Panel: What is next for the church after the synod?

Catholics must embrace their diversity and build not only friendship but also trust across lines that might divide them to move forward as a synodal church, according to two participants in the Synod of Bishops on synodality, which came to a close in October.

That was the conclusion of Cardinal Cupich and Myriam Wijlens, a professor of canon law at the University of Erfurt in Germany as well as a consultor to the synod and member of the synod’s organizing committee.

Wijlens and Cardinal Cupich participated in a “What’s Next for Our Listening Church After the Synod?”, a Nov. 16 webinar hosted by Liturgical Press.

“Last year, we were multinational,” Wijlens said, describing the atmosphere in the synod hall, which brought together more than 360 bishops, priests and laypeople from around the world, as well as more than five dozen non-voting experts and facilitators. “This year, we were really international. We got to know each other, we listened to each other. There was an extremely good atmosphere in the room. It was hard work. There was a good exchange with theologians.”

The final synod document — which was immediately approved by Pope Francis — called for more participatory church governance; more transparency, especially in the areas of clerical sexual abuse and financial corruption; mandated pastoral and diocesan councils; and encouraged diocesan synods, among other measures.

Getting to that point required trust among the synod’s members, Cardinal Cupich said.

“I came home [in 2023] and people asked me about it, and I said, ‘I made a lot of new friends and no new enemies,’” he said. “There was a friendship that grew out of that first year. The second year, another thing developed that goes beyond friendship, and that was trust. … That was a great gift of the synodality, not only that we became friends, but that we began to trust one another, so when difficulties and tensions arose, they could be easily dispelled.”

Pope Francis nominated Cardinal Cupich to participate in the synod, which took place over two sessions in October of 2023 and 2024. The pope also included laypeople among the synod’s voting members for the first time.

The work now is to build the culture of trust and synodality that was developed among the synod members in local churches, Cardinal Cupich said, meaning that bishops, dioceses and pastors of parishes must listen to the voices of their flocks.

Getting there will take time, he said.

“There is no turning back,” Cardinal Cupich said. “I don’t think we can ever have a synod again like we did in the past. This sets a new pathway for us as a church. I know there are some people who take issue with that. I think the direction we have been going has become very clear. The group together made a decision that everyone can accept and move forward with, but there’s still a lot of work to do. It took us two years to get where we are, and we did it working very hard.

“It’s going to take incremental steps. We cannot expect that everything we learned in the very short time of a month is immediately going to be translated to the local level.”

Wijlens said the steps taken at the council are not a new path. They are the continuation of the shift made at the Second Vatican Council.

“It’s not Pope Francis,” she said. “It’s Vatican II. It’s another point of reception of Vatican II. Let’s listen to how the Holy Spirit is working not only in the bishops but in … everyone.”

Canon law, she noted, begins with the rights and responsibilities of the baptized when it discusses the constitution of the church.

“The people of God — it begins with baptism. Baptism is the basis,” she said. “The ministry of the bishop, the ministry of the priest is within that community. The role of the bishop is to coordinate these gifts and these vocations. The role of the Holy Spirit is much more prominently working in the community.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops agreed unanimously at its November meeting to create a task force to determine what the conference’s next steps after the synod are, Cardinal Cupich reported.

“That gives me a very hopeful sign that we’re going to be doing this,” he said. “We have to be very strategic. What are the next doable steps that will allow us to make progress on this — not to bite off more than we can chew or to raise expectations that we can’t meet?”

The U.S. bishops’ response is a hopeful sign, Wijlens said, but added that Catholics must rise to the moment.

“The U.S. bishops are going home and saying, ‘Yes, we are going for this,’” she said. “It takes two to tango in this whole synodal church. The people of God have to say ‘yes’ and jump into this.”