The "Let it flow" of the Synod – conciliatory conclusion without end

The end of a daring papal experiment was softly bedded on a fluffy cushion of harmony. The outcome of the Synod on Synodality made even many sometimes very critical representatives of the Western Church conciliatory and cautiously optimistic. Catholics met twice for four weeks each time for intensive consultations in the Vatican. Their task: to find ways of working together differently in the Catholic Church and to increase the participation of all believers. The methodology itself was challenging: listening, silence and prayer. Concrete reforms? Not planned.

The method itself needed practice at first, but ran almost smoothly in the final round of consultations. And there also seemed to be a broad consensus among the 360 or so participants in terms of content. None of the 155 voting points in the final document fell through. However, the reception of the overall artwork of the Synod on Synodality is likely to vary.

Final document as an empty shell

The final document published with an unclear canonical status is still an empty shell that now needs to be filled with life. Exactly who will do this and how is also up in the air. Bishop Stefan Oster of Passau called this "open to interpretation".

However, it is not only the proposals that have yet to be implemented that have resulted from the experiment. Rather, for the first time in the 21st century, a comprehensive description of the state of the Catholic world church emerged.

Confident and mostly conservative, the African representatives in particular stood out at the meeting. They also gave a voice to those participants who wanted to distance themselves from the needs and views of the global North - regardless of where they are located on the geographical map. They took on the leadership role that Latin America's bishops once played.

However, the latter also benefited from their strong alliance, the Latin American Bishops' Council CELAM. While there are also continental bishops' organisations for Africa and Asia - and an exchange takes place between all these bodies - the European continent is rather pale in comparison. There is a lack of common vision for a strong team presence.

South-North divide

In addition, the power imbalance in the Catholic world is shifting: the local churches of the global North may (still) be richer in money, but poorer in members and young priests in their highly secularised countries. "The Church is heading south," said Cardinal Christoph Schönborn from Vienna, describing the development.

On the one hand, there are church representatives fearing a complete loss of importance. They hope to keep at least a few of their sheep in the fold with concrete reforms and socio-political adaptation.

On the other side are proud representatives of a growing church in the Global South. They, in turn, shy away from overly radical changes, especially from the West, which would limit their power - including social power. According to reports, participants from both "camps" seemed to have certain difficulties in understanding the other.

The Pope stands between them all. By virtue of his office, he must endeavour to achieve unity in his church. One indication that this is not easy for him is probably his decision not to write his own post-synodal doctrinal letter. In any case, his surprising move emphasises the new synodal "let it flow" feeling - more spirit, more side-by-side, less decision.

Strengthened laity

So has little been achieved apart from a lot of expenses? In any case, Francis has significantly strengthened the role of the laity among the assembly participants - and thus probably made it easier for one or two bishops to get off their clerical horses. At the same time, he moved the culture of dialogue away from an overly academic exchange of arguments towards genuine listening. He also made the breadth of the universal church visible - with all its construction sites and sensitivities. It became clear that no one in this church currently has no problems.

Now the much-cited doors have been opened to continue learning from one another, to allow a small seed of understanding to germinate and to practise "unity in diversity" or "harmony in diversity". It remains to be seen when the fruit of such realisations will be ripe for harvesting throughout the world church.