Three more observations on how the Catholic Church can, or perhaps could, make decisions. First, people in positions of responsibility have a responsibility …
d) those who perform tasks of governance and responsibility are called to initiate, facilitate and accompany processes of community discernment that include listening to the People of God.
If a bishop buys into the synodal process, then his ministry is better embraced and accepted, and hopefully comes to more fruitfulness:
In particular, the Bishop’s authority has a fundamental role to play in animating and validating the synodal character of these processes and in confirming the faithfulness of the conclusions that emerge during the process. In particular, it is the responsibility of the Pastors to verify the relationship between the aspirations of their communities and the “sacred deposit of the Word of God entrusted to the Church” (Dei Verbum 10), a relationship that allows those aspirations to be considered a genuine expression of the People of God’s sense of faith;
Do lay people themselves adopt a synodality, a walking and working together? I’ve seen this work, especially among women religious.
e) adopting the perspective of community discernment challenges the Church at all levels and in all its organizational forms. In addition to Parish and diocesan structures, this also concerns the decision-making processes of associations, movements and Lay-led groups, where they have recourse to institutional mechanisms that routinely involve practices such as voting. It calls into question the way in which the decision-making bodies of Church-related institutions (schools, universities, foundations, hospitals, reception and social action centers, etc.) identify and formulate operational guidelines. Finally, it challenges Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in ways that connect the specificities of their charisms and their own constitutions (cf. DCS 81);
I recently viewed the lead-up to the election of a nearby abbot. This twenty-minute film gives many important details and is one of the best examples I’ve seen of synodality in action.
f) Adopting decision-making processes that make stable use of community discernment requires a conversion that is personal, communal, cultural and institutional, as well as an investment in formation.
Let’s not overlook that last bit. People are formed by good discernment, apart from whatever decision is rendered. Young people, and even children benefit from the example of watching elders work together and including them.
Catholic Sensibility 