Shortly after the end of the Synod of Bishops in Rome on 24 October 2024, a meeting1 on the theme of Synodality was held at Ile Blanche in Brittany, France. Led by Fr Charles Delhez2, a Belgian Jesuit, journalist, sociologist and parish priest, the meeting was deliberately designed to be a dialogue. It brought together around forty Christians from various dioceses in Brittany.
The first day alternated between contributions from Fr Delhez3, the words of witnesses involved in various ways in the Church and group discussions. It was a great opportunity to put into practice, in the very spirit of the Synod, an attitude of spiritual conversation lived in trust and under the gaze of Christ: listening to others without interfering, receiving their words, making them your own; then expressing this or that expression that resonated more strongly; finally, collectively, discerning, bringing out a common word, a consensus that opens up a path…
The second day focused on the welcome given to the Synod by Church movements. Marie-Christine Rozier, a member of the Promesses d’Eglise Collective’s leadership team, spoke about the extent to which the movements are keen to move forward in the Synod’s dynamic. Promesses d’Eglise brings together 45 Catholic movements and organisations for children and adults, focusing on action and/or the spiritual life. Their common objective is to take up the challenge of the ecclesial transformation desired by many, in particular to promote real parity between the laity and ordained ministers, between men and women… Witnesses from several of these movements spoke of how, locally, these transformations are trying to be lived out.
After a review of the 2 days and the expression of projects for today and tomorrow, the Eucharist brought the participants together one last time and sent them off to prepare the way of the Lord in the field of their daily mission.
In the end, one thing was clear: for the participants in the meeting, receiving the Synod’s Final Document on Synodality is a path on which the Church must resolutely embark. Even if it is not an easy path. The weekend’s discussions highlighted the delicate and sometimes painful relationship between the participation of lay people in the necessary transformations and the leadership of the Church by those in authority. There have been times when the momentum of change has been halted. All this is not without mutual suffering.
Everyone felt called to grow in trust, hope and patience, certain that the Holy Spirit is at work and that the force of the torrent opened up by the Synod will make its way into the hearts of believers.
1. Meeting organised on 30 November and 1 December 2024 by members of the Ile Blanche Animation Commission
2. Charles Dehlez analyses the progress and research of our Church in today’s world. He is the author of several works, including Eglise catholique : renaître ou disparaître. 2022 Editions Jésuites.
3. Themes of his contributions: 1. an invitation to the Church to adopt new postures in its relations with society and with itself; 2. synodality: a new face and a new culture for the Church, cf Final Document of the Synod.
The Final Document of the Synod …
The Final Document, ratified by Pope Francis4 , commits the Church to a genuine transformation of its practices, to develop a more collective approach and to give its hierarchical structure its true role: to harmonise and preserve the unity that enables us to grow together.
The Document calls for 3 conversions: the conversion of relationships, processes and links. Each diocesan Church, each community, each movement or institution is invited to read this Final Document of the Synod and to make it its own, then to discern how to implement it in its own reality.
No doubt, to those who were expecting dogmatic proposals or major transformations, the document may appear theologically weak… But it would be blinding ourselves greatly not to see that it opens the door to a profound transformation of the Church’s practices… as soon as the Church seizes it.
Ten working groups have been set up in the wake of the Synod; they will be formulating proposals over the coming years. But the most important thing is that it is received, now, everywhere and gradually.
This weekend will have been both a meeting point for people involved in the Church and an oasis for passionate Christians. Thank you to the various organisers and presenters, not forgetting the musicians! Now it’s up to each and every one of us to embark on this journey of conversion and share our discoveries wherever the Spirit of the Risen Jesus sends us. It is He who is working in the hearts of the members of the Church so that they become ever more Pilgrims of Hope, as the Jubilee Year that opens at Christmas invites us to do.
Patrick Salaün (Mission de France) and Sr Anne-Marie Foucher (FSE)
Published on 11 December 2024
4 Pope Francis has decided not to draw up the Exhortation which, until now, followed the end of every Synod. The final document takes the place of the pontifical magisterium,’ he said. We invite you to study it and put it into practice.
