A ‘Listening Church’—But Synod Organizers Aren’t Listening, by Phil Lawler

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture, Jun 28, 2023

Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org.

In several recent essays about the Synod on Synodality, I have made the argument that the Synod organizers are asking the wrong questions. Is anyone paying attention?

If this really is a Synod on Synodality (as Pope Francis and his preparatory team insist it is) then the main topic of discussion should be how the Church should address difficult questions—since a synod is a meeting convened for that purpose. Then, with the procedural issues subject clarified, a future Synod could take up the specific controversies that trouble the Church today. But the preparations for this Synod have leapt over the question of how to answer questions, instead inviting all Catholics—and non-Catholics, for that matter—to raise the questions they want answered. This is, as I have argued, a recipe for confusion. It is as if Church leaders decided to play a game, setting the rules as the game progressed. Or, if you prefer a more serious comparison, as if a judge opted to begin a courtroom trial without waiting for the relevant laws to be enacted or the rules of evidence established.   …