2023-10-04 05:33:11
Meeting of the bishops in the Vatican (archive). Image: Andrew Medichini/dpa/picture alliance
The Catholic Church is in crisis throughout the world. Now, a world synod in Rome wants to offer a rare open dialogue. Will calls for reform and different regional visions divide the Church?
Perhaps Nathalie Becquart, 54, is a symbol of what is currently happening in the Vatican. She rides through the streets towards St. Peter’s Square with her little bicycle, always smiling. The French nun was appointed undersecretary of the episcopal synod under the leadership of Pope Francis, becoming the first woman with the right to vote in these meetings of bishops, that is, men.
Becquart is probably the best-known woman in the Vatican. In these days leading up to the world synod, which begins on October 4, she treats everyone with warmth. The meeting in Rome, in which around 450 delegates are in the Vatican, to discuss reforms and a new coexistence in the Catholic Church, will last until October 29. It is scheduled to continue in October 2024.
A different style in the Vatican
For a long time, in episcopal synods there were only bishops dressed in black. Now, they are joined by a charismatic woman who rides around the Vatican on a bicycle. What happened?
Natalie Becquart, nun undersecretary of the Episcopal Synod in the Vatican.Image: Alessandra Tarantino/AP Photo/picture alliance
It is a long story. In March 2013, the cardinals elected in a conclave the Argentine Jorge Bergoglio, who, under the name Pope Francis, has done many things differently from his predecessors, often with great symbolism and strong images.
Recently, he reorganized the structure of the Vatican apparatus, the Curia, the set of all the authorities and institutions that help the pope in the exercise of his office. But forceful changes in ecclesiastical doctrine remained by the way. In 2019, a synod on the situation of the Church in the Amazon recommended that the pope, with a two-thirds majority, ordain women to the priesthood (and also end celibacy for priests), thus allowing for more celebrations of the Eucharist. in the broad region. But nothing changed.
For years it seems that everything points to the world synod that is about to begin. Will the Church move in the direction of modernity? Will you rethink the exclusion of women from all important positions? Will it change its policy towards sexual diversity? Will he limit the power of the clergy and somehow rethink his patriarchal style? These issues provoke heated debates in the institution.
In reality, it is about moving away from the absolute power that the First Vatican Council (1869/70) grants to the pope. Nearly 100 years later, the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) modernized many aspects of the Church, such as, for example, the recognition of human rights and freedom of religion, or the introduction of the vernacular language in the liturgy. , during the course of the mass. But, ultimately, it consolidated the clerical power structure.
Now, Pope Francis calls for a world synod on the coexistence of religions and the faithful, and the future of the Church. For the first time, lay people participate and vote, although in smaller numbers than the bishops. One seventh of all votes are from women. It is hoped that it will be a true encounter, and a joint search.
Some call it a “super synod.” And many are already talking about the historical significance of this process. At the same time, prominent theologians such as the internationally recognized Church historian Hubert Wolf doubt the prospects of the event. In an interview with the Catholic News Agency (KNA), he spoke of “another debate club without legal powers.”
A synod, “not a Parliament”
The Holy Spirit, Pope Francis said at Pentecost 2023, must become the beginning and center of synodal work. “Not a Parliament in which it is about demanding rights and needs according to the world agenda, (…) but an opportunity to follow the breath of the Holy Spirit.”
The hard issues are already on the table: the exclusion of women from all ordination positions in the Catholic Church, celibacy, the ecclesiastical stance towards homosexuals and same-sex unions, more attention to people who live on the margins of the society. And, since massive sexual abuse of minors by priests was discovered – which many bishops hid – the power of men in the Church is also at stake, linked to the “systemic causes” of the abuse crisis.
The reformist president of the German Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing, wants the world synod to grant more freedom to national bishops’ conferences. “Certain churches take very different paths with the same spirit.” This would allow different speeds of change without breaking cohesion. In Augsburg, Bishop Bertram Meier compares the coming weeks to an experiment in school chemistry classes. This could “lead to completely new solutions, but also to explosions.” Both Bätzing and Meier are in Rome.
Pope Francis with representatives of other churches at the “Together” vigil, before the episcopal synod. (09/30/2023).Image: Riccardo De Luca/AP/picture alliance
World movement against celibacy and in favor of women
The German Church is not alone in its reformist orientation. Similar statements come from many European countries, Latin America, and even parts of Asia. In Africa, the Church is more conservative. In the United States, it seems almost divided, with many conservatives openly acting against the sitting pope.
But in recent weeks, bishops from very different countries, including Australia, Belgium and the Dominican Republic, have called for an end to the celibacy requirement. 20 or 30 years ago, a bishop might have expected severe rejection from Rome for it.
The participation of women in the Church is also a “megatetome”, with voices in favor of it all over the world, according to Nathalie Becquart. The Frenchwoman, named by the British BBC as one of the 100 most important women in the world in 2022, emphasizes again and again that “dialogue helps to recognize the signs of the times.”
“Zero tolerance”, claim of victims of sexual abuse
In these days, Catholics and ex-Catholics from 26 countries on five continents also arrived in Rome, men and women from New Zealand and Mexico, Canada, DR Congo, Slovenia and Spain, who were victims of sexual abuse by priests of the Church. It must not be forgotten that the impetus for the consultation processes and national synods was the massive abuse of minors by members of the Church.
“Zero tolerance” is demanded throughout the world in the clarification of these crimes, something that Pope Francis stressed several times. However, signs are multiplying that the Vatican, and, apparently, the Pope himself, are not entirely consistent with this. Victims of abuse are outraged that Francis has now appointed an Argentine archbishop in Rome as the new Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and awarded him the cardinal’s purple. According to representatives of abuse victims, Archbishop Víctor Fernández covered up sexual violence by priests and protected the perpetrators.
Victims’ spokespersons made another call: Pope Francis should introduce a “binding and universal mandate of zero tolerance in the Church” before the opening of the synod. That would be more than a surprise.
(cp/rml)
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