Synodality

God has a plan for everyone and for the church whose journeys and plans must align with his will, Cardinal Charles Bo told participants in the assembly of the Synod of Bishops.

As members of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops return home, share the results of their work and prepare for the final synod assembly in 2024, they must be on guard against people who will want to make them take sides as if the synod were a political debate, said Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe.

The Catholic Church’s synodal process, intended to actively solicit input from all its members, is not a threat to the hierarchy, a cardinal said.

The synodal way is not an invention of Pope Francis, but it is based on Jesus’ way of inclusivity and listening, and on divine revelation itself, said Redemptorist Father Vimal Tirimanna, a leading moral theologian from Sri Lanka.

In many places in the world, including in Rome, people with disabilities cannot enter Catholic churches because of the architectural barriers, but even when they do, “we are not asked anything and we are not asked to participate either,” said Enrique Alarcón García.

The life of women in the Catholic Church “is full of scars” and alternating experiences of being encouraged or rejected, the president of Latin America’s religious superiors told members of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops.