QUESTION: As a theologian what is your response to the conclusions of the Synodal Path of the German Church which is opposed by the Vatican? – Jacob Thomas

ANSWER: Jacob Parappally MSFS

The present synod called by Pope Francis and was inaugurated on 10 October 2021 would continue to its end in 2023 at various levels of the Church with different types of involvement of the people of God. It is different from all other synods as it involves the entire Church and not just limited to the participation of the bishops. Both in its theology, its process and its orientation it is different from all other synods taken place before the synod 2021-2023. It offers a new vision of the Church as a participative Church, living in communion and moving forward by listening to one another and learning from one another. It heralds a new self-understanding of the Church as listening Church, learning Church and not only a teaching Church. Its emphasis is on the participation of the entire Church in the process of decision-making though the decision-taking is done by those who are entrusted with the ministry of leading the Church

“The Church is being reminded by Pope Francis of the insight of the Second Vatican Council that the fundamental Christian sacrament is not ordination as priest or bishop, but baptism. The entire baptized are responsible for the welfare of the household of the faith. So the Church’s missionary and pastoral priorities can no longer be imposed from above, but discerned by consultation with the faithful down to the parish level…. Synodality, the word that describes all this, now has to be taken into the Church’s structures at national, diocesan and parish levels. That is an immense challenge”, wrote the famous Catholic Journal The Tablet on 2 November, 2018. The synodal way of life and mission is built on the solid foundation of the self-understanding of the Church as a communion of all the baptized. Communion must be the communion of all. Within a system any division of higher and lower cannot be called community.

So there is a paradigm-shift from the emphasis on the hierarchy to the entire people of God which includes hierarchy and the rest of the people of God both in the decision-making concerning the life and mission of the Church and its actualization in today’s world. In simple terms, the paradigm-shift is from the understanding of the synodality of the Church centring on the power to celebrate the Eucharist and the structuring of the Church according to the power related to it in various ways to a new understanding of the synodality of the Church centring on the baptismal incorporation of every believer into Christ. In other words, it affirms the common priesthood of the entire people of God as the foundation of the ministerial priesthood in Church and its synodality (cfr. I Pet 2:9).

The Synodal Path of the German Church

In responding to the serious case of losing the credibility of the Church due to its abuse crisis, numbering about 3677 in the past decades according to a scientific study in 2018, the German Church is trying to reform itself. How to reform the Church in Germany was the concern of the German Bishops’ Conference. They came up with a decision that the crisis calls for a structural change in the governing of the Church because almost all cases of abuse have their origin in the structures of power in the Church. It is basically a system failure that engenders individual failures of those in hierarchy. As social scientists and psychologists attribute patriarchy and male chauvinism as one of the main causes of subjugation, oppression, rape and other forms of atrocities on women, sacred powers invested on men with the vow of celibacy, when perverted become an oppressive power that can misuse and abuse others as objects of pleasure. So there is the possibility of a failure of the systems and structures of the Church that make it possible for some to abuse it. How does one remedy it? The German Bishops’ Conference found that the Synodal Path is one of the important ways to respond to the crisis of abuses. As a step in the Synodal Path they constituted a Synodal Assembly for decision-making on issues that beset the credibility of the Church in Germany. It is composed of 230 persons including the members of the German Bishops’ Conference, representatives of pastoral and spiritual ministries, 69 members of the Central Committee of German Catholics which include professors, experts, women and men from different Catholic professions and representatives of young people. It is not an ecclesiastical body like a Synod. It is more or less like a parliament. This structural change in the governance of the Church is not accepted by the Vatican and Pope Francis has observed sarcastically that Germany doesn’t need two Lutheran Churches!

“The Synodal Path initiated by the German Bishops’ Conference may open the eyes of those in the hierarchy that the authority conferred on them by the Spirit is not an absolute power to dominate and control the faithful but to be servant-leaders of the community to build communion with the involvement of all the faithful.”

Not only the structural changes of governance of the Church by establishing a higher ecclesiastical body above the authority of bishops is a problem for the Vatican but also the resolutions they have made are not in consonance with the present teaching and positions of the Universal Church. For example, the assembly has passed a resolution that the lay people need to be involved in the Cathedral Chapters that propose names of the candidates from whom the Pope appoints bishops. The assembly also considered the possibility of passing a motion on the relaxation of the rule of celibacy for the diocesan priests and to favour the ordination of women as deaconesses. It also discussed the issue of blessing the same-sex union but did not adopt it as a resolution. The issues discussed in the assembly and some of the resolutions passed give an indication on the future course it would take for the German Church. If this new structure of the Synodal Path is recognized as a legitimate superstructure of authority above the bishops and if it is binding on all the bishops of Germany to implement them in their dioceses, it may have disastrous consequences for the entire Catholic Church. No wonder, then, the Vatican opposes such a structure vehemently. There were objections and criticisms from many bishops from all over the world on this move of the German bishops and some predicted that there is going to be a new schism in the Church.

In a letter written by seventy-four bishops from four continents to the German Bishops’ Conference expressed their concerns about the Synodal Path established by the German bishops. They wrote: “Christian history is littered with well-intended efforts that lost their grounding in the Word of God, in a faithful encounter with Jesus Christ, in a true listening to the Holy Spirit, and in the submission of our wills to the will of the Father.” Further, they wrote that the resolutions calling for fundamental changes in the moral teaching of the Church and ordination of women etc. are “leading to risks leading precisely to such a dead-end”. Responding to the critiques of the Synodal Path, Bp George Baetzing, the bishop of Limburg diocese and the president of the German Bishops’ Conference insisted that the proposals of the assembly can be implemented only after submitting to Rome as a part of the Synodal process opened by Pope Francis which ends this year, 2023. There are many issues that need to be clarified theologically and ecclesiologically concerning the radical structural changes in view of the reforms envisaged by the German Bishops.

Structures of Governance and Teaching Authority

The evolution of the structures of the Church was for preserving, teaching and proclaiming the faith received from Jesus Christ, confirmed and deepened by the Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Twelve apostles had a special place in the early Church because they had walked with Jesus and were the witness of his resurrection and such experience was a criterion to include someone to the group of the apostles.

In the election of Mathias to replace Judas Iscariot this criterion was applied. This criterion was changed when Paul claimed apostleship though he did not walk with the historical Jesus. His apostleship he based on his vision of the Lord. The rest of the apostles did not absolutize their original requirements for recognizing someone as an apostle.

In the three tier system of hierarchy which was already in the second century had an order according to St Ignatius of Antioch (d.110). The first in the hierarchical order was the bishop who was in the place of God, the Father, the second was deacon who was in the place of Jesus Christ and the third was the presbyter who took the place of the apostles. It is obvious that this order was not an unchangeable and absolute order because later the presbyter was second to bishop and the deacon in the third place as it is today, with his wings clipped. The administration including the financial administration was done by the deacons. When they were seen to be powerful it was taken over by the bishops in the Pauline Churches even though in the Johannine Churches of the East, the bishops continued to be only the spiritual leaders, who were fathers of their Churches. Such a radical change in the hierarchy with the shifting of positions necessitated by the situation was to show that the order of governing the Church need not be absolutized. A new structure in the German Church need not be opposed because it breaks the tradition and in fact it can become a structure that can be universally accepted which would provide a better participation of all the baptized in the life and mission of the Church. It need not be seen as taking away the authority of the bishops in their teaching and sanctifying ministries and can be seen as a better means facilitating the effectiveness of the shepherding function of a bishop. However, when the assembly as constituted by the German Bishops’ Conference becomes a super-power structure and whatever it decides is binding on the bishops its role in any Church cannot be justified. As long as it is a consultative body or recommending body for the reformation of the Church in all aspects of life it can be seen as a welcome change in the structure to re-vitalize the Church. Due to the perceived concentration of authority in some persons and the way they exercise it as an absolute power without any regard for the insights, opinions and suggestions of the members of the community who are also equally responsible for the mission of the Church, it is natural that new structures emerge. The challenge is to the existing power structures and  is perceived as a threat to the power of those who are never held responsible for their poor governance and abuse of power. Any structure, however good its intention to reform the Church, cannot go against the fundamental faith and morals the Church upholds as flowing from its faith and doctrine.

Decision-making and Decision-taking

There is a vast difference between decision-making and decision- taking. For any community and especially for the community of the Church it is imperative that in the process of decision-making the entire community needs to be involved. In fact, the present Synod called by Pope Francis precisely has this aim when it wants to involve the faithful in all levels of the Church to contribute their part to deepen the communion in the Church through their active participation in the life and mission of the Church to fulfill its mission.

If the assembly established by the Synodal Path of the German Church is seen from this perspective it is probably a Spirit-guided new structure. It institutionalizes the synodal nature of the Church as Pope Paul VI institutionalized the Synod of Bishops in 1967. Of course, the assembly of the Synodal Path is not an institution like the Synod of Bishops but it can be a think-tank for the Church with deep commitment to build true communion in the Church and as originating from the Christ-experience of those who are members of the assembly. If it is like a parliament in a democratic society to make legislations for the Church in a particular nation or region by majority votes, it is not coming from the Holy Spirit but from the arrogance of human reason! One domination is equally bad as another domination. What is required is spiritual discernment in matters concerning the Church which is the sacrament of Christ’s presence in this world. For whatever reason it cannot be reduced to a socio-political organization.

The Synodal Path initiated by the German Bishops’ Conference may open the eyes of those in the hierarchy that the authority conferred on them by the Spirit is not an absolute power to dominate and control the faithful but to be servant-leaders of the community to build communion with the involvement of all the faithful. The ministerial priesthood of the hierarchy is to be at the service of the common priesthood of all the baptized. It is also a warning to those who are invested with the sacramental power not to identify their power with secular power but see it as a divine vocation to be the servants of the people of God. It is very difficult for those in hierarchy but it is imperative for the Church to live in communion and to fulfil its mission!