Francis’ apostolic constitution secures the method followed in recent years: more consultation of the “people of Godˮ, extra care to the implementation phase after the assemblies. The final document, if approved by the Pope, “participates in the ordinary Magisterium”
Pope Francis wants to strengthen the involvement of the “people of Godˮ in the Synod of Bishops’ assemblies: with the apostolic constitution “Episcopalis communioˮ, signed on September 15 and made public Tuesday, September 18, 2018, the Pope reshapes the rules for the episcopal assemblies of bishops. Synods will be the result of extensive consultations with the faithful in the dioceses while the General Secretariat will in some way be involved and present also in the implementation phase.
The Synod of Bishops, a fruit of the Council - although “very old in its inspiration”, was instituted on September 15, 1965 by the blessed and now soon-to-be saint Paul VI, who thus wanted a more direct connection between the pastors of the dioceses and the Pope, given that each bishop “simultaneously and inseparably holds responsibility for the particular Church entrusted to his pastoral care and concern for the universal Church”. Also, the Synod of Bishops, Francis explains, “is called, like any other ecclesiastical institution, to become more and more an adequate channel for the evangelization of the present world, rather than for self-preservation”.
The synodal institution has evolved gradually over the years. And from the beginning of his pontificate, Francis paid “particular attention” to the Synod and its “further developments”: “What must animate this work of renewal is the firm conviction that all pastors are made to serve the holy people of God, to whom they themselves belong by virtue of the sacrament of baptism”.
In the “Episcopalis communioˮ, the Pope reiterates , as the Council affirms , that “all must listen” to the bishops “when they teach” in communion with the Pope, and the faithful “must agree with the judgment” of their bishop. But “it is equally true that for each bishop the life of the Church and within the Church is the condition for the exercise of his teaching mission”. Thus, the bishop “is both teacher and disciple”. He is “head and shepherd”, but “he is also a disciple when, knowing that the Spirit is bestowed upon every baptized person, he listens to the voice of Christ speaking through the whole people of God”, who like the totality of the faithful “cannot err in believing”. T he bishop must therefore “walk before” his flock indicating the way, “walk amid, to strengthen” the people in unity, and “walk behind so that no one is left behind”, but above all “to follow the instinct that the people of God have to find new ways”. The “voice of the sheep” must also be heard through the diocesan bodies that have the task of advising the bishop.
“Even the Synod of Bishops - Francis writes - must increasingly become a privileged instrument for listening to the people of God”. And “although in its composition it is configured essentially as an episcopal organism”, it does not live “separate from the rest of the faithful” but “on the contrary, it is a suitable instrument for giving voice to the entire people of God”.
For this reason, it is “of great importance” that in the preparation of the Synods “special attention be given to the consultation of all the particular Churches”. In this first phase the bishops, following the indications of the General Secretariat, are invited to “submit the questions to be dealt with in the synodal assembly” to the priests, deacons and lay faithful of their Churches, “both individually and in association, without neglecting the precious contribution that can come from consecrated persons”. “The contribution of the participating bodies of the particular Church, especially the presbyteral council and the pastoral council, from which a synodal church can truly begin to take shape”, is fundamental.
This consultation of the faithful is followed, during the celebration of the Synod, by “discernment on the part of the pastors”, united “in the search for a consensus that springs not from human logic, but from common obedience to the Spirit of Christ. Keeping in mind the sensus fidei of the people of God - who must know how to carefully distinguish themselves from the often-changing flows of public opinion”.
The fact that the Synod normally has a consultative function “does not diminish its importance”, since its purpose “is always the search for the truth or the good of the Church”.
After the celebration of the Synod, “ its implementation phase must follow, with the aim of initiating in all the particular Churches the reception of the synodal conclusions”, welcomed by Pope. Because “cultures are very different from one another and every general principle needs to be enculturated if it is to be observed and applied”.
Non-bishops can also be called to the Synod. And the Synod’s assembly itself can take place in several periods “distinct from each other”. The General Secretariat itself, in the post-synodal phase, “promotes for its own part, together with the competent Vatican department, the implementation of the synodal guidelines” approved by the Pontiff.
Thanks also to the Synod of Bishops “it will become clearer” that in the Church there is “a profound communion both between pastors and faithful, each ordained minister being a baptized among the baptized, constituted by God to feed his flock”, and between the bishops and the Pope who is a “bishop among the bishops, called at the same time - as Successor of the Apostle Peter - to lead the Church of Rome which presides in love over all the Churches. This prevents each subject from subsisting without the other”. Precisely by “encouraging a conversion of the papacy” that makes it more faithful to the “current needs of evangelization”, the activity of the Synod - Francis explains - “can in its own way contribute to the re-establishment of unity among all Christians”.
The text of the constitution - which will be followed by implementation instruction – includes detailed articles containing old and new provisions. Among these is the possibility for the General Secretariat to “promote the convocation of a pre-Synodal meeting with the participation of some of the faithful”.
The Pope then made some changes regarding the final synodal document. Up to now a synodal assembly ended with the approval and submission to the Pope of a series of propositions, which the Pontiff considered for the publication of a post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation. Starting with the 2014 assembly on the family convened by the Pope, the Synod has already begun to dismiss, at its conclusion, a final document. Francis has now officially introduced this new practice in the Apostolic Constitution, where, in article 18, he states that “once the approval of the members has been received, the final document of the Assembly is offered to the Roman Pontiff, who decides on its publication. If expressly approved by the Roman Pontiff, the Final Document participates in the ordinary Magisterium of the Successor of Peter. If then the Roman Pontiff has granted the Assembly of the Synod deliberative power, in accordance with can. 343 of the Code of Canon Law, the Final Document participates in the ordinary Magisterium of the Successor of Peter once ratified and promulgated by him”.
In this case “the final document is published with the signature of the Roman Pontiff together with that of the members”. It is therefore not specified whether the Pontiff will in any case write his concluding apostolic exhortation, because, as explained in the press conference by the Undersecretary of the Synod, Monsignor Fabio Fabene, the Apostolic Constitution concerns the Synod, while the decision whether to make an apostolic exhortation is up to the Pope alone.
