Synod

A top court in the southern Indian state of Kerala has ordered police protection for the apostolic administrator of an archdiocese in the Eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church, which is embroiled in a bitter liturgical dispute.

St. John’s School of Theology professor Kristin Colberg reflects on her experience of helping to craft the synod’s latest document.

The document released Oct. 27 is the result of a group reflection on the syntheses of synod discussions submitted by 112 of the world’s 114 bishops’ conferences, all 15 Eastern churches, 17 of the 23 dicasteries of the Roman Curia, the men’s and women’s international unions of superiors general, dozens of Catholic associations and more than 1,000 individuals.

“There is no way to be certain of the outcome of a process like a worldwide synod. Participants must be willing to be surprised, disappointed or even chastened by some of the feedback that comes out of local and regional deliberations.”

Saying he did not want to rush the process of discerning how the Holy Spirit is calling the church to grow in “synodality,” Pope Francis announced that the next assembly of the Synod of Bishops would take place in two sessions.

“Focusing on encountering Jesus, the role of listening is at the heart of this movement. How can we prepare and open ourselves to him? How can we reflect the love he shares with us with others?”

The document will be the subject of prayer and discussion at continental assemblies, which are scheduled to be held between January and March 2023.

According to the recently released “national synthesis,” which brought together feedback from 178 dioceses and 112 organizations for a total of 22,000 individual reports, Catholics were motivated to sound off: the good, the bad, the concerning.