Exclusive La Croix International interview with the undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, Sister Nathalie Becquart
Catholics in Oceania recently concluded their continental assembly of the Synod and a top official in the Rome office that’s facilitating the worldwide synodal process says the gathering showed the Church needs to adapt to local cultures.
“It is clear that the Church is unfolding in a local culture, whereas we often have a very Eurocentric vision of the Church,” said Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops.
“One of the requests was to bring out an Oceanian theology, a sign of the need to anchor the Church in local realities,” said Becquart, who attended the February 6-10 continental assembly in Fiji.
She spoke with La Croix‘s Loup Besmond de Senneville about the issues and dynamics of the weeklong meeting.
La Croix: What struck you about the Continental Assembly for Oceania?
Sister Nathalie Becquart: I was struck by the three themes chosen for this work, carried out by all the bishops of the region, who are accustomed to meeting every four years. In particular, we reflected on “becoming a synodal Church” and on the training to be carried out in order to accomplish the mission. But we also feel that the ecological question is extremely pressing, with one topic around care for the ocean.
This region is probably also home to the youngest Church in the world, where there are still missionaries. Some islands were evangelized in the 1950s, just before or after the Second Vatican Council. They are not heirs to 1,500 or 2,000 years of history: the debates today are very different from what they are in the rest of the world. The indigenous populations are very present, with celebrations marked by a great sense of inculturation.
Do you feel that there is a gap in relation to how the issues are addressed in other parts of the world?
For those of us coming from Rome, we experienced a young Church there. The concerns are not very different from elsewhere, but they are expressed with a different intensity. We saw this with ecology: for a week, we saw with our own eyes and heard the testimonies of those who were victims of erosion and rising water levels.
The people in Oceania are experiencing climate change in a very intense way. They have a very strong link with this territory and losing their land means losing their identity. It is terrible. This dynamic of the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor was present in the reflections all week.
It is clear that the Church is unfolding in a local culture, whereas we often have a very Eurocentric vision of the Church. One of the requests was to bring out an Oceanian theology, a sign of the need to anchor the Church in local realities.
How will such different approaches be integrated as a result of the synodal process?
It is too early to say. We need to see what emerges from there and elsewhere. The working document that will be developed afterwards will bring out the voice of the Church from the various continents, with what unites them and what differentiates them.
What is common to all the continental synods is the expression of the need for the Church to be attentive to the suffering and the cry of the people. This is true in Lebanon with poverty, in Turkey with the earthquake, and in Oceania with the threats of climate change.
But it’s clear that the path of this Synod is not mapped out in advance. This can obviously generate fears, which is normal. It is normal that it is not comfortable, as is the case for all spiritual processes.
Reproduced with permission from La Croix International.
