The Synod? “It must succeed, otherwise it will be a disaster”

Sep 22, 2023

By Loup Besmond de Senneville
How are the nuns doing, Mother Superior?

Your Holiness, we are concerned about the Synod.

Now what’s going on? Do you want to send a sister to the Synod? No, we are afraid you are going to change doctrine.

This astonishing dialogue, which Pope Francis recounted to journalists on his plane from Mongolia back to Rome, took place a few months ago between him and the prioress of a Carmelite monastery. In just a few words, the nun summed up the fears that sometimes loom large, in Rome and elsewhere, as we draw closer to the October 4 opening of the Synod of Bishops’ next assembly.

The concerns are all the greater because some people in Rome are having trouble grasping the contours of this great reflection on the future of the Catholic Church. During the past many weeks, Synod officials and the Pope have presented the synodal assembly as a spiritual process in which “the Holy Spirit will be the protagonist”. At the same time, they have insisted there be no political read ing of the process.

“It must succeed,” said a Roman source supportive of Francis and the synodal process, making no secret of his concern. “Otherwis e , it will be a catastrophe.”

“But how do you define the “success” of a Synod assembly that will not really be concluded until another year from now?”

“The criterion for success will be in the definition of what we are going to do with the second session, in a year’s time,” noted our observer. Like many others, he is clearly adopting a political angle. “In a war, the first attack is made to test the opponent.

“In October, we’ll see who’s strong and who’s not. Then the war is won in the second battle,” he said.

“If we want to demonstrate the Catholic Church’s internal capacity to discuss issues on which its faithful sometimes disagree, that’s fine,” the observer added. “But it cannot be enough to ensure the success of the Synod.” -- LCI (https://international.la-croix. com/)