~ by Christopher White for Vatican News
The Vatican – In 1960 — two years before the start of the Second Vatican Council — Pope John XXIII established 10 preparatory commissions to lay the foundation of what would become a landmark event opening up the church to the modern world.
Among the major outcomes of the 1962-1965 council was the establishment of the Synod of Bishops, meant to promote greater collegiality between bishops and the pope. And under the Francis papacy, the synod has evolved dramatically, including for the first time ever in 2023, the participation of lay people who have a right to vote on the assembly’s final document.
“This new type of synod with lay people is clearly a novelty, an experiment,” said Villanova University theologian Massimo Faggioli. Part of that experimentation has meant the synod process is evolving in real time, as some organizers have noted.
Most recently, following last October’s first assembly of the synod on synodality, Pope Francis decided to establish working groups to study some of the most controversial issues that have emerged in the synod so far — and declared that the groups will remain in effect beyond the synod’s final assembly in October 2024.
“I’m not shocked that it’s happening now,” Faggioli told NCR, noting that prior to Vatican II working groups were established and adjusted once the council got underway.
According to Faggioli, the new working groups are “an important acknowledgement that a different kind of work is needed.” But he, and other theologians, also caution that many open questions remain.
Among the issues that the 10 study groups will address are how bishops are selected, seminary formation and the role of women in the church — some of the most discussed and divisive issues that surfaced at the synod on synodality in October 2023.
In announcing the groups, the head of the synod secretariat, Cardinal Mario Grech, said that the new structures would help to deepen theological reflection. They also would allow the respective Vatican dicasteries whose work is affected by certain topics to become more collaborative with one another, he said. To read more click here