Helen Costgane asks if a synodal church requires changes in canon law

The International Theological Commission (ITC), in its document on synodality, observed that ‘the concept of synodality refers to the involvement and participation of the whole People of God in the life and mission of the Church’ (1). More specifically, it refers to participation in the exercise of discernment and decision making intrinsic to that mission. This in turn requires structures to make it clear, not merely when decisions have been made and who makes them, but how they are made and how the people who make them work together.

This article looks at two key areas - parish and diocese - in terms of canon law and the involvement of all the faithful, clergy and lay people alike, and considers whether changes are needed to canon law, or to the way in which it is approached and used.

Parish structures

The parish as a community is served by the parish priest who is called to share in the diocesan bishop’s ministry by carrying out the functions of teaching, sanctifying and ruling. He does this with the cooperation of other priests or deacons, and with the assistance of lay members of Christ’s faithful in accordance with the law.

The ITC identifies two structures in the parish that have a synodal character: in canon 536, the parish pastoral council (PPC), and in canon 537, the economic council which is often called the ‘finance committee’ (PEC). Both involve lay participation in consultation and pastoral planning.

Dr Helen Costigane SHCJ is Senior Lecturer at Mater Ecclesiae College/St Mary’s University, London.

(1) International Theological Commission, Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church. 2 March 2018 paragraph 7.

2)Cf Omnis C; The Congregation for the Clergy issued in 2020 the Instruction entitled The Pastoral Conversion of the Parish Community in the Service of the Evangelising Mission of the Church

3)A Giraudo,’I Processi Consultivi e Deliberativi nella Chiesa’ (2021) Quaderni di Diritto Ecclesiale 161-180; cf canon 127.