Change Seems Imperceptible, But Holy Spirit Working at Synod, Writes Dominican Scholar

ROME—While LGBTQ+ issues are discussed at a murmur at this year’s Synod assembly, one of its leaders has again taken to the Vatican’s newspaper to promote greater understanding about the contentious topic.

Cardinal-designate Timothy Radcliffe, OP, one of the Synod’s two spiritual assistants, wrote in L’Osservatore Romano about his perceptions of what is happening this month (provided here via Google Translate). He recognizes the disappointment many have felt so far. After last year’s assembly concluded, Radcliffe writes that the synthesis report “seemed to backtrack on the preparatory document on openness to LGBT people” because “the word is not even mentioned” and “Many saw this as a failure.”

Radcliffe sets his reflection in the context of the Scripture verse “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” from the Gospel of John.  He proposes that, even though change by the Holy Spirit may be “barely perceptible,” this is “God’s way of working.” He observes that even after the Resurrection “The world seemed to be going on as usual. The Empire seemed unchanged. But the Kingdom had arrived.”

The Dominican scholar then offers three ways he believes the Holy Spirit works during this Synod.

The Synod’s first step is “learning to share in divine friendship,” noting Jesus’ own ministry began by befriending those society had cast out. Radcliffe draws from the film Barbie to explain part of what this means for the church:

“Barbieland, the world of Barbie, embraces the American dream, which is that you can be anything you choose to be. Absurd. I could never be a mathematician or run a four-minute mile. For Christians, identity is not chosen or constructed. It is discovered or even abandoned when we say, “Jesus is Lord.”

“In Barbieland, death is not even to be mentioned. But Christians embrace Good Friday, when the solitary seed falls into the ground and dies so that it can multiply. This began to happen at the Synod when the barriers began to fall and we were invited to step beyond the narrow identities of left and right, north and south and even, I hope, young and old to become one in the Lord, as the Son and the Father are one. It is a sign of hope in a world increasingly divided by war and violence.”

Second, in the Synod, the Holy Spirit is de-centering the Western world and inviting Westerners to “leave our comfort zones.” Many participants from the Global North arrived last year with “our burning issues,” drawn from a post-Cold War thinking which believed every country would evolve into Western liberal democracy. Radcliffe providesan example of this thought pattern: “If some countries, especially in the South of the world, did not agree with us, for example, on welcoming gay people, sooner or later they would have to adapt.”

But Radcliffe notes that this thinking is “wrong” and today’s world is “multipolar.” Living as a globalized Catholic Church is relatively new and, for the Dominican, unclear what it will ultimately mean. But, he insists:

“It is necessary to open ourselves to other cultures, other sisters and brothers of the Kingdom. Brothers all! But Pope Francis also asks us to open the Church to everyone, whoever they may be now. Todos, todos, todos (All, all, all): the divorced and remarried, gays, transgender [people]. But in some parts of the world, welcoming gays is seen as scandalous. Many Catholic bishops in Africa see it as an attempt to impose a decadent Western ideology on the rest of the world. . .

“How can we reconcile the two imperatives of Francis’ papacy: to be outward-looking to bring the Gospel to the ends of the world, to all cultures, and to be open to all human beings, whatever their condition and whoever they are? The dilemma exploded with Fiducia supplicans, the declaration of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith that grants priests permission, especially in very specific situations, to bless couples in ‘irregular’ relationships, including same-sex couples.”

Cardinal-designate Timothy Radcliffe, O.P.

Radcliffe narrates the controversy over Fiducia Supplicans that played out when Africa’s episcopal network rejected it, about which he comments, “Never before had all the bishops of a continent repudiated a Vatican document. Every attempt was made to calm the crisis.” But Kinshasa’s Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, who issued that repudiation, since cited the move as synodality in practice—that the repudiation was really just inculturation of the Gospel in different contexts. Radcliffe challenges this assessment:

“But this raises more complex questions than this. True, the Gospel is always inculturated in different cultures, but it also challenges every culture. Jesus was Jewish, yet he challenged the religion of his ancestors. Is the refusal to bless gays in Africa an example of inculturation or a refusal to be a nonconformist? Inculturation for one person is another person’s rejection of the nonconformist Gospel. Another concern raised by Fiducia supplicans is that there appears to have been no consultation—even with bishops or other Vatican offices—before its release; not exactly, perhaps, a good example of synodality. African bishops are under intense pressure from Evangelicals, with American money; from Russian Orthodox, with Russian money; and from Muslims, with money from the rich Gulf countries. There should have been a discussion with them before, not after, the statement was released. Whatever we think about the statement, when we face tensions, and to overcome them, we all need to think and engage with each other on a deep level.”

Third, the Holy Spirit, through the Synod is “leading us into the fullness of truth.” But, in this process, there is a form of dying and Radcliffe recommends Good Friday as “a good day to think about the Synod.” The church’s history is a process of “painful moments when we die to a certain understanding of our faith and Christian life, so that we can move more deeply into the mystery of God.” The Synod on Synodality, likewise, continues “the seismic movement that began with the Second Vatican Council.” Radcliffe concludes then:

“This alarms many people. Some of my friends say they became Catholic because they wanted certainty, clarity. The certainty remains: God became man, died and rose again, and gave himself to us in the Eucharist. All the doctrines expressed in the Creed remain unshakeable. But our search to understand more deeply what those doctrines mean sometimes leads us to perplexity. In the thirteenth century, Aquinas commented that “Blessed are those who mourn” was the beatitude especially of those who seek knowledge and understanding: “We are united to God as to the unknown,” he said. We must die to our old ways of thinking to go deeper into the mystery. And that can be hard. . .

“The seed must fall into the ground and die if it is to bear fruit. In a world that sees identity as chosen or constructed, divine friendship invites us to let go of our self-image and discover who we are in the mystery of Christ. And there is also a dying to our Western-centric identity, as we seek to understand what it means to live as citizens of the Kingdom. And finally, the Spirit invites us to die to our old ways of thinking so that we can enter more deeply into the mystery of God. This will be the task in the months ahead.”

Ahead of the Synod assembly this month, L’Osservatore Romano published another essay from Radcliffe that directly addressed LGBTQ+ inclusion, drawing from his own experience with HIV/AIDS ministry and pastoral support for LGBTQ+ Catholics in England. To read about that essay, click here.

To learn more about Cardinal-designate Radcliffe’s highly-positive record on LGBTQ+ issues, dating back to the 1990s and including his affirmations during the synodal process, click here.

—Robert Shine (he/him), New Ways Ministry, October 17, 2024