Pierre Ducharme, OFM
I invite those who have taken part in the International Meeting “Parish Priests for the Synod” to be missionaries of Synodality, among yourselves and, once you return home, with your fellow parish priests.
Pope Francis, Letter to Parish Priests, May 2, 2024
Behind every blessing is an invitation, or as the popular proverb goes, “there is no such thing as a free meal”. The mandate to be a “missionary of synodality” and, in particular, to organize synodal encounters for priests living in Canada, was not the souvenir I had sought to bring back from Italy. But an invitation from the Pope, to be who I am, is an invitation hard to refuse.
All Missionary Disciples
From April 28 to May 2, I was blessed to take part in the Parish Priests for the Synod meeting held at Fraterna Domus in Sacrofano, on the outskirts of Rome. It gathered parish priests, mostly diocesan, many of whom play important roles in their diocese, from around the world. There were just under 200 of us, all sent as delegates from episcopal conferences. Father Daniel Ouellet, from the Diocese of Ste. Anne de la Pocatière, and Fabio Desouza, from the Diocese of Calgary, and myself, from Vancouver, formed the Canadian delegation. Father Gilles Routhier, from Quebec City, was there as a theological expert, while Father Raymond Lafontaine, from Montreal, took part as a table facilitator. The five of us took away the same understanding of our mandate – to organize something for priests in Canada.
What happens next is yet to be determined, but the momentum to share what we have received is sightly. Having walked the synodal path, where unity exists only through grace, we all know, from this experience, that synodality merits a chance. Synodal is who we are, as Church, and as disciples of the Good Synodal Shepherd.
What happened?
What happened is priests gathered and discerned. The process is called “Conversations in the Spirit”. It involves some advanced preparation, presence to a diverse group of people, prayer, listening, speaking, and consensus building. The questions were focused on the mission of the Church, and living synodality. What does synodality mean? Well, it means finding ways to be humble, inclusive, and animated by the Spirit in decision-making. That said, the real learning for me was that synodality is not about deciding but about discerning. If discernment is honest, respectful, and given the time and space it needs, the Holy Spirit will, in the end, make all decisions.
Surprises
What surprised you? This was a question posed to me over lunch, on day two, by Sister Natalie Becquart, Under Secretary for the Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops and one of the organizers. Now that the event is over, I could answer “many things”. The first is realizing that all of my synodal heroes, Soeur Natalie included, are just as human as me. They are learning how to animate a synodal path for the church. Nobody claims, in fact, to have it all figured out. And such is the lesson, and grace, of synodality.
One example of the learning that took place involved table arrangements. At the start of the meeting, tables of twelve, for groups of mixed culture and voice-projection tendency, were arranged into long rectangular shapes. By noon on the first day, all were rearranged into squares. We wanted to hear each other!
In my group, I was the lone “American”. That is, the only one from North or South America. The Continent most represented was Africa, with Europe and the Middle-East also represented. As sharing began, there was a natural tendency to frame ideas in a gentle, easy to accept, manner. By day three, as one of my group members noted, we became honest. Trust was forged, and constructive sharing occurred.
Listening First
The world I know and live in is one where so many of us presume to deserve answers, and we want them now. Knowledge is power. For want of power, we interrogate. But for Christians, questions serve another purpose. Only by forfeiting my right to know, dare I pose the right question – that to help me understand.
Beyond the call to share this experience, the link between Synodality and humility is my great take away from this event. I, like anyone else, have ideas and plans, hopes and dreams. What matters more than I what I want is that I am in – that I belong and am graced to discern.
If believers, we are all missionaries of synodality. Sent to share the Good News of belonging to God’s family, on the road and in the conversation is where we most want to be. Synodality starts with understanding this much about ourselves. And once seeing it, the invitation becomes hard to refuse.
Pierre Ducharme, OFM, is the Vicar Provincial and Animator of Evangelization for the Holy Spirit Province of Canada, and Pastor of St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Richmond, British Columbia
