FOR A SYNODAL CHURCH: COMMUNION, PARTICIPATION, MISSION

Snippet from the Final Document: Part I - The Heart of Synodality

74. Frequently, during the synodal process, the Bishops, Priests and Deacons were thanked for the joy, commitment and dedication with which they carry out their service. Often mentioned, in addition, were the very real difficulties encountered by pastors in their ministry. These mainly concerned a sense of isolation and loneliness, as well as the feeling of being overwhelmed by the expectation that they are required to fulfil every need. The experience of the Synod can be a response to this reality, helping Bishops, Priests and Deacons to rediscover co-responsibility in the exercise of ministry, which includes collaboration with other members of the People of God. A wider distribution of tasks and responsibilities and a more courageous discernment of what properly belongs to the ordained ministry and what can and must be delegated to others will enable each ministry to be exercised in a more spiritually sound and pastorally dynamic manner. This perspective will surely have an impact on decision-making processes, enabling them to have a more clearly synodal character. It will also help to overcome clericalism, understood as the use of power to one’s own advantage and the distortion of the authority of the Church that is at the service of the People of God. This expresses itself above all in forms of abuse, be they sexual or economic, the abuse of conscience and of power, by ministers of the Church. “Clericalism, whether fostered by Priests themselves or by lay persons, leads to an excision in the ecclesial body that supports and helps to perpetuate many of the evils that we are condemning today” (Francis, Letter to the People of God, 20 August 2018).

75. Throughout its history, the Church has adopted other ministries apart from those of the ordained in response to the needs of the community and the mission. Charisms take the form of ministries when they are publicly recognised by the community and by those responsible for leading the community. In this way, they are placed at the service of the mission in a stable and consistent way. Some tend, more specifically, towards service of the Christian community. Of particular importance are instituted ministries. These are conferred by a Bishop once in a lifetime through a specific rite and after appropriate discernment and formation of the candidates. These ministries cannot be reduced to a simple mandate or assignment of tasks. The conferral of ministry is a sacramental that shapes the person and redefines his or her way of participating in the life and mission of the Church. In the Latin Church, these are the ministries of lector and acolyte (cf. Francis, Apostolic Letter issued “Motu Proprio” Spiritus Domini, 10 January 2021) and that of the catechist (cf. Francis, Apostolic Letter issued “Motu Proprio” Antiquum Ministerium, 10 May 2021). A legitimate authority establishes the terms and conditions of their practice by mandate. Episcopal Conferences establish the personal conditions that candidates for these ministries must fulfil and draw up the formation pathways that must be taken to access these ministries.