On the synodal journey from Rome
A few weeks ago, as we know, Pope Francis opened the door of the synodal hall, not only to the bishops, for the assembly next October, but also to women and lay people of the People of God.
My assessment of this step is very positive. Very surprising, I was expecting it at some point with no idea when it would be, but now it has filled me with joy. I believe that Francis is making changes step by step to help the church become entirely synodal in its being and acting.
On the one hand, I understand it in coherence with the synodal process we are living, it is a Synod with new elements with respect to the previous and more immediate Synods, and this novelty lies, among other elements, in a universal invitation to the People of God. Including believers and unbelievers.
Therefore, the possibility of participating in the synodal assembly and having a voice and vote, women and laity, is congruent, as I say, with the Synod of Synodality. Because discernment, listening, encounter and reconciliation cannot be carried out without the participation of a large part of the ecclesial community. Participation, communion and mission, the central axes of the Synod, become more real.
I believe that this is a historic step that implies a strong change with respect to how we were living our ecclesial being, keeping perhaps a little forgotten what the Second Vatican Council left us as an ecclesial inheritance.
Yes. It is a new open door that will open others, if we listen to the Spirit who also speaks in the cries, whispers and silences of our world and who will give us the necessary creativity to find the right answers.
Therefore, change is dynamic, not static. I trust that more doors and windows will continue to open with new air for our church and for the world it serves.
I like to say that Synodality is here to stay… and I believe it!
I imagine that some bishops, like other people, may not like certain changes, we know that there are more active or more passive resistances, but life imposes itself and demands changesdynamic and on the other hand a pluralistic dialogue will always be richer, as is the church.and not just one party deciding everything.
I thank Francis for his firm decision to accompany the Synod with its consequences. I am also aware that this attitude is a strong commitment for those of us who feel we are an active part of the church, to continue collaborating so that the door remains increasingly open. So that in our environments, large or small, we may continue with an attitude of openness, welcome and inclusion.
It is urgent and necessary to stop talking about peripheries, about margins, so that all of us can be at the center and, for this, urges our personal and pastoral conversion.
Thank you very much, Brother Francisco!
María Luisa Berzosa González FI
