Though I am not a Catholic, I am a scholar of Catholicism by way of medieval literature, liturgy, and hagiography. I have haunted a fair number of cathedrals in my day and generally like to keep up with the modern dance of vestments.

Thus, I have been watching the coverage surrounding Germany’s Synodal Way (2019-2022) and the Vatican’s Synod on Synodality (2021-2024) with interest. The German Synodal Way movement could be said to rhyme with the Protestant Reformation, especially with fears that it would create schism from the Catholic Church. Pope Francis recently formed a Synod on Synodality, sponsored by Vatican, to address the issues brought forward by the Synodal Way. However, the controversies brought forward by both Synods have been with the Church since its inception. The issues and even the structure of the Church has not always aligned with modern Catholicism’s positions in the Synods, so it’s worth exploring what the issues are and how they have developed over time here.

Firstly, what are these Synods all about?

The controversy can be boiled down to one of structure. The bishops of Germany’s Synodal Way claim that the Church hierarchy is so structured that it emphasizes an unbalanced and unjust system of governance. The bishops would prefer a flat structure in which congregations and lay people could provide governance, rather than only the ordained members of the Vatican elite (Dulle 2021).

In short, the Synodal Way and Synod on Synodality ask that the Church begin to function under the principles of a democracy (a synod, in which everyone votes); in contrast, the Catholic Church currently functions in a top-down hierarchical structure in which decisions are most frequently made by superiors in an ascending order of those imbued with ordained Divine authority, such as priest, bishop, archbishop, Cardinal, and Pope.

According to Hosffman Ospino in the National Catholic Reporter, “. . . a synodal perspective challenges the culture of clericalism and proposes a culture of dialogue and consensus. Synodality is countercultural.” However, not everyone is excited about the movement toward open conversation. In Bishop Robert Barron’s blog, Word on Fire, he expresses fears that synodality would turn the Church into a kind of “freewheeling democracy” and that doctrine would be at the mercy of a vote (“What is Synodality?, 2020”). According to the Synod on Synodality website, the ever inclusive Pope Francis introduced the Synod as a way for those who were excluded to partake in discussions, with special care to “women, the handicapped, refugees, migrants, the elderly, people who live in poverty, Catholics who rarely or never practice their faith, etc (“Who is the Synod for?).”

Okay, but why does it matter? Beyond the challenge of saying Synod-on-Synodality without sounding like Sid the Sloth, why should we pay attention?

The Issues

While the Synod on Synodality deals with structure, its main concerns are with clerical sex abuses, the full participation and authority of women in the Church, lay preaching, the possibility of priestly marriage, and the blessing of same-sex marriages. The initiating conflict for the Synodal Way began with the Church’s inaction on clerical sex abuse cases (Dulle 2021).

That is to say, some big stuff.

These controversies appear unrelated, but they return to the same issue of Church hierarchy and structure, which stipulates that only a celibate male priesthood could perform Mass, hear and give confession, and participate in important structural decisions. That is, only a man who has been ordained by the ordained structure has the ability to give spiritual succor. From the contemporary, modern perspective, it can be easy to assume that this structure has always proceeded in the same way, without much challenge.

However, from late antiquity (300 AD through 500 AD), the long medieval period (from 500 AD to 1500 AD), and the post-Reformation period (1500-present) saw drastic changes in how the issues attributed to authority, gender, and sexuality were expressed and managed.

Since my own period of expertise is medieval, I will focus on the years from 500-1500 AD. I will be covering a very broad and complex period of time, so I will have to be brief, though I hope to provide enough of a survey to show how varied the issues were and how they shed light on the current Synods.

Posts to follow!

–Structure, Contention, and Conflict: St Wilfrid and How Rome Came to Britain

–Women in Authority: Queens and Abbesses and Some Bad-Ass Ladies

–Medieval Sexuality: Virgins, Prostitutes, and Queer Saints

–Writing About Women: Ælfric and the Tenth Century

–Jesus as Lover and Mother: Affective Piety and When We Hearkened unto Women

Sources

Barron, Bishop Robert, “What is Synodality?” Word on Fire. February 18, 2020. https://www.wordonfire.org/articles/barron/what-is-synodality/

Dulle, Colleen. “The Germany Synodal Way, Explained,” America: The Jesuit Review. June 24, 2021. https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2021/06/24/german-synodal-path-way-explainer-240919.

Ospino, Hosffman. “A closer look at synodality and its promise for a more inclusive church” National Catholic Reporter. August 23, 2021. https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/closer-look-synodality-and-its-promise-more-inclusive-church

“Who is the Synod for?” Synod 2021-2024. https://www.synod.va/en/what-is-the-synod-21-24/who-is-the-synod-for.html