Vincent Kundukulam
Synodality has emerged to be one of the leading themes of discussions in Church circles. Naturally, we Indians also need to how is it going to be in India. I think our reflections must be preceded by a clear grasp of the varied Indian contexts. Because, synodal living is in itself an evangelizing act, and any gospel mission has to take seriously into account the ‘signs of time’. The form and content of synodal assemblies have to be shaped in such a way that the outcome of the synodal exercises contribute to resolve the issues and challenges we face in India.
India witnesses a confluence of cultures emerging from innumerable tribes, castes, races and belief systems. In spite of these diversified cultural constructs, India could sustain as one organic entity because those who inhabited this land considered the co-existence of even contradictory ideologies as its over-arching culture. Unfortunately, this respect for pluralism is at shake today. Currently, India is a fertile land for the development of communalist ideologies and movements on the basis of caste, language, territory, race and beyond all, religion. In the midst of fast changing culture, some people led by fear, insecurity, jealousy and the tactic of using religion for political and economic ends, interpret scriptures in exclusive ways so as to instigate communal conflicts. This chauvinistic background points towards the relevance of synodal living: on the one hand, to protect the ecclesial communities from divisive mentality, and on the other hand, to cut across a model in the society on how to resist disruptive attitudes.
Another cultural trait of contemporary Indians, especially of the middle class inhabiting in towns, is a dislike for institutionalized religions. In contrast to modern age, a considerable number of elites of our time have come back to religions understanding that science and reason cannot solve all their problems. They perch on religions in search of answers for life. But this renewed appeal for religiosity does not bring them back to the organised religions because they do not experience their freedom and democratic functioning. Hence some like to be at the frontiers of parish life and some others prefer to follow a syncretic spirituality by borrowing styles from all religious traditions. The rejection of systems with unidimensional approach and non-participative governance has to be one of the prime concerns of the present-day Church. In fact, the synodal procedures which are based on the principles of dialogue and participation shall create a conducive environment for the entry of the religiously indifferent ones to Church.
A third element that makes synodal living inevitable in Indian Church is peoples’ reluctance towards the meta narratives. The culture of the middle class is deeply influenced by heterogeneity. As Jean Francois Lyotard explains in La condition postmoderne (1979): people have become sensitive to difference and diversity. They prefer cultural representations of local narratives because the latter give importance to the singularity of events and ensure the participation of wide range of people. Given the faithful of three individual Churches are very much rooted and attached to their own specific regions and particular cultures, no single Church narrative can hold together the Indian Catholics as one unit. Only the varied little traditions can do justice to their heterogenous needs. It shows that the modus operandi of synodal living is the most apt, and I would say, it may be the only reliable system at present to build up unity in the Indian Church, to respond effectively to the cultural ethos of the Indian society and to be a witness in the country which is maligned by ethnocentric nationalists and devious corporates.
Our reflection on the context cannot be concluded without referring to the abject poverty in the country which is a serious concern for the Church. According to the Niti Aayog officials, 25 percentage of people in India are below poverty line and India ranks 66 out of 109 countries in the Global MPI 2021. The top thirty percent of the people own over seventy percent of the wealth of the country. The liberalized economic policies of the government and plundering of natural resources by the corporates worsen the gap between the rich and poor in the country. The synodal living cannot ignore the economic and social disparities as they contradict the very nature of Church. The early Christians considered everything in common. They distributed their possessions to all according to their need (Acts 2, 45) They were of one heart and soul, and no more claimed private ownership of any possession. (Acts 4, 32). The fact that a major section of Catholics belongs to the side-lined sections and that they live in the midst of the poor demand that the synodal assemblies take poverty as a prime locus of discussions
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