Card. Joseph Tobin C.Ss.R. and Prof. Vimal Tirimanna C.Ss.R., participants in the last Synod of Bishops, share their experiences during the “Round Table” conducted by Prof. Mario Boies, C.Ss.R.
The Round Table “Towards a Missionary Synodal Church” took place on Monday, October 28, in the Aula Magna of the Alphonsian Academy. Moderated by Prof. Mario Boies, C.Ss.R., two Redemptorist missionaries who participated in the last session of the “Synod on Synodality” spoke: His Eminence, Most Reverend Cardinal Joseph William Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark (United States of America) and Rev. Fr. Vimal Tirimanna, C.Ss.R., Visiting Professor of the Alphonsian Academy.
“Our Round Table will take place in a dialogic manner,” declared Prof. Boies programmatically, “in the sense that we will address three specific topics in relation to the second session of the Synod: the sharing of the synodal experience, the development of a synodal culture, the ethical-pastoral implications of the missionary synodal Church.”
[The video streaming of the entire meeting is visible on the YouTube channel of the Alfonsiana Academy]
Sharing the Synodal Experience
The moderator invited both speakers to share their experiences of the Synod starting from three attitudes indicated by Pope Francis: listening, welcoming and humility.
“It was a qualitatively different experience compared to the previous ones,” underlined Cardinal Tobin, who has participated in several Synods since 1998. In terms of representativeness (given the participation with voting rights of non-bishop faithful and ecumenical delegates), of dialogue (from the steps of the New Synod Hall to the round tables of the Paul VI Hall) and of willingness to let oneself be “led by the breeze of the Spirit” (Pope Francis).
“It was an exercise in focusing,” explained Prof. Tirimanna, “a common effort to highlight the specifics of synodality, reserving controversial issues for the Ten Synodal Study Groups created ad hoc. This certainly made the synodal climate more harmonious.”
Developing the “synodal culture”
The two ways to promote the development of the “synodal culture”, according to Prof. Tirimanna, are the “consensus method” and “discernment done seriously”: “There is a difference between making a compromise and reaching a consensus: the two of us have different opinions on a topic, but I listen to you and you listen to me, and in the end we can see that there is a trace of truth, of reason, in what you say and vice versa. Starting from this we can reach a certain consensus. In short, discernment done seriously is needed.”
Instead, for Cardinal Tobin, the Church, as Lumen Gentium, is called to promote a “culture of encounter” in accordance with the three essential activities of Christ – meeting, healing, calling to new life – respecting their order: “Perhaps in the past we have reversed the order, demanding a change of life before meeting and before healing.”
Ethical-pastoral implications of the missionary synodal Church
The moderator finally invited the two speakers to indicate which pastoral, and ethical attitudes need to be developed to promote a missionary synodal Church.
In this regard, Cardinal Tobin suggested the pastoral attitude of listening: “It is necessary to enhance the diagnostic element of listening to create a moral theology that starts from the lived reality of the person and that can truly help the people of God.” He quotes St. Alphonsus regarding the preparation of a popular mission: “A missionary who arrives with all the sermons already prepared is like a doctor who arrives at the suffering person with all the prescriptions already prepared.”
For his part, Prof. Tirimanna, indicated the attitude of boldness, repeating Pope Francis’ invitation not to be afraid of “getting your hands dirty,” even in moral theological reflection, without considering any “forbidden” topic, but striving to respond to the evangelical challenge of inclusiveness, to listen, accompany and include “todos, todos, todos.“
Dialogue with participants
Once the three topics prepared by the moderator were “exhausted,” the dialogue with the participating public began. Various points of reflection came from the Hall: the need for a hermeneutics of listening, the challenge of digital evangelization, the urgency of moral renewal, synodality as a social prophecy.
The Round Table ended with a provocation launched by a student: “Is the Synod on Synodality a Council incognito?” Professor Tirimanna’s response was prompt: “The Synod is certainly an experience of conciliar awakening, of ‘resurrection’ of the ‘dormant’ parts of the Council.”
Now it is up to all of us to “keep Vatican II awake.”
Don Luigi Doniglio
