Recently, while helping someone to speak and read English well, we encountered the saying: “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” It’s one of the oldest proverbs in the English language, already in use in 1534, and as we talked about it, I thought, wow! That’s exactly what Pope Francis and now Pope Leo are trying to do with synodality. They are trying to move the “old dog” Church from one leadership/management style into another.
And that is difficult. Pope Leo, in an interview with a CRUX reporter, commented that “sometimes bishops or priests might feel that synodality is going to take away my authority…” Authority, who gets to decide and how decisions get made, is involved in managing and leading.
A little aside: as Church members, lay or ordained, this change of styles is important for us to observe and participate in. But this topic is also important for our personal spiritual lives. We all manage and lead in various ways, obvious ones and less obvious ones like parenting, managing a household, etc. Spiritually it’s important to pay attention to how we ourselves exercise authority and lead. We are born with power drives, which can become demonic and influence our intentionality and actions. Then our leadership and authority gifts can turn into domination of others and self- aggrandizement. Remember the third temptation of Jesus? The devil tempted him to throw himself off the top of the temple, knowing that the power in him would save him and earn him adulation of the crowd.
So now, what is this synodality change our Church is trying to make? Synodality is a change from a hierarchical/autocratic style of management that goes back to ancient cultures of Assyria, Egypt and Rome, cultures we encounter in Hebrew and Christian scripture. In these cultures, there was clear top-down authority and decisions were made and enforced by leaders. A supreme leader (king, emperor) had the final say, and dissent was limited. We catch a clear glimpse of all this when Jesus’ accusers take him through lower levels of authority until he is brought to Pilot, who can order his execution by the authority of the emperor. Not surprisingly, the hierarchical model of the Roman empire influenced the authority structure and ways of leading and managing of the new Christian Church being born within it.
But not exclusively! Management models are usually mixed. Even Roman emperors had a Roman senate to advise them and somewhat check their power. From the beginning of Catholicism, bishops consulted each other. In the Eastern part of the Roman Empire, patriarchs with their advisors from Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, Jerusalem consistently gathered together in synods to consider doctrinal and practical matters. Early “ecumenical” councils included bishops from the two parts of the Roman Empire, the West (Rome) and the East (Constantinople). A culmination happened in 461 when, led by delegates of the pope in Rome, 350 bishops unanimously defined the humanity and divinity of Christ at the Council of Chalcedon (in Turkey). Chalcedon blended the collegial synod model with the papal primacy of the hierarchical model.
Fast forward to Vatican II (1962-65). It’s teaching corrected the mistaken notion of an infallible Pope acting alone. Vatican II reaffirmed the tradition of collegiality, the mode of leading and deciding through discussion with others, and synods. It taught that bishops represent the human and spiritual reality of their people to other bishops and to the pope, who with them listens as, through dialogue, the Spirit guides our Church toward decisions.
After Vatican II, regular synods of bishops began meeting. Pope Francis convened the most recent one, the Synod on Synodality (2023-24). Both Pope Francis and now Pope Leo XIV see synodality as both an implementation of Vatican II and deeply rooted in Catholic tradition. Synodality is not a rejection of the hierarchical model. It is a way of bringing the wisdom of both models together. Both the authority of magisterium (teaching authority of the Church culminating in that of the pope and councils) and synodality are essential elements (constitutive dimensions) of our Church.
Synodality is participatory decision-making. We believe that the Holy Spirit is within the people of God, every one of them. Thus, as Father James Martin SJ says, all people should have a voice in the decision- making and decision-taking process of our Church. A start was made after Vatican II as parish councils or pastoral councils and finance committees became common at parish and diocesan levels. Diocesan synods also became more common. But we know that such bodies are inadequate for representing all voices. Furthermore, since they are mainly consultative, those in charge sometimes go their own way as though no consultation has happened. Delegates to the Synod on Synodality discussed these problems.
Obviously, we need better ways of doing the dialogue and listening that is the heart of synodality. I believe our Church size is a problem. Bigness means leaders seldom hear from most members of their parishes and dioceses, short-circuiting the conversation and listening. The mass communication tools of today have not yet been adequately harnessed to help with this. Vatican II stressed that both laity (the non-ordained) and the ordained have a special competency: laity for their understanding of the secular order of finance, politics, family, and so on; the ordained for the understanding of our religious tradition. Synodality depends of each of these dialogue partners recognizing and appreciating the competencies of the other, and that in turn depends on better and consistent communication loops. There is heavy “systems” work ahead!
There also will need to be conversion of hearts. As Pope Leo’s remark above indicated, some of the ordained may feel their authority is threatened. But the non-ordained also need to embrace synodality. It is messy; it takes time to speak and listen. It also takes trust in the graced goodness of those we are in dialogue with. We U.S. people are a bit short on patience, trust, time and the art of listening. Pastors will need to take account of these spiritual weaknesses as they call people to synodality dialogue.
Perhaps synodality calls us to reflection as Advent approaches. What will it ask of me? Do I already listen and share with others in leading and deciding? Can I give the time it will take to get involved in a synodal parish? In the end, synodality begins with each of us.
Sister Mary Garascia, PhD (Theology), is a member of the Sisters of the Precious Blood of Dayton, Ohio, where she now resides. She lived and ministered at The Holy Name of Jesus in Redlands for several years. You can follow her weekly Sunday scripture blogs at PreciousBloodSistersDayton. org.