Most of the bishops who participated at the historical Second Vatican Council were so overwhelmed with their first-hand experience of being together during the conciliar sessions as a College of Bishops, that towards the end of the Council they requested Pope Paul VI to establish an ecclesial structure that would ensure the continuation of worldwide collegiality of bishops with, and under, the Bishop of Rome.
On his part, the Pope himself was also very keen to have a similar mechanism that would enable him to frequently get the pulse of the bishops from around the world. Thus, in the very year that the Council ended (1965), through a special Motu Proprio, he established the post-Vatican II ecclesial institution of the Synods of Bishops. In a sense, this was nothing new, but a return to the ancient venerable Church tradition of synods.
Interestingly, the Pope already then visualised how, with the passage of time, this concept could further evolve, as he stated in the Motu Proprio itself: ‘This synod, which, like all human institutions, can be improved upon the passing of time’.
The above-mentioned Motu Proprio of Pope Paul VI specified that this post-conciliar concept of the Synod of Bishops – whereby bishops chosen from various parts of the world were to offer more effective and tangible assistance to the Bishop of Rome in carrying out his office – was to be constituted in such a way that it would be: ‘1. A central ecclesiastical institution; 2. Representing the whole Catholic episcopate; 3. By its nature perpetual; 4. As for structure, carrying out its function for a time and when called upon’.
Since 1965 to-date, there have been 29 synods altogether – fifteen ordinary synods, three extraordinary synods and eleven special synods, all of which were limited to attendance by bishops. These post-Vatican II synodal events have not only assisted successive Popes in their functioning in the Petrine Office, but also have enabled the worldwide Catholic episcopate to experience their own communion as a College of Bishops.
Successor
Since he was elected as the successor of Peter in 2013, our present Holy Father Pope Francis has tirelessly endeavoured to revive the teachings of Vatican II in almost every sphere of ecclesial life. Invoking the conciliar ecclesiology as taught in particular by Lumen Gentium (LG), he has consistently sought to realise in concrete Church life the direct implications of the Church as the people of God.
Basing himself on the fundamental Christian identity of baptism, the Pope has sought to consider the concrete implications of a Church that consists of all the baptised, i.e., the bishops, priests, religious, lay men and women through all of whom the Holy Spirit speaks.
As LG 12 so clearly teaches, thanks to the presence of the Holy Spirit, there is an inborn or innate intuition for the sense of the faith and morals (sensus fidei) among the people of God as a whole: “The entire body of the faithful, anointed as they are by the Holy One, cannot err in matters of belief.
They manifest this special property by means of the whole peoples’ supernatural discernment in matters of faith when ‘from the bishops down to the last of the lay faithful’ they show in universal agreement in matters of faith and morals. That discernment in matters of faith is aroused and sustained by the Spirit of truth”.
Elaborating this conciliar teaching further, Pope Francis highlighted how this serves as a guide to the whole Church because it is but the voice of the Holy Spirit: “In all the baptised, from first to last, the sanctifying power of the Spirit is at work, impelling us to evangelisation.
The people of God are holy thanks to this anointing, which makes it infallible in credendo. This means that it does not err in faith, even though it may not find words to explain that faith. “The Spirit guides it in truth and leads it to salvation. As part of his mysterious love for humanity, God furnishes the totality of the faithful with an instinct of faith – sensus fidei – which helps them to discern what is truly of God.
The presence of the Spirit gives Christians a certain connaturality with divine realities and a wisdom which enables them to grasp those realities intuitively, even when they lack the wherewithal to give them precise expression”.
Post-Vatican II
In his address at the special ceremony in October 2015 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the institution of the post-Vatican II synods, the Pope declared: “The sensus fidei prevents a rigid separation between an Ecclesia docens and Ecclesia discens, since the flock likewise has an instinctive ability to discern the new ways that the Lord is revealing to the Church”.
In other words, as the Preparatory Document for the Synodal Process issued by the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops says, there exists an indispensable ‘bond between the sensus fidei of the people of God and the magisterial function of the pastors that the unanimous consensus of the whole Church in the same faith is realised’.
Hence the importance of listening to every person among the people of God: “A synodal Church is a Church which listens, which realises that listening is more than simply hearing. It is a mutual listening in which everyone has something to learn. The faithful people, the college of bishops, the Bishop of Rome: all listening to each other, and all listening to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth in order to know what he says to the churches”.
Listening
Thus, by stressing the vital importance of listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking through all the members of the people of God, Pope Francis goes a step further to constructively use the present synodal structure introduced by Pope Paul VI in 1965 in such a way that the voices of all the baptised are heard through the decisions that are to be taken by the bishops and the Pope:
‘Although structurally it [Synod] is essentially configured as an episcopal body, this does not mean that the Synod exists separately from the rest of the faithful. On the contrary, it is a suitable instrument to give voice to the entire people of God as ‘authentic guardians, interpreters and witnesses of the faith of the whole Church, demonstrating from one assembly to another, that it is an eloquent expression of synodality as a constitutive element of the Church”.
In fact, in order to promote new and deeper efforts to discern what the Holy Spirit is saying to the contemporary Church, Pope Francis used a type of a two-year consultation of the people of God when he called for two successive Synods on Family and Marriage in 2014 and 2015.
A similar effort was in place with regard to the Synod on Amazonia in 2018. And with the Apostolic Constitution Episcopalis Communio in 2018, the Pope has officially and canonically established an institutional mechanism to consult the people of God in the preparatory stages of future synods. This surely is a novelty (in the contemporary Church) that makes a conscious and concrete effort to deepen the ecclesiology of Vatican II as taught by Lumen Gentium, in the spirit of the ancient practice of synodality.
This papal initiative led to the beginning of the Synod on Synodality in local churches where all the faithful were invited to listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. The fruits of that listening process were collected in reports sent to Rome by 112 out of 114 episcopal conferences, and by 15 Eastern Churches. They formed the basis for the so-called ‘Frascati Document’, which is the working document for the Continental Stage, Enlarge the Space of your Tent.
In order to deepen further the listening process while studying the specific context in which the Church finds itself, seven Continental Stage meetings were organised. Most episcopal conferences responded favourably and enthusiastically to the question of the Secretariat of the Synod that they meet not just as bishops, but that the continental listening occurs together with other members of the people of God.
These continental gatherings were therefore called ‘Ecclesial Assemblies’. As the terms themselves literally indicate, while a Synod of Bishops consists of bishops, an Ecclesial Assembly consists of participants from all strata of ecclesial life, namely bishops, priests, religious and laity.
Such participation finds its rationale in the fundamental assertions that the Church and synodality are synonymous (as taught by St John Chrysostom) and that synodality is ‘a walking together’ of all the people of God.
Continents
Although there are just six geographical continents in the world, in the current synodal process, so as to include every segment of the people of God spread all over the world, the Secretariat for the Synod has considered the world as comprising of seven groupings of episcopal conferences and Eastern Churches, namely Asia, Africa, North and Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Oceania and the Middle East.
In the months of February and March 2023, each of these ‘continents’ had their respective Ecclesial Assemblies using the working document for the Continental Stage, Enlarge the Space of your Tent. In the history of the Church, this is the first time that such Ecclesial Assemblies were held.
Also remarkable is that all continents were listening to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the churches almost simultaneously. I was privileged to attend briefly the Frascati meeting and then participate in the Synodal Assembly for Asia.
I thus had an inside view of the process and was deeply impressed by the seriousness of the preparation, the spiritual atmosphere that prevailed at the meetings of the Council of Bishops of the General Secretariat and the openness to amend displayed by the drafting committee at every stage.
The Synod on Synodality gives great hope for bringing about a renewal of the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Cardinal Oswald Gracias is Archbishop of Mumbai, India. In 2008, he became vice-president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India; and in 2010, he was elected president. He was also elected secretary general and then president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences from 2010 to 2019.
Extract taken from the book: The People of God have Spoken: Continental Ecclesial Assemblies within the Synod on Synodality edited by Myriam Wijlens and Vimal Tirimanna CSsR published by Columba Books. Book to be released shortly. To purchase a copy, visit columbabooks.com.
