“We are on an climbing, close to the finish line. The latest steps are increasingly difficult. And it is necessary to move the gaze, change direction, to see the summit ».
To help us understand what happened to the second synodal assembly of the Italian Church, The metaphor that used a delegate on the second day of work is useful, when it was evident The discomfort circulating among the participants with respect to the text of the propositions to be voted.
The assembly that was held from March 31 to April 3, in the Nervi classroom in the Vatican, contrary to what was foreseen, decided not to approve the document which was to be delivered to the May assembly of the CEI. It was decided to collect amendments and additions to get to something more shared, that reflected the wealth of the journey made in these five years from the Italian Church to the various levels.
Which made the spring assembly of the bishops cancel, postponing it to November, and set a New appointment for 1,008 Synod delegates, on October 15, in Rome. Certainly a news that aroused surprise in those who, until April 3, considered the Italian and a little embalmed Italian church.
Beyond what will happen when the “summit” will be reached, the Roman days arouse different reflections. For the first time the Italian Church has decided to write the ten -year lines of its journey by listening to the people of God. In short, if until yesterday the pastoral plans have been decided from above, in these five years of synodal journey it has also been asked to those who live in communities, a Who does the Church does it from below, Of choose which priorities to focus on. And in Rome, from the 28 study groups, some indications arrived: the accompaniment of people in particular affective situations, the ecclesial and pastoral responsibility of women, the mandatoryness of pastoral advice, attention to young people and fragiles, the promotion of full human development.
n according to LuogOr the Synodal Assembly has shown the face of men and women who feel all the responsibility to do their part in the construction of an evangelically transparent community. In short It is no longer the time of ecclesial factions, This.
Of course, there are different opinions – “There is all the parliamentary arch, including extreme wings, even among the bishops”, joked Don Erio Castellucci at a press conference – but it is not the division that has been recorded in other Assizes. Just as reverential fears have not been expressed by the laity and lay people towards priests or bishops. Those who have a brizzular hair remember the vessels that, from above, have blocked in the past different opinions. With the consequent mortification of many laity (and also bishops) thinking. Finally, as someone observed, in this path it was important not only the thing, but also the how.
The synodal method, Already experienced at the level of the universal Church, he really had a church experience live. What seemed like a slightly “Martian” word, “synodality”, in the end through practice it became experienced, made of confrontation, listening, prayer. The final false step, the hasty synthesis, More than throwing shadows on the way, he proved to be a litmus test: instead of perceiving the program, risking to break the assembly, The choice to update to mature together a shared text showed that the Synod works and has already given the first fruits.
(Image at the top: bishops to the closing of the works of the second synodal assembly, Ansa photo)
