I appreciate Sr. Dr. Soja Maria’s article titled Synodality: An Analytical Exploration for a Religious Perspective. The Church is inherently synodal in nature and thus synodality has to be embraced in all its facets beginning from its very primary structures. The religious life forms an essential part of the structural organization of the Church. Religious men and women are major component of the Church’s hierarchy. This ‘analytical exploration’ serves well to indicate to the religious men and women in the contemporary Church to practically apply the tenets of synodality to their every day life. It is high time that the religious houses and formation houses consider communion, participation, and mission as elements to be inculcated in the lifestyle of all members. Religious communities primarily need to overcome structural autocracy, individualism, insensitivity and compartmentalization. These elements are a threat to the evangelical counsels as such. They betray the very essence of community life.

There is a dire need to deepen the Church’s reliance on the gospel-based values with a sense of trust in God. This fact need to be implemented by all organs of the Church regardless of the circumstantial differences. This discussion on the analytical exploration needs to propose practical modalities for the implementation of the principles of synodality in religious houses and in the formation programs of the religious men and women. A think-tank on how to build communion, how to foster participation and and how to facilitate mission activities ad intra et ad extra in the synodal perspective, needs to be established at the grassroots level in all religious houses and in formation programs.

Incidences of a non-biblical mission need to be avoided by making our mission initiatives participatory in ways that are authentic, courageous and well-discerned. The planning should be all-inclusive and at all levels, bearing in mind the current global situation, the emerging technological challenges and the availability of personnel. There is an urgent need to suggest practical frameworks and concrete steps towards synodality in the local context especially in the religious houses and places of formation.

• Rev. Fr. Dr. Antony Situma, Kenya