Many believers say they are lost in the face of their contemporaries

Above all, Catholics seem lost. They acknowledge not having “understanding, language, formation or faith necessary to enter into dialogue with others”. “In schools, proclamation is difficult […]. In the parish context, we don’t know how to address people who are not part of our own circle.“Such observations have been very regularly heard.

Added to this is a major difficulty for Catholics: for the first time since the 4th century, their confession is a minority within North-Western society. The Church must therefore find a new posture. Between two extremes (identity withdrawal or “dilution” in the spirit of the times), the way is difficult to find, and this creates many turmoils and doubts within a Church which is itself marked by the institutional crisis. There is no impasse: discreet initiatives are born or continue their way in parishes, in communities, and seek to articulate care for others and a true rootedness in the life of prayer. But this question of the posture that the Church should adopt in the contemporary world haunts Catholics and the Synod bore witness to it.

The desire for structural reform

Secondly, we note that the participants in the synod did not first mention the spiritual dimension of the institution, nor even the way in which it can help them to deepen their life of prayer and faith.

Of course, the purpose of the synod was to discuss the organization of the Church. In addition, we read that young people are waiting for “witnesses“, that the celebrations must be more careful and that some wish to find new places “to live experiences of faith“. The spiritual dimension was therefore not absent from the discussions.

Nevertheless, this theme of spirituality and prayer remains little present when the fundamental questions are addressed: the essential of the expectations expressed is that the Church adapts and joins everyone in their experience, without morality or condemnation. Like she owes less”show the way to Heaven“that to focus above all on each one, where he is.

This is a fact to be considered with caution, and which deserves to be studied. No doubt it corresponds to an internal evolution in the Church, just as much as to a societal evolution.

Even 60 years ago, in fact, the Church insisted on what she called “the last ends”. The Catholic had to conform his life according to the paradise which was promised to him. In recent decades, the tone has changed: the Church no longer encourages the Christian so much to join eternity as to bring about the “Kingdom of God” here and now, through concrete acts. The Catholic must therefore work in the present day, heal the wounds, welcome and comfort.

The two calls have always been combined, one has always been linked to the other, but the tendency is that. The Church (which no longer defines itself as the only means of access to “Salvation”) therefore seeks above all to accompany everyone here on earth, in their wanderings and in their search for well-being at the heart of their daily life. Hence the primary desire that it adapt to its century.

At the same time, society has become more individual. The thirst for spirituality has not disappeared, but everyone wants to chart their own path; we can no longer conceive that it is an institution that marks it out, notes Stanislas Deprez. This no doubt explains why Catholics expect the Church above all in the field of social affairs.

“Society is more individualisticmore severely regrets a committed Christian. In this synod, therefore, each dreamed of the Church starting from himself, his desires and his expectations. Have we really asked ourselves: what does God want for his Church? The sense of transcendence disappears, even among Catholics.”

These questions (like the joy evoked by many participants to have been able to dialogue) are the best proof that the synod is useful, note many observers.