Synod on Youth III - Francis Speaks

Yesterday, Pope Francis inaugurated the Synod of Bishops on "Youth, Faith and Discernment of Vocations" by celebrating the Eucharist in St Peter's Square. Later in the synod hall, he presented his vision in a remarkable opening speech. My reflexion today limits itself to simply presenting of a few sentences from this speech centered on the idea of synodality.

- The Synod we are living is a moment of sharing. I wish, therefore, at the beginning of the Synod Assembly, to invite everyone to speak with courage and frankness (parrhesia), namely to integrate freedom, truth and charity. Only dialogue can help us grow.

- Humility in listening must correspond to courage in speaking. It is this listening that creates space for dialogue. 

- The Synod must be an exercise in dialogue, above all among those of you participating. The first fruit of this dialogue is that everyone is open to newness, to change their opinions thanks to what they have heard from others. 

- Let us feel free to welcome and understand others and therefore to change our convictions and positions: this is a sign of great human and spiritual maturity.

- The Synod is an ecclesial exercise in discernment. Discernment is not an advertising slogan, it is not an organizational technique, or a fad of this pontificate, but an interior attitude rooted in an act of faith. 

- Discernment is the method and at the same time the goal we set ourselves: it is based on the conviction that God is at work in world history, in life’s events, in the people I meet and who speak to me.

- Discernment needs space and time. This attention to interiority is the key to accomplishing the work of recognizing, interpreting and choosing.

- This Synod has the opportunity, the task and the duty to be a sign of a Church that really listens, that allows herself to be questioned by the experiences of those she meets, and who does not always have a ready-made answer.

- It is therefore necessary, on the one hand, to decisively overcome the scourge of clericalism. Clericalism arises from an elitist and exclusivist vision of vocation, that interprets the ministry received as a power to be exercised rather than as a free and generous service to be given. This leads us to believe that we belong to a group that has all the answers and no longer needs to listen or learn anything. 

- Clericalism is a perversion and is the root of many evils in the Church: we must humbly ask forgiveness for this and above all create the conditions so that it is not repeated.

- May the Synod awaken our hearts! The present moment, and this applies also to the Church, appears to be laden with struggles, problems, burdens. But our faith tells us that it is also the moment in which the Lord comes to meet us in order to love us and call us to the fullness of life.

- The Synod’s purpose: to plant dreams, draw forth prophecies and visions, allow hope to flourish, inspire trust, bind up wounds, weave together relationships, awaken a dawn of hope, learn from one another, and create a bright resourcefulness that will enlighten minds, warm hearts, give strength to our hands, and inspire in young people – all young people, with no one excluded – a vision of the future filled with the joy of the Gospel.

Synod on youth II - The Importance of the Preparatory Phase

Yesterday, I wrote of the challenge of achieving truly effective synodality in the Church, synodality that would allow all members to listen to each other as they discern together the paths the Spirit is showing us. Of course, in this process of discernment, bishops and pope have a special role to play: that of ensuring that this discernment is always faithful to the Gospel and to the living Tradition that interprets and enriches it over the years. centuries.

In this perspective, Pope Francis has recently renewed the legislation surrounding the Synod of Bishops, as well as its bylaws (which were published this morning). He seeks renewal in continuity: he did not shake everything up but adjusted aspects of the process in order to free up a space of mutual listening and collective discernment that should typify any synodal process.

To do this, he strengthened the framework surrounding the preparatory consultation for the synod. In the past, this consultation was primarily aimed at the bishops of the world who were invited to give their opinion on the chosen theme. Above all, it was an "episcopal" approach. In theory, it was open to wider consultation but most often remained a matter for bishops.

From now on, the synod will be integrated in a longer process of reflection, of speaking and listening by all the people of God. We had our first experience of this approach during the special assembly of Synod on Marriage and the Family in 2014. This time, the method having been honed, the consultation was even more dynamic and richer.

• An online questionnaire allowed thousands of young people to share their experiences and express their views on the Church.
• In dioceses, bishops listened to young people. I myself attended a interesting session that allowed me to listen to students and young workers share their anxieties, their hopes and their thirst for God.
• The bishops of Quebec organized a 48-hour mini-forum with young people representing the entire territory.
• In Rome, an important pre-synodal gathering of young people from all over the world helped develop a document that largely inspired the working instrument of the present synod.

Thus, the month-long meeting that will be inaugurated tomorrow in Rome will not begin from scratch. An impressive work of consultation and reflection has preceded it.

Likewise, in the Archdiocese of Gatineau, the Diocesan Pastoral Council wanted a broad consultation to enable us to accurately paint the portrait of our parish and community reality, to express our hopes and fears and to surface the questions that we need to study. We will also publish an online questionnaire (starting October 11th) so that everyone can express their point of view. Focus groups will be organized to listen to the voices of those who might not otherwise be heard. Meetings will be held in all parishes in October and November to gather the convictions and questions of all the faithful.

The Synod of bishops in Rome ... our own diocesan synodal process in Gatineau ... these are signs that the Church want to listen to the Spirit who through the communities and in the hearts of all the baptized.