“Synodality starts with hearing from the whole People of God. A Church that teaches must be firstly a Church that listens. Consulting all members of the Church is vital because, as the Second Vatican Council reminded us, the faithful as a whole are anointed by the Holy Spirit...
What characterizes a synodal path is the role of the Holy Spirit. We listen, we discuss in groups, but above all we pay attention to what the Spirit has to say to us. That is why I ask everyone to speak frankly and to listen carefully to others because there, too, the Spirit is speaking. Open to changes and new possibilities, the Synod is for everyone an experience of conversion.”
Pope Francis (Let Us Dream, 2020)
AND SO TO IMPLEMENTATION
The 2021-2024 Synod on Synodality has concluded. Since Pope Francis convoked this Synod, it has been different from other Synods in framework, timeline and strong emphasis on consultation. Synodality has become the catch-phrase, the way of being Church.
As Pope Francis noted in his closing address to the Synod
" With this Final Document, we have gathered the fruits of at least three years in which we have been listening to the People of God in order better to understand how to be a “synodal Church” – it is by listening to the Holy Spirit – at this time"
In his final address Pope Francis noted the need for
“a church that hears the cry of the world and … I want to say it, maybe someone will be scandalized… a church that gets its hands dirty to serve the Lord.”
Implementation of the The Synod on Synodality is a call to get our hands dirty to serve the Lord. To listen to each other as we journey together being a Church on mission.
A new path to help the Church walk in a synodal style - March 2025
In this letter from Cardinal Mario Grech, the Secretary General of the Synod, the objectives of the process that will accompany the implementation of the Synod on synodality approved by Pope Francis are set out. This process will culminate in an Ecclesial Assembly in 2028 The goal of the journey that General Secretariat of the Synod is proposing to local Churches, is not is not to add work upon work but to help Churches walk in a synodal style.
NO APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
Usually after a Synod i the Pope takes all that has been discussed and considered by the bishops and publishes an Apostolic Exhortation that encourage and instructs the faithful regarding the topic of the Synod. It is like a summary document.
Pope Francis will not do so for the Synod on Synodality. The final response of the Synod, written and approved by all participants is the formal document to
“guide the mission of the Church in their specific continents and contexts”.
You can download a copy of
Pathways for the Implementation of the Synod
The Vatican has released the formal documentation for the implementation of the Synod 2035-2028.
It is available to download here.
These Pathways, prepared by the General Secretariat of the Synod with the favourable opinion of its Ordinary Council and approved by the Holy Father Leo XIV, are part of the General Secretariat's service of accompaniment during the implementation phase of the Synod. They have a twofold purpose. On the one hand, they aim to offer local Churches throughout the world a shared framework that will make it easier to walk together. They promote the dialogue that will lead the whole Church to the Ecclesial Assembly in October 2028.
we are "a missionary
Church, a Church that
builds bridges and
encourages dialogue, a
Church ever open to
welcoming, like this Square
with its open arms, all those
who are in need of our
charity, our presence, our
readiness to dialogue and our
love "
Leo XIV
Announcing the Pathways for The implemntation of the Synod
In the presence of Pope Leo the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod approved the Pathways for the Implementation of the Synod. This is a tool designed to accompany the final phase of the synodal process. The text serves as a means of fostering dialogue between local Churches and the General Secretariat of the Synod and promoting the exchange of experiences among the Churches. The meeting also included updates on the Jubilee of Synodal Teams and Participatory Bodies, the work of the Study Groups established by Pope Francis, and various ongoing activities within local Churches.
The text, structured around four chapters, aims first and foremost to provide an interpretive key for understanding the implementation phase of the synodal process: “the synodal form of the Church is at the service of its mission, and any change in the life of the Church is intended to make it more capable of proclaiming the Kingdom of God and bearing witness to the Gospel of the Lord to the men and women of our time” (from the Introductory Letter). The text then focuses on the intended recipients of the outlines: primarily the diocesan bishop and the synodal teams. The third chapter offers a set of fundamental criteria to help ensure that local implementation remains in harmony with that of the universal Church. The final chapter addresses the question of methodology and tools.
This Secretariat has the task of accompanying and supporting the journey and promoting the exchange of gifts among local Churches. These Pathways reflect the principle of circular dialogue between local Churches and the General Secretariat of the Synod, a hallmark of the synodal journey since its beginning.
THE SYNOD JOURNEY
The New Zealand Response to the Synod Synthesis Document
In December 2023 the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod, released this statement regarding the steps to be taken in the months between December and the Second Session of the Synodal Assembly (October 2024) in order that the whole Church continue the journey For a Synodal Church. Communion, Participation, Mission.
In the Synthesis Report local Churches were invited to contribute to the ongoing walking together of the Synod by deepening aspects of the report that are fundamental to the Synod's theme. These contributions were guided by the question:
“HOW can we be a synodal Church in mission?”
The New Zealand response can be found in a new document prepared by the New Zealand bishops titled Towards October 2024,
National Catholic lay organisations, agencies of the bishops conference, religious, diocesan bodies, educational institutions, young people’s groups, parish groups and groups took part in the consultation, between February and April 2024
Instrumentum laboris for October 2024
The Vatican has released the working document for members of the Second Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to be held October 2024. The document, known in Latin as the Instrumentum laboris, originated from over 100 reports provided to the General Secretariat of the Synod including one submitted by the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference which was itself informed by reflections on How can we be a synodal Church in mission? from the Auckland diocese.
The Instrumentum laboris is not a magisterial document or a catechism, but a way to encourage prayer, dialogue, discernment and the “maturing of a consensus”, .
While the Synod is a process of three phases – consultation of the faithful, discernment by the synod participants and the implementation phase – it is already bearing fruit as churches discover the benefits of greater co-responsibility by all the baptised.
As the document itself says: “Among the gains of the process so far, we can include having experienced and learned a method for addressing questions together, in dialogue and discernment. We are still learning how to be a missionary synodal Church, but it is a task we have learned that we can undertake with joy.”
You can download the Instrumentum laboris <here>
Participants of the Synod wrote a Letter to the People of God at the conclusion of their time together reflecting on the process and expressing how they see the Spirit calling the Church forward.
THE UNIVERSAL PHASE
"The IL is not a document of the Holy See, but of the whole Church. It is not a document written at a desk. It is a document in which all are co-authors, each for the part he or she is called to play in the Church, in docility to the Spirit. [...] You will not find in the text a theoretical systematic explanation of synodality, but the fruit of a Church experience, of a journey in which we have all learnt more by walking together and questioning ourselves on the meaning of this experience. I can say that the IL is a text in which no one's voice is missing: that of the Holy People of God; of the Pastors, who have ensured ecclesial discernment with their participation; of the Pope, who has always accompanied us, supported us, encouraged us to move forward. The IL is also an opportunity for the entire People of God to continue the journey that has begun, and an opportunity to involve those who have not been involved so far," said Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the General Secretariat of the Synod, speaking at the press conference presenting the Instrumentum Laboris (IL): the working document for the first session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (4-29 October 2023).
The Palmerston North Diocese has created a short introductory video to explain the structure and purpose of Instrumentum Laboris (IL).
CONTINENTAL PHASE - The Response of Aotearoa
The Synod on Synodality has reached the continental phase. The continental phase for Oceania involves the countries and territories covered by the Bishops Conferences of New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands and the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific.
On 27 October the Holy See released the Document for the Continental Stage, which is the result of the discernment of all the responses received from around the world.
We then carried out a discernment process in Aotearoa New Zealand on this document. The results of this discernment were integrated with similar documents from the other Bishops Conferences of Oceania and a gathering in Melbourne. The resulting draft is then considered by the bishops of the region at the Assembly of the Federation of Bishops Conferences of Oceania in Suva in February. They will finalise a synthesis from Oceania to go to the Synod Office in March.
The discernment process on the Document for the Continental Stage took place between 19 October and 5 December, so that the New Zealand response could be ready by 22 December.
Reading the Diocesan Response
The Synod on Synodality is a process by which the Church listens. To all voices. As a result, the synthesis of all that has been heard in the diocese is complex and at times contradictory.
When reading this document, you are invited to do so with an open and compassionate heart. It may contain ideas that you disagree with. That is OK it is the voice of ‘the other’.
Instructions from Rome regarding the synthesis process note that:
The purpose of the synthesis is not to present a chronology of the stages of the synodal process that were followed, nor to draw up a report that lists indiscriminately all the points that emerged during the work. Rather, as the culmination of a communal spiritual discernment, the synthesis aims to gather and express the fruits of the synodal process in a way that is understandable even to those who did not participate, indicating how the Holy Spirit’s call to the Church has been understood in the local context. Rome March 2022
The Diocesan Process
The Diocesan Consultation phase has concluded with the submission of the diocesan response to the New Zealand Bishop's Conference.
The Church recognises that the timing of this consultation process was not perfect. For the Church of Auckland, we were in lockdown and then limited in our face-to-face meeting capacity. Therefore, we are extremely grateful to all those who gathered either in person or through technology to listen to others and respond. This is not the end of the Synod process. Being a listening Church is our way of being. The practice we have had in participating will assist us going forward to be synodal.
Every session of the Second Vatican Council began with the prayer Adsumus Sancte Spiritus, the first word of the original Latin, meaning, “We stand before You, Holy Spirit”. This prayer has been historically used at Councils, Synods and other Church gatherings for hundreds of years, and is attributed to Saint Isidore of Seville (c. 560 - 4 April 636). This version is a contemporary one written in a syntax that makes community reading easier. It has been translated into Te Reo by the diocesan Vicar for Māori.
We stand before You, Holy Spirit, e te Wairua Tapu
as we gather together in Your name.
With You alone to guide us,
make Yourself at home in our hearts, o mātou ngākau
Teach us the way we must go and how we are to pursue it.
We are weak and sinful; do not let us promote disorder.
Do not let ignorance lead us down the wrong path
nor partiality influence our actions.
Let us find in You our unity kōtahitanga
so that we may journey together to eternal life te oranga tonutanga
and not stray from the way of truth te ara o te pono
and what is right te ara o te tika.
All this we ask of You,
who are at work in every place and time,
in the communion of the Father te Matua and the Son te Tamaiti,
forever and ever.
Amen.
E te Wairua Tapu, ka tū mātou ki tōu aroaro,
i a mātou e hui kōtahi i runga i tōu ingoa.
Ko koe anake hei arahi i a mātou,
Noho mai koe ki o mātou ngākau;
Whakaakona mātou ki te huarahi e tika ai te haere,
ā, me pehea e taea e mātou te whai atu.
He ngoikore mātou, he hunga hara anō hoki;
Kaua mātou e kawea i te mate koretake.
Kaua e tukua te kuware e arahi i a mātou ki te huarahi o te hē
Kaua anō hoki te mariu e whakaaweawe ki a mātou mahi.
Kia kite mātou i ta mātou kōtahitanga i roto i a koe
kia haere ngātahi ai mātou ki te oranga tonutanga
ā, kaua hoki mātou e kotiti kē i te ara o te pono
me te ara tika.
Ka īnoi mātou ki a koe,
nāu e ora nei i ngā wahi katoa me ngā wā katoa,
i te kōtahitanga o te Matua me te Tamaiti
mō āke āke. Āmene.