Wed 30 Nov 2022
Representatives of the continental leg of the Synod met in the Vatican
The presidents and coordinators of each of the seven regions into which the Continental Phase of the Synod on Synodality has been divided have met in the Vatican, convened by the Synod Secretariat, on November 28 and 29. The assistant secretary general of the Latin American Episcopal Council (Celam) and the director of the Center for Programs and Networks of Pastoral Action of Celam itself make an analysis of this. Sharing experiences, doubts, challenges “A very fruitful meeting, where the programming and the itinerary of the continental assemblies in each of the regions have been made known”, in the words of the priest Pedro Brassesco. The deputy general secretary of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (Celam), which coordinates this stage in Latin America and the Caribbean, sees the meeting as “a moment to deepen the Document for the Continental Stage, which is the base document on which to carry out the deliberations and the discernment process to which the Church invites us at this time”. Brassesco has insisted that “we have been able to share the experiences, the doubts, the challenges that are being presented for the realization of this moment of the Synod”. Referring to the meeting with Pope Francis, who spent most of his time answering questions from those present, he stressed that it was a very pleasant dialogue, and that the Holy Father made “some indications or suggestions about what things to have into account for the Continental Stage of the Synod”. The meeting with the Secretariat of the Synod has served to delve into “the methodology of spiritual conversation and community discernment, which will be the method that will be applied, especially during the assemblies,” said the deputy secretary general of Celam. . In relation to the contributions of Celam, Brassesco said that “we were able to share the experience around the First Ecclesial Assembly of Latin America and the Caribbean, which has been, as some define it, a laboratory of synodality and which allows us to have as an experience a path made around synodality that we now continue to travel together in this stage of the Continental Phase of the Synod”. Communion of sisters and brothers in the progressive fabric of this Church that is communion this Church that is communion, participation and mission”, according to Mauricio López. The coordinator of the task force responsible for the Continental Phase of the Synod sees the meeting of these days as “a genuine experience of sharing the paths traveled from listening in the first stage of the Synod, now in a continental perspective”. He refers to it as “an unprecedented stage in the synodal processes at the continental level, but one that opens up new, different perspectives, where the new paths also respond to cultural particularities, specific rhythms, or the dynamics of continents or regions of the world.” who are also ecclesiological subjects”. Mauricio sees it as “encouraging to accompany and listen to the steps taken, which for months we have accompanied in the work commission or continental task force, which I have the privilege of coordinating in all regions of the planet, with their particular and differentiated characteristics, with their specific rhythms and with their very own needs of each reality”. Specifics of each continent or region Mauritius has made a brief analysis of each of the seven continents, regions, into which this Continental Stage is divided. In relation to North America, the United States and Canada, he recalls that for the first time they are experiencing a very profound articulation to listen to the People of God. He likewise highlights the historical and ecclesiological richness of Latin America with all the strength of Celam, with CLAR and Caritas, and in light of its Ecclesial Assembly in continuity with the Amazon Synod. In Europe, which is faced with great cultural diversity, he recounts the challenges of secularism and the cries and calls to respond to the signs of the times, but without losing the keys to following the Lord in this reality that is so important for the Church. The strength, the vibrant life of Africa, which reflects a search to continue growing and serving in fractured, fragmented realities, with daily pain, but where the strength of faith sustains, where the strength of communion, in a continental key, but in its eight regions, is also giving new answers for a Church that is alive, deeply alive and also with great diversity. The traditions of the Middle East, with its deep traditions that also speak to us of synodality, but which are also enriched by this process, where a more ecclesial perspective opens up and where the power of rites and Patriarchates also contributes to the Church in global communion and also receives from it this new perspective of a synodality of the Church in the key of the People of God Church. The Asia that has lived 50 years of being articulated in the Federation of Asian Bishops, from its specific situation, being a minority, where intercultural dialogue is key, where the diversity of religions also calls for a way of being of the Church that contributes from the small, from fragility, from vulnerability, but also helping to build new possibilities in this multicultural challenge of Asia. Finally, Oceania, with the complexity of the distances, from the experience of the archipelagos and the socio-environmental challenges, but which is looking for ways to respond to the challenges associated with Laudato Si’ and Fratelli tutti, the Evangelii Gaudium and giving a great contribution to this process. Meeting with the Pope without haste From the meeting with the Pope, “for two hours, without haste, embracing all the reports that came from the seven continents and regions, and responding to his style, with profound freedom”, Mauricio López highlighted the attitude of the Holy Father to “accompany these challenges that invite us to harmony in the midst of the chaos of reality, to discernment so that the Holy Spirit is the main protagonist, to recognize the cultural diversity that also enriches, with these migrations that are part of the physiognomy of the world and of the Church, and to recognize that we are in a broken world and at war”. From there he has insisted that “all this is part of this synodal path”. Mauricio reflected on what was discussed in the meeting in relation to the centrality of discernment and spiritual conversation as the proper way of a Church that wants to be much more of a common path, than part of the self of personal experience, listening to the you, of that diverse you of all and all to build a we, in the consensus that give an account of what He, She, God and the Spirit, the Ruah, want to offer us. Marking the next steps It also highlights the meetings within the work force, made up of an Australian laywoman, an Italian priest, the coordination of Mauricio himself, the support of a Brazilian layperson, the guidance of Cardinal Grech and the collaboration of the undersecretaries of the Synod, Sr. Nathalie Becquart and Bishop Luis Marín, as well as the communication team, with Thierry Buenaventura, and the entire Secretariat of the Synod, whom he says has done an extraordinary job in recent days. It has been a moment to define the steps to take, the methodological orientations, the dates of the continental assemblies and the way to accompany them from the work force and the Secretariat. “A time of grace, we feel happy to receive a rich, profound experience of the diocesan phase and the synthesis with the Document for the Continental Phase, and now we are entering into an accompaniment of a discernment for the Continental Phase that offers criteria that help to the elaboration of the Working Document or Instrumentum laboris, and that this continues to flow until the first session of the Ordinary Assembly in October 2023 and that continues until 2024”, highlights Mauricio López. We are facing something that “is pure life of the Spirit, because it continues to advance, the path itself is the experience, the path of synodality is woven step by step, day by day, in the key of communion, participation and mission.” Source: Celam DNA