As October’s Extraordinary Synod on the family is underway, expectations and buzz are high. No matter which ideological camp you happen to find yourself in, you are looking to the synod with fear and trepidation, or perhaps excitement. We writers and wannabe thinkers have been pitching around a lot of ideas for how the Church should reform its approach to the family. Everyone asks what they should think about the Synod. My advice has always been the same: Ignore it. Now I know that is a contrarian answer, yet we also need to understand that from a doctrinal standpoint, nothing is changing. As a result, one could be blissfully ignorant of all that is going on, and still be okay. However, if you absolutely must pay attention to the synod, keep these things in mind.
1.) The Pre-Meeting Meeting to discuss what will be discussed at the meeting
There is a mistaken belief that at this Synod, changes one way or another are going to happen. This isn’t really the case. The job of this gathering in October is to set the events for the Synod in next October. The job of the synod next October is to debate a bunch of ideas, and ultimately send the recommendations to the Pope, who could in theory, reject every single suggestion.
2.) Extraordinary Synods aren’t really that extraordinary
Since the idea of the synod was established after Vatican II, this will be the third Extraordinary Synod. The first one was setup to establish the nature of Episcopal conferences and how they interact with the Roman Pontiff. This synod was such a success that 35 years later the Church is preparing a new constitution of the Church since the nature of Episcopal conferences and how they interact with the Roman Pontiff wasn’t clear enough.
The second Extraordinary Synod was called to commemorate twenty years since Vatican II closed its doors. They resolved to work according to the Spirit of the Council and put forth vague guidelines on issuing a new catechism. In 2014, we have the new Catechism (even if people in the pews aren’t learning enough from this document!), but we are still trying to figure out how to implement Vatican II on important matters such as ecclesiology, ecumenism, religious liberty and the liturgical reform. Being blunt, twenty years after the Synod which resolved to seriously implement Vatican II we are trying to figure out what it means to seriously implement Vatican II.
3.) The playing field is really, really small
In theory, there should be no limits on the discussion which will take place at the Extraordinary Synod. Communion for Catholics who have divorced and had a civil ceremony with another person no doubt will be discussed. Yet the realistic window for change is really, really small. As the Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith has repeatedly stated, this rule surrounding communion is not an ecclesiastical discipline, such as whether or not we can receive communion in the hand. Instead, it’s intimately connected with a doctrine revealed by Jesus Christ: the indissolubility of a sacramental marriage. You can talk and debate that issue all you want, just as you could talk and debate women’s ordination all you wanted to. That didn’t change the reality of the matter: you can’t change doctrine. Even if the Pope wanted to change doctrine (in theory), he is unable to do so. Not only do the Church’s laws make that clear, but the Holy Spirit makes that clear. We are not Protestants, and indefectibility means something.
4.) Reform happens organically
This isn’t meant as a slam on a bureaucratic incompetent navel-gazing Church. While the issues are not related to changing doctrine, they are related to how doctrine is communicated to the world. That’s still pretty important. It is even more important when we realize that right now, the Church and the world speak entirely different languages. The Church teaches that a marriage is an indissoluble sacramental union for the joint purpose of sanctifying spouses and rearing of families. The world treats marriage as a legal contract surrounding “personal fulfillment” and long term sexual arrangements that can be violated at will, with or without reason, provided you have a good enough divorce lawyer. Even worse is that many (in some areas the majority) of individual Catholics fall into “the world.” The church teaches this union is limited to a man and a woman, the world believes the parties involved in such a definition are fluid, and if you wait ten years, they will show you just how fluid such definitions are.
Now that we’ve established there are things this Synod will have to discuss of importance, we have to remember how change comes about in these instances. It is incorrect to say that change happens “slowly.” Sometimes we need change to happen quicker. What is correct is the idea that change happens organically. Any change, major or minor, flows from what came before it. The mustard seed grows into a tree, but it doesn’t grow into a car. The way you get people to accept the Church’s teaching on marriage is not to change the Church’s teaching on marriage.
5.) Reform happens within complex realities
Even if such changes were to occur, it is quite doubtful they would accomplish much. The reality in today’s Church and society is that things have become nicely sorted. What I mean by this is that the Church could change her teaching on marriage tomorrow to conform to what those who dissent from Church teaching have demanded, and it likely won’t make a difference. Why? Those who favor changing the teaching on marriage also favor changing the teaching on homosexuality, contraception, etc. The line has to be drawn somewhere, so you might as well err on the side of revealed truth.
6.) Reform happens on a global scale
Sometimes we have to remember we live in a global church. Yes, a prominent cardinal has called for changing the teaching on the indissolubility of marriage. Yet as Cardinal Pell has pointed out, those who advocate this change represent a small block in Europe and a few voices elsewhere. When you step outside of those circles in a global church, opinions on this issue range from indifference to hostile opposition. One can expect those voices to also be represented at the Synod.
In short, if you really feel the need to worry, worry realistically. From a purely rational and human understanding, the Synod could introduce sweeping reforms and change doctrine. Yet even if such is possible on a human level, it still isn’t very likely for all of the reasons I’ve laid out above. Discussing the possibility and probability of this stuff can be pretty interesting. It is even occasionally insightful in showing us how to look at the Church and the world around us. For those occasional insights, we have to deal with an awful lot of noise and nonsense.
So if you want my advice on what to do during the Extraordinary Synod, it will be to not visit the live-blogging or rumor mills. These can offer you something good, but probably won’t. Instead, focus on your marriage, or prepare yourself for marriage. Even better, we need some vocations to help form those people preparing. Focus on that instead. Maybe next year we can have this discussion again, but it is just as likely this discussion won’t even be necessary.
image: Paolo Bona / Shutterstock.com
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