytism, as Pope Francis regularly reminds us. Rather, it is how we together as Church bring Christ to the world and how our relationship with Christ is clarified and strengthened in this encounter. This willingness to be in the world and to identify with the ‘joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties’ of all (Gaudium et Spes 1) overcomes the temptations of self-referentiality, self-entitlement, and false nostalgia. This is a Church which is engaged and committed to this earth and in service to it.

Here we might explore to what extent our local parishes see themselves as missional. Is there still a strong streak of individualism in our practice of the faith, more about ‘How do I get to Heaven?’ rather than ‘How do we together build up God’s Kingdom on this earth?’

We must explore also the extent to which the vision of a synodal and missional Church has been received in our parish, diocese, and at national level. This is a moment when the ecclesiology of Vatican II can, perhaps for the first time, be really expressed in our lives of faith. Every institution can suffer from inertia and prefer to keep things as they are. This is no longer an option. It’s essential that we recognise that the child abuse crisis was caused not simply by acts of individual wickedness but the result of institutional failure. Synodality as a new way of living as Church comes as a response to this crisis and is a reminder that we must never forget it or the survivors. Do we have the option not to embrace a synodal Church?

Dr Tom Magill is a retired priest of the Diocese of Motherwell  and is the diocesan synod group leader.