austraLasia #1278

Inside the Vatican: Inside the Synod!

VATICAN CITY: 9th October 2005 - The following comment is verbatim from the Salesian expert at the Synod, Fr Frank Moloney. He refers to the experts as so-called and surrounds them with quotation marks, but this reporter believes the term is justified at least in this instance!  After the first week, then.....
    "...The rhythm of work is quite remarkable.  We start at 9 every morning, and continue till 12.30pm.  The so-called “experts” assemble at 3.30pm, and then the plenary starts again at 4.30pm.  We work till 7pm.  The three and a half hours in the afternoon can be quite draining.  Fortunately, at the express request of Benedict XVI, during the final hour of each day (from 6pm-7pm) the members of the Synod have an open debate.  Amazingly, this debate can be very lively, with a certain amount of cut and thrust from different sides of the ideological divides that one necessarily finds in Holy Mother Church!
    "Impressions after the first week are many.  As these are personal reflections, and I am not in a position to share information on what is actually said (although I find this strange, as the Italian version of the daily Osservatore Romano reports most of the interventions almost verbatim!), I will share just one reflection.  What I am about to write has been with me for the major part of this week.  The Rector here at the Salesian Community of the Vatican Polyglott Press asked me to give the “good night” this evening, and I also shared this with the wonderful community here.
    "In the Synod Hall, people are seated in order of hierarchical significance: the Cardinals fill the front rows, then the Archbishops and Bishops … and at the very back, the experts and the observers.  Listening to the various interventions from the Archbishops and Bishops is a moving experience.  These are the men who are facing the reality of the day-to-day life of the Church.  Some of their speeches are very touching: witnesses to martyrdom, the desperate need for the Eucharist in so many communities, and the heartfelt request for greater freedom for the Episcopal Conferences: more inculturation, a closer look at the question of a celibate clergy, the issue of intercommunion, the pastoral problems of divorced and remarried, etc.  One of the most touching reflections was from a minority Church in an Islamic country where a Christian woman who marries a Muslim is excluded from her Christian community and excluded from the Muslim family as well.  This is powerful stuff!  I must also say (as I think [has been] heard in the Australian press) that the Bishops of PNG and the South Pacific have been very courageous.  As yet the Australian Bishops have not made a major impact, although Archbishop Adrian Doyle (Hobart) spoke well of the virtues of dedicated Priests.
    "The response from the Cardinals and the Curia to this cry for help is unfailingly negative.  They will not and do not want to hear what is being said.  What I find touching, however, is the presence of Benedict XVI in the midst of all this.  He has only missed one session: he had a dental appointment!  Benedict XVI is a very intelligent and sensitive man.  I cannot help but wonder how he feels as he senses the call for help from the Church at large, and the rejection of that call from the Church’s Curial leadership.  He has made one long intervention himself on the Eucharist as “prophetic memory.”  It was unforgettable.  Only time will tell..
    "Keep us all in your prayers as later this week we will move on from the general discussions into the stage of the “Propositions” that will be voted, and then sent on to the Holy Father to guide him in his post-Synodal exhortation.  But especially, keep Benedict XVI in your prayers.  He is in an unenviable situation, and needs all the support we can give him – in whatever way we may be able to do that! "
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