What is the Synod of Bishops and why does Pope Francis say the Church is on pause?

It started up Synod of synodalityof the Catholic Church on its way out, that of “walking together”, which Pope Francis speaks of and calls for.

They call meetings of synods of bishops and are intended to discuss specific topics to provide better leadership for the Church, according to The New York Times. Calls for these gatherings, he adds, have become regular since “the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s, convened with the aim of opening the Church to the modern world.”

The members of the synod with voting rights arrived at the Vatican, AciPrensa noted.

Francis, as host, reminded the bishops, archbishops and cardinals at the opening Mass of the meeting that this synod “is not easy, but it is beautiful” and reiterated that it is not “a parliament or a meeting of friends to make a decision and opinions to be given.”

“Let’s not forget that the protagonists are not us, it is the Holy Spirit. If there are human or ideological interests in the middle, it will be a parliamentary meeting,” he explained, according to AciPrensa.

The Synod of Bishops, according to El Tiempo, is a consultative body created by Paul VI within the framework of the Second Vatican Council, to invite prelates from all over the world to participate in the governance of the Church and to advise the Pope on matters that are important to the Church. the universal Church.

If we leave room for the Holy Spirit, the Synod will go well. The Holy Spirit is the main character of church life

Pope Francisco

Synod and women

There are a total of 464 participants, of which 364 voting members, including 54 womenWell, Francisco, the EFE agency reported, will, in a revolutionary decision, allow women and laypeople chosen to participate to vote for the first time in this assembly, in which until now only prelates were allowed to vote on the final document.

Extensive agenda

The Synod will be extended from October 4 to next Sunday, the 29th of this month.

During this meeting, bishops from all over the world will reflect and discuss “(…) issues such as celibacy or the blessing for LGTBIQ+ coupleswhich have provoked criticism from the conservative sector.”

These are issues that will undoubtedly determine the future of the Catholic Church.

EFE

Pope Francis defends celibacy but says it requires “healthy relationships.”

On October 3, a day before the start of the Synod, according to EFE, they referred in a working document to the fact that “there are people who do not feel accepted in the Church, such as divorced and remarried people, people in polygamous marriages or LGTBIQ+- people and also highlight forms of racial, tribal, ethnic, class or caste discrimination” that “make some people feel less important or less welcome within the community.”

The members of the Synod They will debate the need for a greater presence of women in the Church and the request “that the question of women’s access to the diaconate be reconsidered” (…).

Another topic could be included in the analysis: the ordination of married men.

Blessed perhaps, but still sinful: the pope’s statement on the church’s position on same-sex couples

Church on pause

The issues remain controversial and in response, before the synod, to the conservative cardinals regarding their position on issues such as homosexual couples or women in the Church, Francis replied: “We cannot become judges who only deny.”

“In the Church, listening is the priority,” the Argentine Pope said at the start of the synod.

With that sentence he asked to recognize the importance of the meeting. He affirmed, AciPrensa said, that “the Church has stopped, as the apostles stopped on Holy Saturday.”

For the Pope, this synod is “a pause for the whole Church to listen.”

Last weekend, Francis hoped “that the Synod would purify the Church of ideologies and polarizations.”

The main task of the Synod is “to put God back at the center of our gaze, to be a Church that views humanity with mercy. A united and fraternal Church, or at least that is what it tries to be, that listens and dialogues; a church that blesses and encourages,” Francisco said.

The synod in its first phase will be completed at the end of this month. They can be seen again in October 2024.

This is not a political meeting, but a meeting in the Spirit; not of a polarized parliament, but of a place of grace and community

Pope Francisco

For EFE, the debate will be held in the Church, although the Vatican and the Pope have chosen the line of “confidentiality” so that very little information will come out about how the sessions will develop. (JO)