Dr Nishant A.Irudayadason
Professor of Philosophy and Ethics, Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune.

In the first centuries, the Church functioned synodally and collegially. From the Middle Ages and the Council of Trent, because she had to position itself in front of political power and then in reaction to the Protestant Reformation, she adopted a more hierarchical and clerical structure. The climax was reached when Vatican I placed a very strong emphasis on the primacy of the Pope. At the Second Vatican Council, one of the important points was the question of collegiality, the fact that the pope was not alone in his primacy, but that the bishops gathered in council exercised authority.
The Synod was created at the request of the Council Fathers who wanted to continue the lived experience, but the decision did not come out of a conciliar text. Pope Paul VI, who decided to create a consultative instrument at the service of the papacy, did this through an act of primacy. For him, the Synod of Bishops was the most beautiful fruit of Vatican II. Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI then emphasized the ecclesiology of communion and the unity of the Church. Pope Francis, for his part, sees unity through the image of the polyhedron: it does not standardize but allows the particularities of the local Churches to be expressed. Pope Francis conceives primacy and collegiality within the broader perspective of Synodality, which integrates the whole People of God. In his speech for the 50th anniversary of the Synod of Bishops, on October 17, 2015, he said he conceived his ministry through listening to pastors who themselves listened to the people. He insists on the issue of freedom of speech and debate.
Since 2013, Pope Francis has initiated reform processes to facilitate Synodal life at all levels of the life of the Catholic Church. Though the official process for the synod on Synodality is complete at parish or diocesan level, it is still necessary to devise procedures to allow the Synodal functioning that our Churches absolutely need to live: to discern and to make right priorities, at all levels—whether parish, diocesan, national or continental. Such discernment must start from the small Christian Communities and pious associations in every parish.
Experience tells us that it is necessary for us to take initiatives in favour of vulnerable people However, we must try to address two limitations that weigh upon us: lacking the art of attentive listening especially to the unprivileged. To address this difficulty, we can fall back on the Synodal experience, which shows that it is essential to find ways to listen to the vulnerable people who sometimes find it extremely difficult to express themselves for various socio-cultural reasons. It becomes incumbent on every Christian to encourage the voice of such people to be heard and to find appropriate means to listen to them with a true spirit of openness. It is important that we ensure that our communities are truly accessible to all people, not just those who master the necessary cultural codes.
Today, the discernment of the bishops cannot be disconnected from discernment with the People of God. It is a way of recognizing that the Holy Spirit works in all, by the grace of baptism. What we have in common as baptized is stronger than what differentiates us: men, women, priests, clerics, religious, etc. Synodality is the passage from “I” to “we.” There is no pastor without people, and no people without a pastor. It is a challenge. This requires finding participatory processes that allow mutual listening for common discernment. We are relearning Synodality, because we cannot repeat what was done in the first centuries. One way we can live the dream of Synodality, during this Christmas is to reach out to the vulnerable people—those whose rights are violated and whose dignity is eroded, because Jesus was born as a vulnerable child. When we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we can participate in the creation of a Synodal Church, while we empower these “little ones” to “walk together.” Together, let us build a Church where everyone has a voice and a word, an opinion and participation, a co-responsibility in decisions and mission. Let us Christmas give us this joyful experience of Journeying together.