The final document from the now-concluded assembly of the synod on synodality will receive a tepid reception in some quarters. But the text captures what happened, and what happened is extraordinary when viewed through an ecclesiological lens.
In the days and weeks ahead, we can expect such positions to harden among those who reduced this synodal process to particular outcomes on particular issues. They have ignored the warnings many of us have given to think in a less linear way, to manage expectations and to keep focused on the ways this entire process has been rooted in the ecclesiology of Vatican II.
What are the results of this laborious, intense monthlong meeting? Early in the final document, the synod delegates state:
The bishops, united among themselves and with the Bishop of Rome, made manifest the Church as a communion of Churches. Lay people, those in consecrated life, deacons and priests were, together with the bishops, witnesses of a process that intends to involve the whole Church and everyone in the Church. Their presence reminded us that the Assembly is not an isolated event, but an integral part and a necessary step in the synodal process. The multiplicity of interventions and the plurality of positions voiced in the Assembly revealed a Church that is learning to embrace a synodal style and is seeking the most suitable ways to make this happen.
It is almost inconceivable to think that a future synod would be convoked with only bishops present. The commitment to continue this kind of synodal dialogue comes through every page of the report.
What happened this month, finally, was the implementation of the ecclesiology of Lumen Gentium. The variety of ecclesiological images of the church contained in that document were manifested in this monthlong, consultative meeting that was itself the culmination of a consultative process that might have been the largest and widest in the history of the world.
To continue reading this article, click here.
With thanks to the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) and Michael Sean Winters, where this article originally appeared.
