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The Message -- for Catholics of Southwestern Indiana
II I I
Synod on the lai
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Extraordinary session delayed laity synod for one year
By GREG ESON
NC News Sop/ice
VATICAN CITY (NC) -- A
year later than scheduled,
members of the hierarchy will
begin gathering in the Vatican's
synod hall with Pope John Paul
II Oct. 1 to ponder "the voca-
tion and the mission" of the
world's nearly 840 million lay
Catholics.
Originally scheduled for
1986, the laity synod was
delayed a year because of the
1985 "extraordinary synod"
marking the anniversary of
Vatican II.
Because of the enormous
diversity of experiences includ-
ed in the laity theme, synod
organizers encouraged
widespread consultation. Last
April the pope ordered publica-
tion of the synod's working
paper, or "instrumentum
laboris" to stimulate the con-
sulation. He also has appointed
a recoYd number of lay
observeJs' and "experts" and
two lay "associate special
secretaries" to the month-long
synod.
The synod's work breaks
down into speeches by bishops
to the general assembly follow-
ed by small group sessions on
specific themes and a final
report which includes the
results of those sessions.
The report will be given to
the pope at the end of October.
Unless he declares otherwise,
the syaod's function is strictly
advisory. The pope can choose
to publish that final report or
write one of his own, as he did
with "Familiaris Consortio"
following the 1980 synod on
the family.
But because of the subject
matter, officials and delegates
expect the report to be made
public immediately -- as hap-
pened after the 1985 extraor-
dinary synod on the Second
Vatican Council
Some observers, such as U.S.
Catholic newspaper editor and
president of the Catholic Press
Association Albina Aspell, will
be allowed to address the
assembly, the first time this has
happened in an ordinary synod.
OTHER U.S. observers are
Knights of Columbus head
Virgil Dechant and his wife,
Ann, and permanent deacon
Walter Sweeney, director of the
New York Archdiocese's
department of Christian and
Family Development.
Representatives of the U.S.
hierarchy include Cardinal
October 2, 1987
Joseph L. Bernardin, Arch-
bishop Rembert G. Weakland,
Archbishop John L. May, presi-
dent of the National Conference
of Catholic Bishops, and Bishop
Stanley J. Ott of Baton Rouge,
La.
In addition the pope ap-
pointed Archbishop Roger M.
Mahony of Los Angeles and
Bishop Anthony J. Bevilacqua
of Pittsburgh, as well as
Redemptorist Father Thomas
Forrest, former head of the in-
ternational Catholic
charismatic renewal organiza-
tion.
The formal theme of the
synod is "Vocation and Mis-
sion of the Laity in the Church
and in the World 20 Years after
the Second Vatican Council."
In the four years since it was
announced, the theme has been
subjected to worldwide con-
sultations.
In the United States dozens of
parish and diocesan consulta-
tions and four U.S. bishops'
conference-sponsored regional
meetings have resulted in
"thousands" of answered ques-
tionnaires, said Dolores Leckey,
director of the bishops' national
lay secretariat.
From the responses of 80
bishops' conferences to a
Vaticanquestionnaire as well as
submissions from dozens of lay
and ecclesial associations,
synod general secretary Arch-
bishop Jan Schotte ad other
experts and officials have cull-
ed several dominant concerns
likely to be addressed during
the October meeting:
-- The role of the laity in the
world: one concern is the
strengthening of the connection
between faith and daily life.
Vatican II emphasized lay
witness, saying believers must
"renew the temporal order."
Irish primate Cardinal Tomas
O'Fiaich said helping lay
Catholics achieve that witness
will be his particular concern at
the synod.
-- The role of the laity in the
church: in many countries
following Vatican If, lay
ministries ranging from
eucharistic ministers to parish
councils, experienced a "great
flowering," in the words of
Pope John Paul. In the same
period the number of priests
has declined.
With this growth in the lay
role has come a concern that the
church risks "clericalizing the
laity and laicizing the clergy,"
as the pope has put it.
The synod's working paper
calls for clarifying the distinc-
tion between the ordained and
lay ministries.
BISHOPS FROM regions ex-
periencing particularly acute
shortages of priests, such as
Latin America, add that in-
creased lay involvement in
church ministries is necessary
in the face of the shortage.
-- The role of women in the
church and the world: bishops
have expressed concern about
the "participation of women in
church decisions" and the or-
dination of women to the
diaconate, said Archbishop
Schotte.
-- The continued lay
spiritual formation: if lay
Catholics are to live their faith
they must continually develop
their understanding of the
"theory and practice of the
Christian life," said Bishop
Paul Cordes, vice president of
the Pontifical Council for the
Laity.
Cardinal Eduardo Pironio,
president of the laity council,
said evangelization is "the
obligation of everyone."
-- The role of lay movements
and associations in the church.
With the exception of the
charismatic movement, lay
Christian movements in the
United States are rarely as pro-
minent as elsewhere in the
world. But in Western Europe, ,::
Latin America and Africa "new
movements" are increasingly
valued for their spiritual forma-
tion and public witness.
But their growth has also
prompted concerns about their
relationship with local bishops,
their involvement in parishes,
and their tensions with tradi-
tional lay associations such as
Catholic Action.
A priest long-experienced
with such inter-organizational
tensions said the "underlying
question" is: what sort of unity
does the church demand of
these organizations, and what
sort of diversity does it allow?
Of the synod members
gathering in October a majority
will come from Latin America,
Africa, Asia and Oceania. The
co-presidents of the synod
reflect this mix: Cardinal
Pironio, an Argentinian; Car-
dinal Joseph Marie Trinh Van
Can, a Vietnamese, and Car-
t:
dinal Myroslav Lubachivsky, a
Ukrainian, now a U.S. citizen.
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