Instrumentum Laboris for Synod 2021-2024
Link:
https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2023/06/20/0456/01015.html#en
A note from Julieann Moran… |
| Dear Friends, It gives me great pleasure to share the Instrumentum Laboris. This is the official working document for the first session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which will take place this October. A large number of people from various parts of the world with different expertise prepared this important text which will animate all the work of the October assembly. To access the Instrumentum Laboris simply click on the image below or the hyperlink in red. Kindest regards, Julieann Moran General Secretary While the Instrumentum Laboris is primarily a document for the participants of the October assembly, the Secretariat of the Synod who launched the document at 1.30pm today, also encouraged its use as a valuable tool for groups (parish, diocesan and national level) to continue their journey of reflection and discernment on how we walk together as a Church and carry out ecclesial initiatives.You can also find FAQs that relate to the Instrumentum Laboris and the Universal Stage of the Synod here: https://www.synod.va/en/synodal-process/the-universal-phase/faq.html |
I spent 10 minutes looking for the text of the Instrumentum Laboris here and only found a dreary table of contents.
This is not a masterclass in efficient communication.
Problem solved. I fear the Synod will just pump up feel-good rhetoric about inclusiveness and communion. Maybe that’s the best that can be expected just now. The so-called hot button issues will remain on the shelf, with the hope that their oppressive or divisive potential will be forgotten as the faithful develop a culture of inclusion, etc. The idea that any kind of structural change is needed will be treated in the same way.
The soft therapy the Synod promises may have some good effects, but it may also look like offering a bandage where surgery is required.
The still unmentionable: Women’s ordination to the priesthood (presbyterate) has been dropped from the questions worthy of synodal conversations and discernment. It had been acknowledged as a worldwide issue in the Synod Continental Phase Document (DCS) “Enlarge the Space of Your Tent”. Now we know: There is still no space for us: we are to be kept out of the tent!
The to and fro of various documents culminates in this summary of what the Church must deal with at the Synod:
*the reality of too many wars that stain our world with blood leading to a call for a renewed commitment to building a just peace,
*the threat represented by climate change that implies a necessary priority of caring for the common home,
*the cry to oppose an economic system that produces exploitation, inequality and a throwaway culture,
*the desire to resist the homogenising pressure of cultural colonialism that crushes minorities.
*situations of persecution to the point of martyrdom and emigration that progressively hollow out communities, threatening their very survival,
*urgent social realities, from the growing cultural pluralism that now marks the entire planet,
*to the experience of Christian communities that represent scattered minorities within the country in which they live,
*to the experience of coming to terms with an ever more advanced, and at times aggressive, secularisation,
*the crisis caused by various forms of abuse, including sexual abuse and the abuse of power, conscience and money.
“Cultural pluralism” and “cultural homogenization” sound like opposites, but they are both words for modernity, which is being resisted here. Feminist and LGBT concerns no doubt fit under the umbrella of these evil forces…