Grech: A Synod is always a
missionary crossroad for the Church
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| Bishop Mario Grech and Pope Francis |
An interview with the Pro-Secretary General of the Synod of
Bishops on the value of synodality in Pope Francis’ Pontificate and his
experience of the Amazonian Synod.
By Alessandro Gisotti
The Holy Father’s intention in appointing Bishop Mario Grech
as Pro-Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops last 2 October was “explicitly
synodal”. In fact, since he will be taking on the leadership of the General
Secretary of the Synod, right after his appointment as Pro-Secretary, Bishop
Grech was called to “walk side by side” with Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri during
the Amazon Synod. In this interview with L’Osservatore Romano and Vatican
News (the first since his appointment), the Maltese prelate reflects
on his experience during the recent Amazon Synod and shares his thoughts on how
central the synodal dimension is in Pope Francis’ pastoral ministry.
The Amazon Synod concluded just a few days ago. How did
you experience this special moment?
I became aware of the truth of something that the Holy
Father loves to repeat—that reality is more clearly seen from the periphery
than it is from the centre! This is true for social and cultural realities as
well as for ecclesial experiences. I remember one Brazilian Bishop remarking to
me how much he himself learned from listening to his peers. Even though he
comes from the same region, he was unaware of some of the experiences and needs
expressed by others. So, if the Synodal experience has been useful for someone
who comes from the same territory, how much more valuable it is for those of us
who think we are at the centre! Through listening to the experiences that
emerged during the Synod, one not only becomes aware of how many semina
verbi (seeds of the Word) there are in these peoples and vestigia
ecclesiae (elements of the Church) present in these cultures, but also
of how the centre commits a grave mistake when it thinks it is superior to
those peoples.
You were appointed Pro-Secretary General of the Synod
shortly before the Amazon Synod. How did you feel when you accepted this Papal
appointment?
I come from a small diocese, but one that also possesses a
strong missionary dimension. During my years of seminary formation, there was a
saying that “the world is my parish”. Without being aware of it, the Lord has
been preparing me for a long time for this new ministry that, in my opinion,
encompasses a missionary dimension. Even though the Vatican is not a mission
land, I consider the mandate entrusted to me by the Pope as a missionary call,
both because the Secretary of the Synod is a crossroads that causes the world’s
Episcopal Conferences to converge and because the same Synod of Bishops is an
instrument of evangelization. As Pope Francis writes: “at a point in history
when the Church is embarking upon a new chapter of
evangelization requiring her to be throughout the world… permanently in a
state of mission, the Synod of Bishops is called, like every other
ecclesiastical institution, to become ever more suitably channelled for the
evangelization of today’s world” (Episcopalis communio, 1).
“Synod” is certainly one of the key words of this
Pontificate. Why do think the dimension of synodality is so important for Pope
Francis?
I am of the opinion that Pope Francis’ thought regarding
synodality is rooted in the category of “People of God”. It is evident that the
Pope carries the Theology of the People in his “baggage”. This is the fruit of
his understanding of the Second Vatican Council as well as his experience as
the Bishop of the people of Buenos Aires. People have been at the heart of his
pastoral experience. His theology and ecclesiology are the fruit of this experience
in the midst of the People of God. In that light, the Church is not identified
with the hierarchy, but with the People of God, comprised of all its members –
bishops, consecrated persons, and laity – who, while possessing different
charisms, possess the same dignity deriving from the same Baptism. The Pope
loves to repeat what is found in Lumen gentium 12, that is,
that the People of God cannot err in credendo (in matters of
belief): “This means that it [the People of God] does not err in faith, even though
it may not find words to explain that faith…. God furnishes the totality of the
faithful with an instinct of faith – sensus fidei – which
helps them to discern what is truly of God. The presence of the Spirit gives
Christians a certain connaturality with divine realities, and a wisdom which
enables them to grasp those realities intuitively, even when they lack the
wherewithal to give them precise expression” (Evangelii gaudium, 119).
In fact, the sensus fidei is the hermeneutical key to
understand the theology of synodality adopted by Pope Francis. Consdering that
in his essay On Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine, St
John Henry Newman had reactivated a reflection on the sensus fidei,
which later influenced the Second Vatican Council (Dei Verbum, 8; Lumen
gentium, 12), his canonization during the Amazon Synod represented a golden
opportunity for a profound reflection on the sensus fidei which,
in my opinion, has been neglected. I do not think it accidental that the Pope
made reference during the homily of the closing Mass of the Synod to the fact
that “the sensus fidei [sense of faith] was missing in his
[the Pharisee’s] utterance”.
In some respects, there were “two Amazon Synods”: the one
in the Synod Hall was lived in a fraternal atmosphere among the Synod Fathers,
and the one lived on social media was strongly contrasted to the former. What
does this “dualism” bring up in you?
This is a well-known issue in the Church’s history about
which some interesting books have been written. Look what happened after
Vatican Council II. Regarding this problem, the Pope Emeritus recalled during
his final meeting with the priests of Rome on 14 February 2013: “there was the
Council of the Fathers – the real Council – but there was also the Council of
the media. It was almost a Council apart, and the world perceived
the Council through the latter, through the media…. And while the
Council of the Fathers was conducted within the faith – it was a Council …
seeking to understand the signs of God at that time … the Council of
the journalists, naturally, was not conducted within the faith, but within
the categories of today's media, namely apart from faith, with a
different hermeneutic”. On one hand, the problem posed is in part physiological
because the contexts are different. On the other hand, it signifies both that
the Church needs to communicate better by specifying precisely its point of
view, and that journalists need to foster a desire for a profound understanding
of ecclesial events.
Also on this occasion, there was a request on the part of
women in the Church to be able to vote during the Synod. Can you give us a
reflection on the role of women in the Church?
There were diverse, interesting interventions on the role of
women in the Church during the Synod. As can be read in the Synod’s Final
Document, “The Church in the Amazon wants to create ever more extensive and
incisive opportunities for a feminine presence in the Church… If the Church
loses women in their complete and actual dimension, it will expose herself to
sterility (paragraph 99). The request for the consolidation of the contribution
of women in the Church came not only from women (religious and lay) present in
the Synod Hall, but also from bishops who gave voice to the expectations of
those who had participated in the consultation phase which took place in their
dioceses. The fact that the Church in the Amazon is made present in many places
through the intervention of women was particularly appreciated. The number of
women, particularly women religious, is not small who are responsible for
guiding the Christians communities in those places deprived of the presence of
a priest. It is in light of this fact that formal recognition has been
requested for the work that is already being accomplished by women in the areas
of evangelization and pastoral ministry through the creation of appropriate
ministries for women as leaders of the community. In this context, the proposal
was advanced for the participation of women in the governing authority
distinguished from that of sacramental power. From the consultation done prior
to the Synod, the request emerged from many for the admission of women to the
permanent diaconate (see Instrumentum Laboris, paragraph
103). All of this indicates that there is a movement toward which the Church
can acquire a greater feminine face that would also reflect
Mary’s face, the Star of evangelization.
There is the need to avoid limiting it to considerations
of a functional character
Yes. I feel that many times the talk regarding women in the
Church is still affected by utilitarianism, as if women should be conceded more
space only so they can address certain emergencies. Instead, it would be more
correct and evangelical if women came to be recognized for what she truly is.
Pope Francis’ observation in his closing discourse for the Synod was very
timely when he said that “there is a need to reflect on what the role of women
means in the Church. When we think of the role of women in the Church, we only
think of the functional part. But her task goes well beyond the functional.”
The institution of the Synod willed by St Paul VI has
continually developed as a means of listening to the People of God and the
impulse of the Magisterium. How can these two dimensions, which are also
present in Episcopalis communio, be explored in greater depth?
In that Apostolic Constitution, Pope Francis offers some
criteria to consolidate the dialogic process between the bishops and the People
of God and so that the latter be guaranteed more participation in the Church –
a process of greater integration between the communio fidelium,
the communio episcoporum and the communio ecclesiarum.
In fact, he affirms that, while admitting that the Synod of Bishops is
essentially an episcopal assembly promoting dialogue and collaboration among
the bishops themselves and between the bishops and the Bishop of Rome, this
should not be done apart from the People of God, because “the life of the
Church and life in the Church is the condition for exercising his mission to
teach…. The Synod of Bishops must increasingly become a privileged instrument
for listening to the People of God… A Bishop who lives among
his faithful has his ears open to listen to ‘what the Spirit says to the churches’
(Rev 2:7), and to the ‘voice of the sheep’, also through those
diocesan institutions whose task it is to advise the Bishop, promoting a loyal
and constructive dialogue” (Episcopalis communion, 5). In this
framework, the dynamics of the Synod emerge more clearly: “the sensus
fidei of the People of God and the sacramental collegiality of the
episcopate in hierarchical communion with the Bishop of Rome” (International
Theological Commission, Synodality in the life and mission of the
Church, 64, see 72). As Pope Francis affirmed, in his discourse for the 50th anniversary
of the Institution of the Synod of Bishops, synodality “offers us the most
appropriate interpretive framework for understanding the hierarchical ministry
itself. If we understand, as Saint John Chrysostom says, that ‘Church and Synod
are synonymous’, inasmuch as the Church is nothing other than the ‘journeying
together’ of God’s flock along the paths of history towards the encounter with
Christ the Lord, then we understand too that, within the Church, no one can be
‘raised up’ higher than others. On the contrary, in the Church, it is necessary
that each person ‘lower’ himself or herself, so as to serve our brothers and
sisters along the way.”
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