Church Group Wants to Replace Synod with Assembly of Catholics

UCANews ^ | 11/26/21

[marshmallow]

We Are Church International urges Pope Francis to make the Church participatory in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council

An international group of Catholic laypeople have urged Pope Francis to replace the upcoming Synod on Synodality with an assembly of Catholics to make the Church participatory.

We Are Church (WAC) International, a global coalition of national church reform groups, made the appeal as Catholics across the world participate in diocesan and regional consultations leading to the Synod of Bishops at the Vatican in October 2023.

Pope Francis kicked off the two-year global consultation in Rome on Oct. 10.

For the first time, the synod will be celebrated in a decentralized manner. It will be held not only at the Vatican but also in each church on five continents in three phases — diocesan, continental and universal.

The theme for the Synod of Bishops is “For a synodal church: communion, participation and mission.”

“Fifty years ago, the Second Vatican Council was clear: the Church is the People of God. Yet one of the most important precepts of the Second Vatican Council, synodality, has not been fully realized,” said Colm Holmes, chairperson of WAC International, in a statement sent to UCA News.

Under Paul VI and succeeding popes, synodality was enacted through a synod of bishops — an expression of episcopal collegiality, not synodality of the whole church, he said.

Authentic synodality, the group says, is an inclusive discerning process involving the laity and the ordained, and it may be one of the most important institutional reforms of Pope Francis’ pontificate.

[ebb tide]

What’s their beef? Bergoglio is already giving them what they are calling for: a democratic “church”.

[Dr. Sivana]

The left always pushes harder. At very least, they provide cover for the soft left, allowing them to play moderate.