Are bishops, priests, and laity pulling in the same direction?

The Catholic bishops of Togo made their ad limina visit to Rome in October and, wanting to better understand the purpose of these famous five-yearly encounters, I carefully read the interview the president of the bishops’ conference gave to Vatican News afterwards.

Dec 08, 2023

(SIC Photographers flickr)


By Maryse Quashie
The Catholic bishops of Togo made their ad limina visit to Rome in October and, wanting to better understand the purpose of these famous five-yearly encounters, I carefully read the interview the president of the bishops’ conference gave to Vatican News afterwards. “The Pope asked us about the current challenges facing our particular Church,” he said, at the very start of the interview. “We told him that the first of these challenges is the formation of future priests, our seminarians.”

Taken aback, I thought to myself that if someone had asked me about the biggest challenge facing our Church today, my answer would have been quite different. Then, on deeper reflection, I realised that I shouldn’t have been surprised by the bishop’s response. And I also realised that if the question had been put to lay Catholics in Togo, there would probably have been as many answers as there were individuals. It’s clear that we are not working towards the same goals.

Not enough dialogue in our Church
But I do believe that if all the members of a particular Church, sharing the same context at a given moment in their common history, do not indicate the same priority, then their shared boat will have great difficulty in moving forward. It is therefore essential to ask ourselves about this situation.

The first observation is that we don’t interact enough in our Church. Indeed, a common objective can only be the result of a consensus. But I hardly see how we might reach such a consensus. What forum would bring together the bishops, priests, religious and laity to discuss their Church together and map out its future? Yes, a pastoral theme or priority is set forth each year, but it’s handled in a rather administrative way – it’s chosen by the bishop. On his own? I don’t know.

These priorities come to us through the parish priests, who negotiate them as they see fit. Is it not possible to adopt a different approach? At some point, we could listen to lay Catholics about their concerns, and have discussions that would lead to the year’s theme. Wouldn’t it be better to replace the administrative approach (which favours a hierarchical structure) with one that favours a more horizontal structure?

A unifying theme
What’s certain is that a yearly theme or priority that is chosen in this way would be a real mobiliser, because everyone would feel involved in the common objective, and — at the very least — we’d be made aware that we’re all in the same boat, that we’re all challenged by the duty to bring the boat safely to port. I can already hear the objection: the process would be too cumbersome, and therefore too long to have any chance of success. And I would reply: it’s precisely because our Church is sometimes reduced to an administration that its operations are so cumbersome.

What if we had the audacity to do things differently, even just once? What if we gave lay people, say, two months to express their most important concerns? What if we asked a commission (made up of members from all states of life) to synthesise these concerns, not as in the human sciences, leaving out those that are in the minority, but with a view to taking everything into account?

If the bishop then convened, say, two or three assemblies for free discussion with the lay faithful, not forgetting the possibility of doing this online, after six months we’d have a theme. This procedure would be valid for the first time, but then the Catholic people, knowing that their points of view are taken into account, would get into the habit of giving their views at a time fixed in advance. A utopia, one might retort, evoking the level and commitment of lay people in particular.

Risking to be innovative in the Church
When will we take the risk of innovation? And what chance do we have of truly living synodality if we don’t make the effort to share the same priorities? How can we transform our communities and our world, and how can we bring about the kingdom of love if we do not share the same urgent needs? “No one can draw a free breath who does not share with others a common and disinterested ideal,” says Antoine de Saint Exupéry. “Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction,” he adds

And then there’s the Yiddish proverb that says, “If everyone pulled in one direction, the world would tip over.” --LCI (https://international.la-croix.com)

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