Following her Lord and Master, today, the Church in the public square is called first of all, to be “the voice of the voiceless,” that is, the voice of the masses who have no voice in the contemporary Asian societies.(1) Consequently, this ecclesial voice need not be exclusively the voice of the hierarchy of the Church, which often boils down to that of the episcopate.(2) In other words, there ought to be an ‘in-house’ dialogue within and among all rungs of the local Churches in Asia, not only among the episcopal members of the FABC (on the Asian continental level) or of the local Bishops (on the local Church level). This is because as the current synodal process is endeavouring to highlight the Holy Spirit speaks through all the baptized persons. This cherished traditional Christian belief is based on the well-known theological concept of sensus fidei or the sense of the faith which all the baptized share. That is why Vatican-II could teach:
The entire body of the faithful, anointed as they are by the Holy One, cannot err in matters of belief. They manifest this special property by means of the whole peoples’ supernatural discernment in matters of faith when “from the Bishops down to the last of the lay faithful” they show universal agreement in matters of faith and morals. That discernment in matters of faith is aroused and sustained by the Spirit of truth (LG 12).
Ever since his election as the successor of St.Peter in 2013, Pope Francis has not only spoken of this concept as an essential element of ecclesial life in lived realities, but has also convincingly pointed out how it still remains a source of theology, just like the other well-known sources, such as the Bible, the Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church. Moreover, he has highlighted how it is also a guide to the whole Church because it is nothing but the voice of the Holy Spirit:
In all the baptized, from first to last, the sanctifying power of the Spirit is at work, impelling us to evangelization. The people of God is holy thanks to this anointing, which makes it infallible in credendo. This means that it does not err in faith, even though it may not find words to explain that faith. The Spirit guides it in truth and leads it to salvation. As part of his mysterious love for humanity, God furnishes the totality of the faithful with an instinct of faith – sensus fidei – which helps them to discern what is truly of God. The presence of the Spirit gives Christians a certain connaturality with divine realities, and a wisdom which enables them to grasp those realities intuitively, even when they lack the wherewithal to give them precise expression.(3)
Hence, the need for the whole Church, the People of God, to assume responsible and inclusive participation in the Church, not just the clergy or the hierarchy.(4) In fact, for Pope Francis, the concept of Synod is “a process of inverting the pyramidal Church”.(5) Thus, in his Letter to the People of God on 20th August 2018, the Pope writes:
The whole Church is called to deal with the weight of a culture imbued with clericalism that she inherits from her history, and with those forms of exercising authority on which the different types of abuse (power, economic, conscience, sexual) are grafted. It is impossible to thinks of “a conversion of our activity as a Church that does not include the active participation of all the members of God’s People”.(6)
According to Francis, there exists an indispensable “bond between the sensus fidei of the People of God and the magisterial function of the Pastors that the unanimous consensus of the whole Church in the same faith is realized”.(7) Hence the importance of listening to every person among the People of God, by every other person, irrespective of their ecclesial rankings:
A synodal Church is a Church which listens, which realizes that listening “is more than simply hearing”. It is a mutual listening in which everyone has something to learn. The faithful people, the college of bishops, the Bishop of Rome: all listening to each other, and all listening to the Holy Spirit, the “Spirit of truth” (Jn 14:17), in order to know what he “says to the Churches” (Rev 2:7).(8)
Thus, the role of the Church, especially that of the local Churches, in the public square which should be aimed first and foremost towards achieving the public good, even in a theological sense, ought to be participatory, in the sense that both the hierarchy/clergy and the laity ought to be involved in the decision-making process that would eventually lead to the decision-taking as indicated by the official documents of the current synodal process themselves.(9) In other words, while the bishops as legitimate and competent leaders of the local Churches have a leading role to play in the public square, in doing so, they need to be in constant, honest and serious dialogue with their respective flocks in order to listen to and discern the voice of the Spirit who is present in the whole ecclesial community. That is to say that in reading and interpreting the signs of the times in a given society, the ecclesial leaders are morally and theologically bound to be in touch with their respective flocks. It is only then that the Episcopal statements as well as their actions – both of individual Bishops and of Episcopal Conferences – would not only be credible and relevant, but also listened to and taken seriously.(10) Although such an all-inclusive, participatory dialogue (as indicated by Vatican-II earlier, and now by the current synodal process) has been advocated and promoted by the FABC, unfortunately, in reality, very often, it is still limited to paper, because there is not only an absence of the necessary ecclesial structural mechanism that obliges the parties concerned for such a participatory dialogue (and hence, for harnessing sensus fidei of a given community of believers) but there also seems to be an alarming lack of willingness on the part of many bishops (not only in Asia) to listen to the voices of the flocks entrusted to them. In reality, there still prevails an episcopal culture which seems to presume that once ordained a bishop, the person thus ordained ipso facto receives a direct line (of communication) to the Holy Spirit!
In contemporary Asia, there are many social, political and moral issues that affect not only the members of the Church, but all citizens in the public square. To begin with, the Asian public square in general is multi-religious and multi-cultural – plurality or diversity is its hallmark. As Wilfred points out so convincingly:
In Asia, the public sphere is characterized by the vibrant presence of different religious traditions, each one with its world-views, root-paradigms, symbols, rituals etc. It is to state the obvious that peace and harmony in all regions of Asia – West, South and South East Asia – depends on the way the relationships are forged among these religious traditions in the public. Being a minority in the Asian societies, Christians could feel threatened and become apologetic and withdraw themselves into a shell. That would be self-isolation.(11)
That is to say, in Asia, being Church means being in dialogical solidarity with other living realities, especially with the other religious traditions. Thus, raising those issues of common concern, such as those to do with ecological justice, migration (new forms of ‘slavery’), exploitation of persons, human trafficking, religious freedom, unjust economic structures, corruption, bribery, structural injustice, human rights, democracy, just wage, violence and terrorism, abuse of authority, lack of transparency in both religious and political leadership, …etc., to name a few, becomes a moral and religious obligation of every member of a given Asian society. As prophetic witnesses to their Lord and Master, the ecclesial leadership of the local Churches ought to take the lead in Asia to encourage their respective flocks to be active in the public square to achieve the public good with regard to those issues of common concern in solidarity with their brothers and sisters of other faiths, cultures and economic groups. What the ‘new way’ of being Church (the synodal way) exhorts Christians to be has already been taught by the FABC in many of her official statements. For example, the Fifth Plenary Assembly of the FABC in 1990 at Bandung, Indonesia taught:
Our minority status does not deter us from patiently working out in collaboration with Christians of other Churches and peoples of other religions and persuasions the steps needed to liberate our people from the bondage of sin and its societal manifestations, and to inscribe the values of the Kingdom in Asian society.(12)
Similarly, the seventh FABC Plenary Assembly in Samphran, Thailand in 2000 in speaking about the issue of migration could state: “The Church should join hands with all who are concerned with the rights of the migrants and their situation, keeping in mind that the migrants themselves are to be the primary agents of change”.(13) The need to be in solidarity with the living Asian realities outside the Church, thus, is indispensable, even according to the FABC teachings. In the Asian public square, it is not simply a matter of promoting unity in diversity, but also trying to live diversity in unity.
However, such Church involvement in the public square (if it is to be an authentic ecclesial action with a Christian identity) should be strictly following the synodal way as its model, i.e., it should be all-inclusive and participatory not only in choosing the issues of common concern but also in the decision-making with regard to the course of action to be taken to confront such issues:
The response to the burning questions and issues of society requires a process of discernment and involvement. Often the pusillanimity and tardiness of evasive leadership in responding to the problems could be challenged by the people of God, and wisdom could come out of the mouths of babes. Hence the importance of allowing the many voices of the people of God in the work of mission vis-à-vis the larger society. In today’s circumstances standing for justice and human rights, for peace and integrity of creation calls for concerted action on the part of the Church community.(14)
Moreover, in Asia, as mentioned above, such involvement should be in solidarity with all men and women of goodwill, irrespective of their religious beliefs, cultural leanings or economic standing. It is only then, that one could say that the ‘new way’ of being Church in Asia (i.e., the synodal way) has a vital and realistic role to play in achieving public good of our Asian societies.
Conclusion
In this paper, we tried to show how the current synodal process would be an authentic and real ‘new way’ of being Church in Asia, especially, in allowing the local Churches to be themselves together as a whole (i.e., as the community of all the baptized) in promoting and achieving the public good in their respective public squares. According to the ancient synodal understanding, “whatever concerns all, should be deliberated and approved by all”. Therefore, a synodal way (the ‘new way’ of being Church) in the public square is by definition an all-inclusive and participatory way of being Church which calls for dialogical solidarity with the other living Asian realities, as well. Thus, dialogical ways of life that promote participation and inclusion, both ad intra and ad extra, are surely more relevant, effective and realistic in achieving public good in Asia as the ‘new way’ of being Church (the synodal way) recommends.
Reference:
- Cf., Felix Wilfred, “Asian Public Theology” in Vimal Tirimanna (Ed.), Reaping a Harvest from the Asian Soil: Towards an Asian Theology, Bangalore: Asian Trading Corporation, 2011, 143-144.
- Both in choosing the issues of common good for which the Church ought to be in the public square, and also, in choosing the type of action to promote that good, all the members of the Church must be actively involved.
- Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium (2013), No:119.
- Cf., Rafael Luciani, “From the Synod on Synodality to the Synodalization of the whole Church: Towards a new ecclesial reconfiguration in the light of Synodality”, Iglesia Viva, 287 (julio-septiembre 2021), 111-118.
- Felix Wilfred, “Synodality in Action with Butterfly Effect”, Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection, 85 (2021), 728.
- Pope Francis, Letter to the People of God, Introduction, 20th August 2018, available at https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/letters/2018/documents/papa-francesco_20180820_lettera-popolo-didio.html (accessed on 20th May 2023).
- Cf., The Preparatory Document (for the current synodal Process), Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2021, No:14, pp.16-17. Also available at https://www.synod.va/en/news/the-preparatory-document.html (accessed on 21st May 2023). Henceforth, this document will be referred to as PDS.
- “Address of His Holiness Pope Francis” at the Ceremony Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the institution of the Synod of Bishops, 17th October 2015, available at https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2015/october/documents/papa-francesco_20151017_50-anniversario-sinodo.html (accessed on 20th May 2023).
- Cf., The Preparatory Document for the Synodal Process, issued by the Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops, No:30, IX, available at https://www.synod.va/en/news/the-preparatory-document.html (accessed on 28th May 2023).
- Cf., Wilfred, “Asian Public Theology”, 142-144.
- Wilfred, “Asian Public Theology”, 142.
- Final Statement of the Fifth Plenary Assembly of the FABC, No:4.6, as re-produced in Vimal Tirimanna, Fifty Years of Asian Pastoral Guidance: Collection of the Statements of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), 1970-2020, Bangkok: FABC Central Secretariat, 2020, 102.
- Cf., Final Statement of the Seventh Plenary Assembly of the FABC, Part III, A5, in Tirimanna, Fifty Years of Asian Pastoral Guidance,142.