Is the Catholic Church on the verge of major reforms?
ย ย ย ย The winds of change are blowing.
ย ย ย ย Could the Catholic Church be on the verge of the most significant reforms it has enjoyed since Vatican II?
ย ย ย ย It wouldn't happen overnight, of course, but it's a real possibility, depending on what comes out of Pope Francis' "Synod 2021-2023." In a nutshell, the synod is a 2-year process in which bishops around the world are consulting with Catholics of every stripe: lay people, priests, nuns, etc. At the end of this period, the bishops will gather to discuss ways in which the governance of the Church can become more "synodal" โ that is, more open to the ideas of various groups that make up the Church. This means, among other things, that the people in general, the laity, will have more of a voice.
ย ย ย ย "[This is] a ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ...involving the entire People of God: ...bishops, priests, religious and laity have to listen to one another," Pope Francis has written. " It is not ... a survey, but a matter of listening to the Holy Spirit... ." ย ย ย
ย ย ย ย Signaling his openness to change for the better, Pope Francis also writes that it's dangerous "to apply old solutions to new problems." He points out that ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐บ ๐ช๐ด "๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ." He warns against an attitude that says, " 'We have always done it this way,' and it is better not to change."
ย ย ย ย One voice that is being heard loud and clear is that of John Wijngaards, a reform-minded Catholic priest and theologian who founded and leads the Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research. He's written a book titled "๐๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฉ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ: ๐๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ช๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ค ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด๐ต." (Available from the publisher, www.acadianhouse.com/spirituality-enlightenment.) These "10 Commandments" form an ideal framework for any synodal discussions on the real issues facing the Church today.
ย ย ย ย A quick read of Wijngaards' proposal has been published in The Synodal Times. It can be seen at (https://wijngaardsinstitute.org/Synodal-Times-Jan2023-short2.pdf) Recommendations include: allowing priests to marry, welcoming women into the priesthood and diaconate, and avoiding the appointment of narrow-minded bureaucrats intent on blocking Church reform.ย
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