This past Sunday, Pope Benedict celebrated the opening of the XII General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. The theme of this month-long meeting is “The Word of God in the life and mission of the Church.” By contrast to previous ordinary synods, 11 of which, like this one, met in the Synod Hall in the Vatican, the opening Mass was celebrated at the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls on the Via Ostiense. The choice of venue was the pope’s, who wanted to open the synod by linking it intimately with St. Paul in this year of Paul that the Church is observing through June 29, 2009. And fitting indeed it is that a synod on the theme of the Word of God should look at St. Paul for inspiration at its very beginning. Who more than Paul, who better than Paul, ever proclaimed the Word of God and witnessed it in the Church? As Pope Benedict said in his opening homily, St. Paul’s cry, “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!” is one that should find an echo in the heart of every disciple of Christ and especially in those of us who, as bishops and priests and deacons, are called to preach the Gospel “in season and out of season” for the building up of the Church to the Kingdom and for the transformation of the world that “the world may believe.”
The idea of a synod of bishops for the western Church grew out of the Second Vatican Council. The Servant of God Pope Paul VI called for synods in 1967 and convened the first ordinary synod in 1969. The idea behind it was to continue the impetus of the Council to allow the pope to have a forum in which he could consult with an assembly of bishops in certain specific topics, receive their input, hear their counsel and advice and seek their suggestions for the Church to deepen her commitment and her witness in various aspects of her life.
For example, the Synod of 1971 discussed the priesthood and justice in the world. It was particularly important to spend time on the priesthood in 1971 because that was the moment after the Council when dissident voices were being raised questioning some of the theological bases of the priesthood and seeking to change the role and substance of priestly witness. The issue of justice in the world captured the imagination of the whole Church after the publication of the Council document on the Church in the Modern World. Later synods looked at evangelization, catechesis, marriage and family, and consecrated life to name just a few. In addition, Pope John Paul II convened several special synods on the life of the Church in each of the continents, from which he gathered material for apostolic letters on the Church in each of those continents. After the 1971 Synod, there was general agreement to follow that process. The Synod fathers, bishops elected by their peers in each of the episcopal conferences around the world, would come together for about a month, discuss a specific topic in the presence of the Holy Father, deepen their discussions in small group sessions organized by language groups and agree to a set of propositions. These propositions became the basis of the Holy Father’s apostolic exhortation, which he wrote in collaboration with the bishop members of the synodal council.
This Synod on the Word of God has 136 bishops who are members of the Synod along with almost 100 more: priests, consecrated men and women, theologians, both men and women, and other experts, both men and women. The sessions will be directed by one of the three synodal presidents, Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Australia; Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; and Cardinal Odilo Scherer, Archbishop of Sao Paolo, Brazil. The Secretary of the Synod is Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec, assisted by Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo, Archbishop of Kinshasa, Congo under the technical direction of Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, General Secretary of the Synod. There are observers from other Christian Churches and ecclesial communities.
In his homily, the Holy Father pointed out that “only the Word of God can change human hearts in their depth and thus it is important that the believer and the community enter ever more deeply into an intimate union with that Word … for the life and mission of the Church … It is indispensable for the Church to know and live what she proclaims so that the proclamation may be truly credible despite the weaknesses and limitations of Christ’s disciples.”
This examination of how best to proclaim the Gospel will be at the heart of the discussion the Synod fathers will be doing in these coming weeks. These discussions will try to find the best ways to make that Word ever more effective in our own time and in the many cultures which make up the Church. At the center of our life must always be the Word of God, to help us receive Christ our one and only Redeemer, who is Himself the Kingdom of God come among us, so that, as Pope Benedict said, His light might shine in every corner of human life: “the family, the school, culture, work, free time and every other sector of our society and our personal lives.”
May all of us, in this month of the rosary of Mary, keep the Holy Father and the fathers of the Synod in our prayers, that She might watch over and guide their deliberations and that the Church might live ever more deeply in every sector of our lives the Word of God for the life and mission of the Church.