Synod Briefing – Day 4: ‘We must overcome fear of one another’

By Antonella Palermo

The General Assembly of the Synod launched an urgent appeal for peace, which was discussed on October 4 during the work of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod on Synodality. Participants in the assembly condemned all forms of fundamentalism, declaring: “we must all be peacemakers.”

At the same time, a widespread call was launched to denounce the “main causes of all evil”, namely the arms trade. These works of the Synod were reported on October 5 during the day’s press conference at the Press Office of the Holy See by Paolo Ruffini and Sheila Leocádia Pires, respectively president and secretary of the Information Commission of the Synod.

Lebanon’s call for respect for the rights of oppressed peoples

“Unfortunately, the world remains silent or greenlights all this violence because there are too many political and economic interests that have nothing to do with Christian values. »

This is the consideration expressed by Mgr Mounir Khairallah, Maronite Catholic bishop of Batrun.

In a Lebanon gripped by conflict, said the bishop, hope persists, so that the Land of the Cedars continues to be a message of peace.

Archbishop Khairallah recalled that the resolution on the recognition of two States and two peoples (Israel and Palestine) has always been rejected by Israeli politicians.

“I am not saying that all Israelis are in favor of violence,” he observed, “only that interests come first, and even the West does not support us as it does not support oppressed peoples. May they have the right to decide their own fate,” he stressed.

The Synod on synodality, he added, is a good opportunity to reaffirm the central role of those who suffer most from violence and poverty.

“The biggest decision to make is for the Church, through the Synod, to be a messenger of living together, of respect for others and of the need to free ourselves from the fear of others,” concluded Mgr Khairallah . “This would be a first step and a great recommendation for humanity.”

Haitian Archbishop: “We are desperate”

Mgr. Launay Saturné, Archbishop of Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, spoke alongside journalists, emphasizing that his country lives in a state of chronic insecurity.

“Those who should have brought order and peace until now have not lived up to their responsibilities,” he said, adding that respect for human dignity “is far from being a reality there.”

The archbishop recalled the recent massacre of October 3 which left 70 dead, many houses burned and numerous displacements, an act of violence perpetrated by armed gangs.

Even though the gangs had announced the violence, nothing was done to prevent it, he said.

“We are desperate,” he lamented, noting that in the Haitian capital, 70 percent of the population was forced to flee.

Mgr Saturné highlighted the negative impact on the lives of young people and on the mission of the Church, since many parishes have been closed.

The archbishop explained that even from an economic point of view, the last five years have seen no progress, because the country is split in two, with no possibility of communication between the north and the south.

In this context, “Communion, Participation, Mission” appear as fundamental values ​​to be strengthened, he said, stressing that many religious groups try to transmit them to new generations, so that they can one day build a society. based on them. .

The Haitian Episcopal Conference asked that the so-called periods of political transition not be too long and acted as spokesperson for the “multinational forces” to assume this responsibility.

The bishops of Haiti, said Archbishop Saturné, greatly thank the Pope for the attention he pays to events in this Caribbean state.

The Philippines and the Missionary Church

Mgr Pablo Virgilio S. David, Bishop of Kalookan in the Philippines, member of the Synod Information Commission, then spoke.

He recounted the continental consultation of priests which took place between the two synodal assemblies, highlighting the relationship between synodality and mission in light of the migratory phenomenon affecting the Philippines.

Migration in the country, he explained, is both international, as Filipinos go abroad to work, and internal, as people move from rural areas to cities.

As a result, some city dwellers view rural residents as a threat. “When the Pope arrived in 2015, he told us to go to the suburbs,” he said. “And we did it. We created 20 mission stations in my diocese. So the parishes are being transformed more and more in a missionary sense.

Demographic boom and bust

Catherine Clifford, a Canadian professor of systematic theology at Saint Paul University in Ottawa, then spoke to reporters about the first week of the second session of the Synod.

She underlined the sincere and frank atmosphere which reigns between the participants in the Synod, especially since they already know each other.

Professor Clifford said the Western world must also come to terms with the changes facing its church communities.

“We see that the Global South is playing an increasingly central role in our conversations,” she said, adding that the important thing is to make clear that despite the many challenges from a demographic point of view and the process of emptying churches, “the Church does not disappear. »

Poor, young, women, lay people: not beneficiaries but active participants

Summarizing the themes discussed Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, Dr. Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Dicastery for Communication (our parent organization), said the synodal assembly had spoken about listening to the cry of the poor and need to include them. as participants and not as simple recipients.

“The path that is least indicated to us is that of listening to the cry of the earth and of the people,” he stressed, highlighting the numerous interventions on the role of women in the Church.

Women and LGBTQ+ people who want to serve the Church and do so with great commitment must no longer find themselves marginalized, said Synod participants.

One of the questions at the center of the various reflections concerned young people, with the assembly asking: “What attracts them to the Church today?

“Evangelical radicalism,” responded several participants. The most widespread idea is that “young people need to breathe” and that adults must breathe with them; thus, a complete and understandable sense of the so-called new evangelization will probably be given.

Ecumenism, diocesan synods, the role of the Pontiff in post-synodal assemblies were, among other subjects discussed. Generally speaking, it appeared that synodality offers a means of combating clericalism.