Pope Francis’ Address in Plenary

The Synod on Synodality Begins on a Somber Note

According to the Vatican, the Synod on Synodality, which opened with Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 2, is intended as a process of “listening and discerning a way forward.” Participants include 54 women and lay faithful among the 350 Catholic representatives, who will discuss and reach conclusions based on the results of three years of consultation and debate at every level of the church.

The Pope set the tone with a homily in which he said that the Synod could not “invoke God’s name without asking for forgiveness from our brothers and sisters, from the Earth and all creatures… How could we be (a) synodal church without reconciliation?”

“We ask forgiveness, feeling shame, from those who have been wounded by our sins,” he said, asking God to “give us the courage of sincere repentance for genuine conversion.”

In this vein, the liturgy included the testimony of Laurence Gien, who, when 11, was raped by a priest in South Africa. “The faces of the abused are too often blurred, hidden behind a veil of secrecy that the church, historically, has been complicit in maintaining,” said Gein. “This anonymity serves to protect the perpetrators rather than the victims, making it harder for survivors to find justice and for communities to heal.”

Retired Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley of Boston, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, read the request for pardon of abuse.

“How much shame and pain I feel when considering especially the sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable people, abuses that have stolen innocence and profaned the sacredness of those who are weak and helpless,” the cardinal said, reading the prayer written by the Pope. “I ask forgiveness, feeling shame, for all the times we have used the condition of ordained ministry and consecrated life to commit this terrible sin, feeling safe and protected while we were profiting diabolically from the little ones and the poor,” he continued. “Forgive us, Lord.”

The Pope views the Synod as but one step in a continuing process of increasing participation in the church. “Never can a bishop, or any other Christian, think of himself ‘without others.’ Just as no one is saved alone, the proclamation of salvation needs everyone and requires that everyone be heard,” he said.

The Synod on Synodality will run through Oct 27th.

Image credits: Pope Francis’ Address in Plenary by Martin Schulz. Published without changes. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 via flickr.com.