The Southern Cross | October 2024

At the end of October last year the siren sounded on the first half of the Synod of Bishops, Synod on Synodality in Rome.

After a gruelling first half the members of the Synod voted unanimously in agreement on the synthesis document of what transpired during the first session. A little rushed at the end, however a worthy document.

Whenever we do things for the first time there is always a mixture of anticipation and unfamiliarity, and sometimes apprehension. While this was true for the first two of the four weeks of the first session of the Synod, any unfamiliarity gradually gave way to understanding, and our anticipation and apprehension soon transformed into the hard work that dialogue and listening requires.

Unlike a sporting competition, at the Synod there are not two teams competing. There is but one team, with great diversity. One of the many blessings of being a member of the Synod is to see the diversity of the God’s Holy Church from every land and cultural and liturgical background.

The struggle of the Synod is to listen to this diversity and different cultures and understand what we are hearing. The reward is to be mutually enriched by the process, which really is the Holy Spirit at work.

One of the blessings of Pope Francis’ pontificate is that he continually reminds us that the Church is no longer simply European; it is, as it always has been, universal, catholic. Pope Francis has reminded us of this in a deep way. He is continually visiting places such as Mongolia, and more recently closer to home Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. He has sought to make sure leadership positions reflect this, and challenges our thinking to include the easily overlooked.

One of the questions underlying the Synod on Synodality is how do we, as the Church, operate in a multicultural way, where faith has many expressions and one core set of beliefs? It examines the question of how unity might operate in such a way that it doesn’t quench the Spirit and speak to the people of our time without become a stifling uniformity.

Any diocese, any parish is already doing this. Each of our parishes is a community of communities. How might we do better what we already do well? This is not a theoretical question. We see it ever clearer with the quickly diversifying demography of our Diocese and parishes and an ever increasing push for a more secularised society.

In the second half of the Synod, the manner by which the 400 members of the Synod will carry out their work is different from the first session. It is not simply a repeat of the first session. As St John the Baptist did, it seeks to point the way, and always to Christ, the Risen Lord.

I think that we in the Archdiocese are blessed in that we have had an opportunity to be involved in the ongoing discussions of the Synod. This year we had our third Diocesan Assembly. We have had discussion sessions on and have given feedback to the Synthesis document of the first session of the Synod; we have had an opportunity to study together the Instrumentum Laboris (the working document) which will form the basis of our coming discussions in the second session; at the local level many people have been involved in working out what it means for their parish or community.

A telling element of this second session, as well as the first last year, is that we shall begin with a retreat. This is an essential element, so often forgotten about, making sure that this whole process actually begins by listening to God and not ourselves.

To me it is a defining movement of the Holy Spirit that when Australia began the journey to the Plenary Council, which incidentally our late Archbishop Philip Wilson was one of the prime-movers thereof, we began with that fundamental question, not of ‘So, what do you think is wrong with the church?’, but rather, ‘What do you think God is asking of us in Australia at this time?’ I often think of how I, and we, can continually both ask and answer that question.

It is interesting that among the papers for the Plenary Council most of the discussions began with the words, ‘How is God calling us to be a Christ-centred Church in Australia’. It suggested that we look at the following areas where we might be a Church that is: Missionary and Evangelising; Inclusive, Participatory and Synodal; Prayerful and Eucharistic; Humble, Healing and Merciful; Joyful, Hope-Filled and Servant Community; and Open to Conversion, Renewal and Reform.

In all of our Diocesan meetings since the end of the first half, these topics come up again and again. Our Diocese, our parishes and communities, indeed all of God’s Holy People, are asking what we need to do, and how might we do that better. While we will never stop asking these questions, we are responding well to this. The art is to know the important questions to ask. We are asking them and coming up with genuine Catholic responses.

Synodality is not new, it goes right back to the early Church. What is new is the challenges and joys of the 21st century and the questions our generation have.

The Catholic Church exists as a communion. We have always known that we are always better together. Sometimes we forget and petty jealousies are not far from the surface, yet we learn and relearn that being ‘together on the way’ is deeply and authentically the way forward.

If we are people of Mission, Participation and Communion, we are better together – another way of understanding that hard to grasp word, synodality.

A Synod in Rome, a Diocesan Assembly, our own Diocesan Synod in 2026, can accomplish only so much. Much needs to be implemented at the local level of Diocese, parish and community. If we have learnt anything at all through all of this, it is the lesson and nature of our Catholic Church, that we are better together.

As the siren is about to sound to begin the second half of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality, I am glad that ringing in my ears and lingering in my heart are the authentic voices of so many of the People of God here in Adelaide, and beyond. As the fulltime siren sounds, the ultimate winner will be the Church, the Body of Christ. For I believe that it is the Holy Spirit that is driving this. We are the better for this process and such an experience will assist us in continuing to answer the question, ‘What do you think God is asking of us in Australia at this time?’ and to preach the Good News to the people of our time.

Please pray for me and the work of the Synod, and remember that God is good, good indeed.