Consulting 1.3 billion Catholics: pedagogy of synodality

"When they no longer have priests, the gods become very easy to live with." 

Anatole France

The authority of the Church

For the sociologist of religions, Yann Legendre  the Church must, in order to survive, get out of its  centralizing authority system and question the sacredness of the priest. The sexual, financial, and moral scandals that have accumulated, as well as a vocational crisis and a weakening of Christian ideas in society and its institutions, have produced an electroshock. ...

This is probably the meaning given to the great consultation on the future of the Church launched in October 2021 by Pope Francis and which should  end in Rome in 2023. This consultation takes the name "synod." This term is an ancient word constructed from two Greek roots. It is composed of the preposition sun / σύν (with) and the noun hodos /ὁδός (via, path).

For the promoters of the process,  "It indicates the path traveled together by the people of God." The choice of synod, rather than assembly or council, seems to carry the intention of a setting in motion similar to the early times of the Church's journey, perhaps even that journey in the desert of Moses' people. Then it was a matter of learning together to discern doctrinal, liturgical, canonical, and pastoral issues.

What is characteristic is the emphasis on a method and the mindset that accompanies it. This is reminiscent of the spiritual search of a pilgrim to Santiago de Compostela made up of encounters with strangers in the course of an effort strained toward a goal. Subjecting one's body and mind to a test in order to grow together.

Unlike an assembly with more neutral aims, widely spread in the secular world, or a council often associated with ecclesiastical populations alone, the synod desired by Pope Francis is addressed to all Christians throughout the planet, concretizing an aspiration to communion. It is an unprecedented learning to rebuild community after more than 2,000 years of history. 

This association to commune and reflect together on the future of the Church is out of the ordinary because it involves 1.2 billion Catholics, that's on the order of the number of Facebook subscribers, without the mediation and drift of the social network. 

Thus, it is a matter of inventing a peer-to-peer method for building common meaning.

In practice how does it work?

National synod teams have been formed around the world to irrigate dioceses, congregations and communities with a  questioning

Here is the testimony of a participant in charge of an intermediate  synthesis stage;

"When we arrived, we were given two documents. The first document was the national collection which was a sort of compilation of all the diocesan and particular syntheses, made by a team around the national coordination team of the synod. This document had been made public three days before and no changes were requested. This collection was accompanied by a second document that was a proposed text of welcome and perspective that could be signed by "the bishops of France, listening to their guests".

Such a process is framed by rules that must be intelligible throughout the world. Here are the 10 key points that guide the synodal process

1. Peer-to-peer companionship
   The dignity of peer-to-peer words is affirmed. "In the Church and in society, we are on the same road, side by side."
   
   
2. LISTENING
   Listening is emphasized with an open mind and heart, leaving aside prejudices.
   
   
3. TAKING THE WORD
   Speaking up is  placed under the religious term of parrhesia, which means conjugation of liberty, truth and charity.
   
   
4. CELEBRATION 
   If synodality  consists of walking together, it is a possible process in the Church through communal listening to the Word and on the celebration of the Eucharist.
   
   
5. CORESPONSIBLE IN MISSION
   Synodality is a process of collective intelligence at the service of the Church's mission, in which all its members are called to participate.
   
   
6. DIALOGUE IN THE CHURCH AND IN SOCIETY
   Synodality engages the dialogue of all with all with all conceivable difficulties, which do not exclude moments of silence and suffering.
   
   
7. WITH OTHER CHRISTIAN CONFESSIONS
   Dialogue among Christians of various confessions, united by one Baptism, occupies a special place on the synodal path.
   
   
8. AUTHORITY AND PARTICIPATION
   A synodal church is a church of participation and co-responsibility.
   
   
9. DISCERNING AND DECIDING
   In a synodal style, decisions are made via a process of discernment, based on a consensus that springs from common obedience to the Spirit. A form of regulation by a higher force is proclaimed.
   
   
10. THE FORMATION OF SYNODALITY
    The spirituality of walking together is called to become the educational principle of the human and Christian formation of the person, the formation of families and communities.

In reading these principles, one understands that Pope Francis breaks with the sole hierarchical principle to integrate a consequent share of collective intelligence. The ultimate regulator of the dialogues being "the Holy Spirit", a resource for all, and the will of discernment of each person.

This pedagogy on the march is meant to be transformative since it is a matter of living it and perfecting it along the way. This effort to learn to synchronize while walking has been studied by sociologist Margaret Gilbert in Walking together - Essays on the foundations of collective phenomena.