Pope Francis" Struggle to Bring Forth a Synodal Church

By Massimo Faggioli
La Croix International
November 5, 2018

https://international.la-croix.com/news/pope-francis-struggle-to-bring-forth-a-synodal-church/8784?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=e-mail&utm_content=05-11-2018&utm_campaign=newsletter_crx_lci&PMID=0993ce75a05e850a9ee6d7668f102aad

Pope Francis poses with participants in the Synod of Bishops assembly on Youth, Oct. 27. (Photo by Fabio Frustaci/EPA/MAXPPP)

The most visible critique of the just concluded Synod of Bishops’ assembly on young people has focused on sections in the final document that call for a strengthening of synodality at all levels of the Church.It is absolutely surprising how very little so many bishops know about synodality, a method Pope Francis has sought to develop throughout his pontificate and a concept Catholic theologians have been discussing for at least a couple of decades.In order to understand how the pope’s ecclesiology is currently being received, we should look back at the concept of episcopal collegiality as it was introduced at the Second Vatican Council (1962-65).It is well known that this was a “new” concept for the Council Fathers, who debated and finally approved by principle most notably in the Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, which was promulgated in November 1964.Less known is that Catholic theologians had done substantial work in collegiality during the preparation phase of Vatican II. One notable example was the 1961 book edited by Yves Congar and Bernard-Dominique Dupuy, The Episcopate and the Universal Church. During the actual sessions of Vatican II other theologians and historians published even more books and scholarly articles on the topic.These were fundamental in convincing the bishops council at both ends of the spectrum that episcopal...