Youth Synod 1st Week:
Wide variety of topics discussed,
and concerns about transparency
Challenges ranging from migration to absentee fathers have been addressed, but decision
not to release detailed information on discussion may point to a 'surprise' at the end
October 6, 2018
As the Synod on Youth comes to the end of its first week, many of the challenges facing young people have already been discussed, but precise details about the proceedings are scarce as heavy restrictions continue to be placed on public access to information.
The media is given daily verbal summaries of what has been talked about in the synod hall, but who said what on the synod floor is not identified, unless the synodal fathers themselves publicly circulate their interventions, which they are free to do.
No printed summaries of the interventions are issued at media briefings and, unlike in previous synods, individual language briefings are briefly given ad hoc in the press hall rather than in individual rooms as in the past.
Pope Francis spoke briefly in the free discussion on Thursday, but news of this only trickled out later, and
the media was not given a summary or text of what he said.
On Friday, the president of the synod’s information commission, Paolo Ruffini [recently named Prefect of the Communications Superdicastery], shared a little more information by providing a list of who was speaking that day, but in effect, this synod is being held under a kind of Chatham House Rule whereby information disclosed during a meeting may be reported, but the source of that information may not be identified.
Perhaps sensing a backlash against this appearance of secrecy and lack of transparency, the secretary of the information commission, Jesuit Father Antonio Spadaro, spontaneously interrupted Thursday’s press briefing to remind reporters this synod is “not a parliament but a place of discernment.”
Delegates must “feel free to say whatever we want,” he said, and “know what they say will remain in the hall.” If everything "were repeated externally,” he added, “it would limit freedom, as it’s a spiritual context.” [B as in bull and S as in s---! And shut up already with the discernment crap - all you Jesuits today are betraying St. Ignatius right and left with all your misuse of that term and a general disregard of his basic rules for the order.]
Although unsaid, another, probably more likely reason, is that the
synod organizers want delegates to feel free to express all kinds of views no matter how heterodox, and don’t want the negative publicity that might result.
The Pope’s call at the beginning of the synod for parrhesia (to speak with courage and frankness) is also seen to allow a wider array of views to be aired while at the same time revealing where synod fathers stand on various issues. [And is anyone still taken in by these periodic calls for parrhesia - full, frank and direct discussion - from someone who avoids it like the plague when he needs to exercise it himself? He chooses instead the verbal disease of logorrhea on any subject on which he thinks himself a master (which is on just about everything except the DUBIA, the Correctio Filialis and any specific criticism requiring a specific response from him...And say the synodal fathers do get to exercise full parrhesia on the synod floor, but it all amounts to 'sound and fury signifying nothing' (other than giving them an opprtunity to vent and so mollifying them in some way Because Bergoglio will go ahead and decree what he wants to decree regardless of what anyone else may think.)]
Particularly useful information has nevertheless come into the public domain thanks to several synod fathers handing the full texts of their talks to reporters, or publicly sharing their synod experiences.
Had they not done so,
there would have been no public information, for example, that Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia had spoken against using ‘LGBT’, the term used by the homosexual lobby, in Church documents, or any other contents of his speech.
Instead media were merely told that poverty, war, despair and unemployment were “big themes” and that the issue of homosexuality was “present.” Ruffini said the LGBT question was not discussed the following day, but added that
this term “was used in some papers from bishops’ conference sent into synod, and in some remarks received, which is why it was included in the instrumentum laboris.” [AND THE SERIAL LYING CONTINUES!]
The issue is significant as
many believe this synod is being subtly used as a vehicle for introducing heterodoxy and, in particular, acceptance of the ‘LGBT’ homosexual agenda in the Church (the term was controversially used in the synod’s working document).
- Observers also believe this issue will find its way into the final document which, for the first time under new rules, could become part of the papal magisterium depending on the Pope’s approval.
- According to some sources,
the main substance of that document is actually already written [no one had to be a prophet to assume this is the case!],
hence the lack of transparency, the absence of a mid-term report, and ambiguities over voting procedures at the end of the synod.
Possibly connected have been words from Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, president of the Italian bishops’ conference and known to be close to Pope Francis, who said Oct. 5 that
he is “convinced that Pope Francis will give us some surprise” and “will for sure invent something before the conclusion of the Synod.” [Can a flunky be so stupid as to say his lord and master is sue to 'invent' something before the synod ends? Next time, instead of going through all the expense to the Vaticand and all the dioceses sending representatives to Rome, why not skip holding a synodal assembly, simply send the pope's prepared 'post-synodal exhortation' to all the bishops of the world for their approval and comment, and voila! a brand-new Bergoglio document he can even proclaim as the equivalent of a council document because it had the participation of all the bishops of the world as if he had actually held an ecumenical council.]
Meanwhile, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the German bishops’ conference, said synod is truly an opportunity to "to change not only the mentality but also structurally" the way of being the Church.
Despite the concerns over what has been left out of the flow of public information, plenty has been already discussed at the synod. Ruffini has given fairly extensive verbal summaries of the interventions and free discussions.
- These have included an emphasis on “listening to young people where they are,” the family being the place “where faith can be transmitted,” that religion needs to be “open to dialogue and witness.”
- More has been said about the “prophecy of the young” and some have called for forgiveness of the Church and not just for clergy sexual abuse — an appeal most notably made by Archbishop Anthony Fisher who released his speech in full.
- Greater “empathy of the Church” has been mentioned, as has the importance of intergenerational relations and the role of grandparents.
- The Church “shouldn’t be paternalistic or have a hypocritical attitude,” should “fight against attraction to luxuries,” and instead stress “values that lead to happiness.”
- Ruffini said the synod fathers spoke about the young feeling “victims of the lies of politicians and the media,” and see society as being largely “based on lying.”
- They feel a “loss” due to “excessive liberalism, a loss off motherhood, fatherhood.” - Some underlined the importance of music and sports which the young are deeply involved in, that the Church must speak the language of these areas, and also the “digital language.”
- Others have said the young “expect to be engaged in debates, in environmentalism, ecology, and the Church needs to support them” in these arenas.
- The young, a synod father said, “want to be taken seriously, challenged, and if they make mistakes, they want adults to help them” and “to trust them.”
- The young also “need to pray, to rediscover silent prayer, mystical prayer, and the Church must also pray for the young.” Praying for the young, a synod father said, “means listening them to them.”
- Also discussed have been pre-marital sex and the issue of chastity and abstinence. Failing to be chaste before marriage “could either urge people to marry before they’re ready for marriage, or lead them to abandon the sacrament [of marriage].”
- Ruffini denied there was a desire to weaken the Church’s teaching on pre-marital sexual relations among any of the synod fathers; rather, he said, the synod father in question raised this “topic that we’re faced with,” adding that the instrumentum laboris “insists on listening and understanding what happens in society.”
- Also mentioned has been “the loss of the idea of a father” among many young people, and one synod father made the point that it is the father “who transmits faith more than the mother.”
- The young “need to listen to older people” but “this is at risk,” one synod father from Africa said, and losing this would “involve losing memory of one’s roots.”
- Another synod father spoke of the “challenge posed by the digital era,” what he called “information obesity,” while another quoted Pope St. John XXIII to much applause:
“Tell the young the world existed before them, but tell older people it will also exist after them.” [This is probably the only 'original' thing I have seen in all the plethora of platitudes that have been quoted.]
- Others have spoken about how multiculturalism and diversity can be “agents for change” for the young, how it is “important to ensure Church’s doctrine is better known to the young,” and that some mothers and fathers “should ask for forgiveness” from their children because they don’t have time to support or properly raise them. “We all need to be forgiven and children themselves will need to be forgiven,” the synod father said.
- Several synod fathers also spoke about the “reduced effectiveness” of marriage and the family “in transmitting faith, identity, vocation, mission” in societies with many broken families.
- One bishop observed that the Church needs new models, rhetoric and media to “speak our perennial truths, being aware that young people are not just a ‘demographic’ or a ‘market’ but a ‘theological place’ where the Word of God is revealed, pondered and communicated.”
- The liturgy has been discussed, with one bishop calling for “a liturgy that is better suited to present times, so it can be more participatory, more understandable, otherwise the youth might consider it dull.”
- Another suggested the Church “must learn from the Pentecostals about the kinds of worship music that attracts the young and kinds of homiletics that excite them.”
Asked if the traditional form of the liturgy was discussed, Archbishop Fisher told reporters Friday that it was as young people’s tastes are “very diverse, also within cultures” and that even if some are wanting “Pentecostal, loud and very catchy tunes, there are others that love Gregorian chant and all between and all other aspects of liturgy.”
But he said what is held in common is a “real appreciation that beauty matters” and it is not just about argumentation and giving reasons for the faith, although that is very important.
He said young people also want good, well prepared homilies, and “likewise they don’t want bad music that makes them feel uninspired” or people who are “unwelcoming to them.”
Archbishop Fisher told reporters he had “great hope” for young people in this synod as people are “not just talking about challenges but what’s working” and “suggesting ideas of what we could do that was new, and a better version of what we’ve been doing.”
He also said he had been observing Pope Francis “with great affection and reverence,” saying he welcomes each person every day, listens to all the presentations, and is “clearly very engaged.” It is a “wonderful thing for us to know and see,” he said.
***
Here below are the moderators for the language working groups which are meeting at various times during the synod and will be discussing themes raised in the general congregations.
For French-speaking bishops:
CIRCULUS GALLICUS “A”: S.E. Mons. MACAIRE, O.P., David
CIRCULUS GALLICUS “B”: S.E. Mons. LACOMBE Bertrand
CIRCULUS GALLICUS “C”: Em.mo Card. NZAPALAINGA, C.S.Sp., Dieudonné
For English-speaking bishops:
CIRCULUS ANGLICUS “A”: Em.mo Card. GRACIAS Oswald
CIRCULUS ANGLICUS “B”: Em.mo Card. CUPICH Blase Joseph
CIRCULUS ANGLICUS “C”: Em.mo Card. COUTTS Joseph
CIRCULUS ANGLICUS “D”: Em.mo Card. DiNARDO Daniel N.
For Italian-speaking bishops:
CIRCULUS ITALICUS “A”: Em.mo Card. DE DONATIS Angelo
CIRCULUS ITALICUS “B”: Em.mo Card. FILONI Fernando
CIRCULUS ITALICUS “C”: Em.mo Card. RAVASI Gianfranco
For Spanish-speaking bishops:
CIRCULUS HIBERICUS “A”: Em.mo Card. RODRÍGUEZ MARADIAGA, S.D.B., Oscar Andrés
CIRCULUS HIBERICUS “B”: Em.mo Card. LADARIA FERRER, S.I., Luis Francisco
For German-speaking bishops:
CIRCULUS GERMANICUS: S.E. Mons. GENN Felix
For Portuguese-speaking bishops:
CIRCULUS LUSITANUS: Em.mo Card. DE AVIZ João Braz
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 07/10/2018 00:36]