Filipinos attend a religious celebration to remember Filipino women who became victims of atrocities during the Second World War at the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Manila’s Baclaran district on Aug. 25, 2019. (File photo by Jire Carreon for LiCAS.news)
Oct 20 2021
“A synodal Church is a Church which listens” – Pope Francis
Without much fanfare, the “synodal process” of the Catholic Church started in dioceses and parishes across the world on Sunday, October 17, with bishops and priests explaining to the faithful what it is all about.
The “process” is one big deal. It’s something “revolutionary.” It is “an expansion” of the established institution called the “Synod of Bishops.”
Instead of only the men of the cloth talking about the Church and its direction, the faithful are supposed to be consulted, to be heard. Parishioners, monks, nuns, and members of the academe, even those who are not attending Sunday Masses are supposed to be heard.
The Catholic faithful are supposed to talk and demand and commit the Church, the institutional Church, to take a stand on human rights, the environment, the abuses members of the clergy have committed, including sex abuses in many parts of the world.
The synodal process is a chance for every Juan and Maria to voice out their concerns, and also their commitment to the Church where they belong. The archbishop of Vienna said “synodality” simply means “to walk together.”
But to walk together, everyone must be settled. Aside from the homilies on Sunday, what are the next steps. How are the faithful heard? What are the processes in place. What is the role of Basic Ecclesial Communities? Will there be a forum provided for everyone?
Read the full news in LiCAS.news.
