Religion

The Final Report of Synod-2015

The Relatio Finalis [final report] of Synod-2015, adopted this evening by the Synod Fathers, is a massive and encouraging improvement over the Instrumentum Laboris [working document] that was the baseline for the Synod’s work. The tremendous difference between the two documents illustrates just how fruitful a path the Synod walked over three sometimes-challenging weeks.

Considerable differences, considerable improvement

Laden as it was with sociology, and not-too-good sociology at that, the working document was, at more than a few points, hard to recognize as a Church document. The final report is clearly an ecclesial text, a product of the Church’s meditation on the Word of God, understood as the lens through which the Church interprets its contemporary experience.

The working document was biblically anorexic. The final report is richly biblical, even eloquently biblical, as befits a Synod meeting on the fiftieth anniversary of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council and its Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum.

At times, the working document seemed almost embarrassed by the settled doctrine of the Church on the indissolubility of marriage, on the conditions necessary for the worthy reception of Holy Communion, and on the virtues of chastity and fidelity. The final report reaffirms the Church’s doctrines on marriage, Holy Communion, and the possibility of living virtuously in the post-modern world. And it does so without cavil, even as it calls the Church to a more effective proclamation of the truths it bears as a patrimony from the Lord Jesus himself, and to more solicitous pastoral care of those in difficult marital and familial circumstances.

The working document was virtually silent on the gift of children. The final report describes children as one of the greatest of blessings, praises large families, is careful to honor special-needs kids, and lifts up the witness of happily and fruitfully married couples and their children as agents of evangelization.

The working document made something of a hash out of conscience and its role in the moral life. The final report does a much better job of explaining the Church’s understanding of conscience and its relationship to truth, rejecting the idea that conscience is a kind of free-floating faculty of the will that can function as the equivalent of a “Get Out of Jail Free” card.

The working document was full of ambiguities about pastoral practice and its relationship to doctrine. The final report, while not without some ambiguities, makes clear that pastoral care must begin from a bottom-line of commitment to the settled teaching of the Church, and that there really is no such thing as “local-option Catholicism,” either in terms of regional/national solutions to challenges or patish-by-parish solutions. The Church remains one Church.

The working document was also ambiguous in its description of “family.” The final report underscores that there can be no proper analogy drawn between the Catholic understanding of “marriage” and “family” and other social arrangements, no matter what their legal status.

Mercy and truth sometimes seemed in tension in the working document. The final report is far more theologically developed in relating mercy and truth in God, and thus inseparable in the doctrine and practice of the Church.

The working document was not much from a literary point of view, and was more than a little laborious to digest. The final report is quite eloquent at a number of points and will enrich the lives of those who read it, however much they may disagree with this or that formulation.

In sum, the final report, though not without flaws, goes a very long way—and light years beyond theInstrumentum Laboris—in doing what Pope Francis and many Synod fathers wanted this entire two-year process to do: lift up and celebrate the Catholic vision of marriage and the family as a luminous answer to the crisis of those institutions in the twenty-first century.

Subtexts and missed opportunities

Synod-2015 has also brought to light several serious problems that remain to be addressed as the Church moves beyond the twinned Synods of 2014 and 2015, with the Synod-2015 final report as a framework for further reflection (and for whatever post-synodal document Pope Francis eventually chooses to issue).

The first of these problems might be called one of theological and pastoral digestion. It was painfully clear from more than a few of the interventions in the Synod general assembly—and from some of the reports of the Synod’s language-based discussion groups—that large sectors of the world Church have not even begun to internalize the teaching of Familiaris Consortio (John Paul II’s 1981 apostolic exhortation completing the work of the 1980 Synod on the Family), much less John Paul’s Theology of the Body. Worse, some parts of the western European Church seem to regard any reference to such material as hopelessly old hat, even though it’s only thirty-some years old. The enthusiasm with which the Theology of the Body has been received in the more alert parts of the Church in North America was certainly part of the discussion at Synod-2015; but a great deal of work remains to be done to bring this uniquely Catholic perspective on embodiedness, sexuality, and human love to pastoral fruition in Latin America and Europe.

Still, it’s perhaps not surprising that it takes a while for genuinely original teaching that stretches and develops the Catholic tradition to take hold; these things always take time. But given the rapidity with which cultural change (or cultural deconstruction) is washing over the western world, it’s certainly to be hoped that local churches which have not yet availed themselves of these resources hit the accelerator.

Synod-2015 would also have been more honest had the debate brought to the surface the hard fact that the communion issue and the conscience issue often functioned as stalking horses for episcopates, largely from the German-speaking world, that want to forget Humanae Vitae and deconstruct Veritatis Splendor. Those parts of the world Church have never forgiven Paul VI for reaffirming, in Humanae Vitae, of the classic Catholic view of the appropriate means for regulating fertility. Neither have they forgiven John Paul II for rejecting the proportionalist moral theology of such major German theological figures as Bernard Häring and Joseph Fuchs and insisting, inVeritatis Splendor, that some acts are, in and of themselves, gravely evil (malum in se). One prominent Synod father from German-speaking Catholicism even went so far as to suggest, in an interview prior to Synod-2015, that there was always some good to be found in every situation, that malum in sehad no real meaning in our world. (One immediately thinks of rape, the torture of children, sex-trafficking of young girls, ISIS crucifixions and beheadings of Christians, and wonders just what was going on in this remarkable statement.)

In addition to the intellectual pride that I’ve already noted as a problem in these contestations, one can’t also help wonder about a certain blindness to history. The unraveling of the moral fabric of the West is leading, step by step, to what Benedict XVI aptly called the “dictatorship of relativism”—the use of coercive state power to impose a thoroughly relativistic moral code on all of society. Why can’t prominent German-speaking bishops see this?

Another subtext to the debates at Synod-2015 was a question as old as the controversy between Augustine and Pelagius—and probably a lot older than that: Are we sinners in need of redemption, or are we basically good people who can, by our own efforts, pull ourselves up to the nobility to which we aspire? The latter option now comes packaged as “expressive individualism”—the term used by Notre Dame law professor Carter Snead, in remarks reported earlier this week in LETTERS TO THE SYNOD, to sum up the post-modern notion of the human person as simply a bundle of desires, an embodied will. It’s bad enough, as Professor Snead said, when five justices of the U.S. Supreme Court believe this and then use it as the excuse to find “rights” in the Constitution that would have been unimaginable to those who wrote and adopted that text and its amendments. It’s far worse when one finds Catholic bishops who seem to be veering in a similar, misguided direction, acting under cultural pressures that seem to be creating a sense of pastoral desperation. Here, then, is another issue that needs serious examination in the post-Synod-2015 Church.

Finally, and despite all the good things in the final report, it’s a shame that a Synod intended to be about changing the world ended up being a battle over changing the Church—or remaining faithful to its constitutive doctrine and form. This is not, one expects, what Pope Francis wanted, but it’s what happened, and that in itself is a missed opportunity. It also suggests that the passion for a “Church permanently in mission” of which the Holy Father speaks has yet to be communicated to some very important sectors of the world Church.

A Church turned inward is not the Church of the New Evangelization. So it remains for those committed to the evangelical rebirth of Catholicism in the twenty-first century to more closely link family to mission than Synod -2015 was able to do.

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Ngwa Bertrand

26.Oct.2015

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Roman Catholic bishops have finished an often fractious synod on the family by reaching a compromise on divisive issues. Doctrine towards divorcees has been softened but there is no change in the church's stance on homosexuality. In comments afterwards, Pope Francis appeared to criticise conservative bishops. The church, he said, should confront difficult issues "fearlessly, without burying our heads in the sand". At the synod, the name given to the meeting of Roman Catholic leaders, bishops voted on 94 articles dealing with how the church treats the family.

The most contentious, dealing with whether divorced and remarried believers should be allowed to play a full role in the church, only just passed. It also reiterates church teaching that homosexuals should not be discriminated against but said there were "absolutely no grounds" for gay marriage. In his summary of the three-week gathering, Pope Francis said he wanted it to be about "listening to and making heard the voices of the families". But he said the synod had "laid bare the closed hearts which frequently hide even behind the Church's teachings or good intentions", remarks seen as an attack on conservatives.

The language of compromise is apparent throughout the final document. But what the Pope does with it - and how he takes it forward - is not yet clear. Pope Francis himself used his end of Synod speech as an opportunity to criticize "blinkered viewpoints". What is obvious is that he wants a Church that is more merciful and less judgemental of those who stray from the path of righteousness: less finger-wagging, more hand-holding. But in opening up so clearly the many very different views within this Synod, the Pope has been accused by some of sowing confusion, and quite possibly paving the way to real divisions within the Church in the future. For some, the strength of the Catholic Church is in its unity of doctrine across the globe.

But for others, the process has been a welcome chance for church leaders to show that they can accompany families with greater understanding of the difficulties of living out their faith in the complex world of the 21st century. He also acknowledged differences within the church, saying "what seems normal for a bishop on one continent is considered strange and almost scandalous for a bishop from another". The text approved at the synod is only for guidance and Pope Francis must decide whether to advance it. The opening of the synod was overshadowed by a row over a priest who announced he was in a gay relationship. He was later fired from his role at the Vatican. The Vatican denied an Italian media report during the meeting that Pope Francis had a brain tumour, calling it "seriously irresponsible".

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Ngwa Bertrand

25.Oct.2015

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After the Friday 19th October National Mourning, an inter-religious service was organized on Tuesday 20th October 2015 to commemorate the death of the 76 Cameroonian Pilgrims who died in a stampede at Mecca. The service which was organized at the Multi-purpose sports complex in Yaounde brought together representatives from the Islamic, Catholic and protestant Faith. The head of State was represented by the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization who moonlighted as president of the Hajj commission, Rene Emmanuel Sadi.

The Grand Imam of the Central Mosque at Briqueteri, Cheick Ibrahim Moussa used the opportunity to thank the Head of State President Paul Biya for designating Friday 19th October 2015 a day for National Mourning in honour of the departed. Imam Nji Ali Mefire prayed for peace and security in Cameroon and for more strength and bravery for the Cameroon armed force in the Far North Region.

For his part, Reverend Pastor Samuel Valérie Manaka Koum of the Eglise Evangelique du Cameroon called on the population to put their trust in God who alone knows why the unprecedented event occurred. The Metropolitan Archbishop of Yaounde His Eminence Jean Mbarga called on the population to be strong and be rest assured that the 76 who died in the holy land are now in the hands of God. To his Eminence, their departure was dignifying because they behaved like the heroes of faith who sacrificed themselves instead of others in order to gain paradise.

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Ngwa Bertrand

22.Oct.2015

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The Canonization of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin by Pope Francis has now send the right message to pro Cardinal Kasper comedians who wanted to destroy the family and the teachings of the Holy Roman Catholic Church and we hope the this current synod will put this issue to rest. It is common knowledge that the Holy Roman Catholic Church did not create marriage.

Marriage existed before Christ!! Correspondingly, protecting marriage as an important institution is not the job of Roman Catholics alone. It is the responsibility of every religious community all over the world. Jesus Christ demonstrated the vitality of marriage in a very symbolic way. Of the 33 years that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords spent on planet earth, 30 of those years were in a family unit of a foster father and mother-Saint Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Immediately after the Canonization of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin, the Holy Father Pope Francis gave the world this prayer: 

"God of eternal love, You give us Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of St. Therese, as an example of holiness in marriage. They remained faithful to You and Your commandments in all the duties and trials of life. They desired to raise their children to become saints. May their prayers and example help Christian family life to blossom in our world today. If it be your will, grant us the grace we now ask of You, through the intercession of Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin and let them be counted among the Saints in your Church. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Principal Events in the
Lives of Blessed Zelie and Louis Martin

1823 August 22: Louis born in Bordeaux France.
1831 December 23: Marie Azelia Guerin born near Alencon France.
1850 November: Louis set up his watchmaker/jeweller shop in Alencon.
1853 Zelie set up as maker of Point d’Alencon lace in that town.
1858 July 13: Louis and Zelie married.
1859 September 9: Death of Zelie’s mother.
1860 February 22: Birth of Marie: first child of Louis and Zelie.
1861 September7: Birth of Pauline: second child.
1863 June 3: Birth of Leonie: third child.
1864 October 13: Birth of Helene: fourth child. Signs of Zelie’s future illness appear.
1865 Death of father of Louis.
1866 September 20: Birth of Joseph Louis: fifth child and first son.
1866 December Zelie’s ageing father came to live in the Martin household.
1867 February 14: Death of baby Joseph Louis.
1867 December 19: Birth of Jean Baptiste: sixth child.
1868 August 24: Death of baby Jean Baptiste.
1868 September 3: Death of Zelie’s father.
1869 April 28: Birth of Celine: seventh child.
1870 February 22: Death of Helene at five and a half years of age.
1870 August 18: Birth of Marie Melanie Therese: eighth child.
1870 October 10: Death of baby Marie Melanie Therese.
1871 Death of Zelie’s nephew Paul Guerin. Louis and Zelie billet nine German soldiers.
1873 January 2: Birth of Marie Francoise Therese: ninth child - future Saint Therese.
1877 February 24: Death of Sr Marie Dosithee sister and confidante of Zelie.
1877 August 28: Death of Zelie Martin from breast cancer.
1894 July 29: Death of Louis Martin after several years of suffering from an illness in the Bon Saveur psychiatric hospital in Caen. He returned home to die.

2008 October 19: Beatification of Louis and Zelie Martin.

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Ngwa Bertrand

20.Oct.2015

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From September 19 – 22, 1996, St. John Paul II made his sixth pastoral visit to France, a nation that was certainly dear to the heart of this son of Poland. Besides Poland that John Paul visited nine times, France seconds the list with eight pastoral visits from John Paul II. The occasion of this 1996 visit was the commemoration of the 1500th anniversary of the Baptism of Clovis, King of France, which is historically regarded as the baptism of France.

The Franks, as the French were then known, had remained pagan in their long history of conflicts with other Germanic tribes of what is now Europe. Clovis’ marriage to Clotilda, a Burgundian princess, was destined to change that, especially when the god of this fervent Catholic princess supposedly granted Clovis victory over the Alemanni tribe. Clovis was baptized in the cathedral of Reims, on December 25, 496 AD. John Paul II felt the opportunity of the 1500th anniversary of Clovis’ baptism provided an ideal opportunity to pose the most existential question to secular France.

Standing from the window of the apostolic palace in Rome, John Paul had watched how the Eldest Daughter of the Church had almost suddenly found herself in a state of spiritual Alzheimer. France, to the Polish Pope, had forgotten the history that marked her cathedrals, basilicas, monasteries, schools, hospitals, in fact, the cultural identity that shaped her, to the extent that she could unarguably be the country in the West with the most streets names after saints and other religious figures! The land of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution had not attained all what was promised by the Philosophers and the Revolutionaries. The earthly paradise remained a distant utopia, especially as the sense of hopelessness and despair became more and more tangible in French airs. Given this context, John Paul II posed one question to the Eldest Daughter of the Church: France, what have you done with the promises of your baptism? 

As one reflects on the systematic advancement of ideologies, such the gender theory and radical individualism, amongst others, that are anti-God, and have been fashioned in the developed Western world and are aggressively being exported to Africa and other non-Western cultures, the centrality of the sacrament of Baptism as an antidote to Godless secularism becomes all the more acute. It is insufficient to throw stones at Western atheistic systems only, which now understand secularism to mean the complete exclusion of God from the moral, political and economic fabric of society. What is more crucial is a life lived in fidelity to the promises of Baptism, to the extent that I consciously live out a different kind of life to that proposed by the spirit of the Age.

Joseph Ratzinger once said that the greatest apologists the Church has are her saints and her works of art. If I am conscious that by Baptism my life is on a different path; if I am conscious that Baptism opens me into the communion of name with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and that such a communion necessarily entails a different kind of life, a life lived from God and for God, then the false attractiveness of Godless materialism, gender theory, unbridled capitalism, the worship of the failed gods of liberty, fraternity and equality, will begin collapsing like a house of cards.

Certainly, to live the life of the baptized is no mean achievement. On the part of the Christian, it demands that capacity for openness, that displacement of the self, of the ego, ceding place to the primacy of God. In other words, it is in the nature of the Christian to be passive, in that we do not baptize ourselves. We are always being baptized, since we cannot make ourselves sons and daughters of God. It is God who makes us sons and daughters. In Baptism, we let go of the self and embrace the life of the “we,” of the new ones, born, “not out of human stock or urge of the flesh or will of man but of God himself” (John 1:13). It is important to therefore see the Christian life as a gift, above all else. This calls forth a sense of appreciation and wonder.

Catholics in Africa cannot afford a distant attitude towards the Church, since the gift of Baptism is always received within the community of the Church. Today, perhaps more than ever, the Church in Africa, looking at what is happening in the Western world, should invest more energies and resources in developing and cultivating in Catholics, the mission of God for the world that comes from Baptism. We should be concern about the growth of the Church’s mission. We should foster a deeper sense of the missionary mandate of our Baptism. Our Baptism should reflect in the values that we propose and uphold in society as Catholics. Our Baptism should make us active agents to secure the freedom of the Church in proposing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a freedom that should not be restricted to worship, but to practice our faith freely in the public sphere. We should not take the freedom of the faith for granted, looking at the Western world today. And Baptism is that basis for such an active work for religious freedom and the spread of the Gospel.

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Ngwa Bertrand

19.Oct.2015

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Pope Francis will meet slum dwellers and refugees and call for dialogue between Christians and Muslims when he visits Kenya, Uganda and Central African Republic next month, the Vatican said on Saturday. The trip, his first to Africa, is fraught with security concerns and the pope will spend about two days in each country and visit only the capitals. Since his election as the first Latin American pope, Francis has met the most needy on each of his 10 foreign tours.

In Nairobi, he will visit Kangemi, a slum that is home to 650,000 people. He will also hold an inter-religious meeting and say a Mass at a university in the capital. The Kenya stop had been in doubt in the initial planning of the Nov. 25-30 trip. Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall was the scene of a four-day siege in September 2013 that left at least 67 people dead in an attack by gunmen of the Somalia-based Islamist group al Shabaab. Last April, militants attacked the Garissa University College in eastern Kenya, killing 148 people, most of them Christian. 

In Uganda, Francis is scheduled to visit a home for the disabled in Nalukolongo, a suburb of the capital Kampala. The last stop is Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, where the centerpiece of his visit to a country plagued by inter-communal violence is a meeting with Muslim leaders in the Koudoukou mosque. Violence surged in Bangui in September after the murder of a Muslim man, and 77 people were killed. Much of the violence in the capital has been driven by a militia known as anti-balaka, which is largely Christian, and a mainly Muslim group called the Seleka.

Thousands have died and hundreds of thousands have been internally displaced since the Seleka briefly seized power in the majority Christian country in 2013. They later handed power to an interim government but still control swathes of the north.

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Ngwa Bertrand

18.Oct.2015

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