[Catholic Caucus] Synodal Secrecy: Is a Tightly-Controlled Information Flow the Best Way to Go?

National Catholic Register ^ | September 12, 2023 | Russell Shaw

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[Catholic Caucus] Synodal Secrecy: Is a Tightly-Controlled Information Flow the Best Way to Go?

The Vatican spokesman has said media will have limited access to Synod on Synodality's sessions in keeping with past synods, and information reports on discussions will keep participants comments anonymous.

One day 30 years ago, a priest engaged in media work for the Church and I stood chatting outside the Vatican’s massive, modernistic audience hall, the place where synods are held, when I had what I thought was a good idea: Why not a synod on communication?

“Bad idea,” my companion corrected. “The media would tear us to pieces for holding a synod on communication behind closed doors.”

So now the Synod on Synodality is here — it opens at the Vatican Oct. 4 and continues to Oct. 29 — and, like its predecessors, it will be held behind closed doors, with carefully tailored information fed to reporters concerning what’s happening.

That suggests an unavoidable question: If the “synodal Church” that Pope Francis wants is to be the open, transparent affair he speaks of, is a closed-door synod with tight controls on the information flow the best way of launching it?

The Holy Father explained the thinking behind the synod’s information procedures during the flight home from his recent visit to Mongolia.

There had been talk about livestreaming the synod, but the Pope said a firm “No” to that. 

“We must safeguard the synodal climate,” he explained. “This isn’t a television program where you talk about everything. No, it is a religious moment, a religious exchange.”

At a news conference several days later, Paolo Ruffini, head of the Vatican communication department, said there would be some limited livestreaming — the opening Mass, talks by two synod officials and a few other events, but none of the sessions in which the synod participants would ...

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Against this background, it’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that conducting the synod in semi-secrecy is an odd way of moving ahead in creating a synodal Church where communication among all the faithful is supposed to be honest and transparent. And as that suggests, what is fundamentally at issue here is not media relations but ecclesiology.

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