The Synod and the Signs of Our Times

While hundreds of Catholic bishops meet in Rome to discuss the Eucharist and a long list of corollary issues, potentially important developments are taking place among the laity in American dioceses. Time will tell which events matter most to the future of the Church.

The Synod is an event that brings bishops together every three years for three weeks of consultation and "eating, meeting, and greeting." Each Synod has a primary focus, around which much preliminary thinking and writing occurs. But the synod cannot be orchestrated too tightly when so many bishops gather from so many of the world's nations.

Early reports have suggested that, like a boiling teapot, the steam must find a way to come out; ideas must be expressed. Already, there is an effort to censor the remarks of the cardinals and confine them to in-house sharing, not public discourse. Such censorship will likely fail around the most important, and contentious, issues. The good news is that some bishops are raising the issues that are on the lips of "thinking Catholics" everywhere – celibacy, married priests, and the shortage of priests lead the list. all of these issues are directly tied to eucharist and to ignore them is to deny the centricity of eucharists for the catholic church.

The life of the Church is more than synods and bishops. It is the living faith of millions of Catholics in thousands of communities. At the end of the day, the great gift of Catholicism is the eucharistic moral message it provides to each of us. we give our life as a loving gift to all so that all may lovingly give.

This is why the events now occurring in the United States are of special importance:

On October 9th, in San Francisco, VOTF of Northern California hosted a meeting for clergy and laity to discuss the qualities of the successor to Archbishop William Levada.

On October 29th, a VOTF conference will take place in Chicago to discuss the “Development of Mature, Healthy Catholics” empowered to build a mature, healthy Church.

In Philadelphia, Catholics are grappling with the implications of a Grand Jury report that assailed Church leaders for covering up hundreds of incidents of reported clergy sexual abuse. But for the statute of limitations, at least two cardinals would have been indicted for criminal behavior.

In Boston, vigil protests continue at parishes resisting the archdiocesan decision to close them; in one parish, parishioners are threatening to refuse to receive a new pastor where their beloved pastor of twelve years was forced by the archdiocese to resign.

In Los Angeles, the recent release of 126 diocesan personnel files provide a chronicle of 75 years of denial and hiding by Church leadership of widespread sexual misconduct and abuse by clergy.

In St. Louis, the parishioners of St. Stan's continue their difficult struggle to be a faith community while Archbishop Raymond Burke tries to seize millions of dollars of assets from the St. Stan's community.

These are the signs of our times - bishops in Rome trying to write rules on paper for millions of Catholics who are struggling to practice their faith in moral communion with Christ in a world made immoral by those who are supposed to lead the flock.

Meanwhile, we have difficult days ahead as we walk the path of reform. We must not succumb to the acquiescence that brought so much pain to so many. Instead, we continue to pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit and we continue to discern our options. May God bless this faith community – all of us.