We are familiar with adversarial debate in our government systems. The government is expected to present policies and pursue its agenda with vigorous determination. The role of the opposition is to expose with equal vigor the flaws in the government’s positions and present alternatives. One enters negotiations to promote and defend positions, often having red lines beyond which one is unwilling to go. The whole process is driven by robust debate which usually produces winners and losers.
The synodal process is very different. We embark on a journey, seeking together the way forward for the Church. We speak and listen with the conviction that each one has something to contribute to the search and something to learn from others. We share openly and honestly, not ideas or theories, but our lived experience of Church life and mission – the joys and sorrows, the hopes and fears, the successes and failures. We do this in the context of a global pandemic crisis which has exposed and amplified fault lines running through humanity and is challenging all to seek new ways of living together. Reflecting together on our experiences, we hope to discover processes which help the Church live in communion, achieve participation, and open itself to mission.
Attentive listening is more important than speaking. Pope Francis speaks of the “dynamism of mutual listening” which drives the synodal process. We listen to one another in the Church, including those on the margins and those who have drifted away from the Church. We listen to voices outside the Church, paying special attention to the cry of the poor and excluded ones in our world and the cry of the exploited earth. Ultimately, all our listening leads to discernment, a sifting through what we are hearing to detect the voice of the Spirit indicating the way forward. This calls for periods of silent reflection and prayer. With the help of the Spirit, we hope for consensus or a harmony in which diversity is not divisive but enriching as we respond to our common baptismal call to be missionary disciples of Jesus.