Synod of the Diocese of Victoria: milestone or millstone?

With many friends who are members of diocesan parishes, day after day I hear lamentations about the shaky state of the Diocese of Victoria, BC (DVBC). The most recent Synod conducted in the Diocese of Victoria tends to paint an overly rosy picture of a diocese in steady decline. Given the responses of attendees cited in the Synod Report, the cause is understandable as to why the DVBC is withering.

Prophetic voices or specious spaemen?

A Synodal Church, a report from the Diocese of Victoria, BC.

The Synod participants expressed much hope. The act of simply sharing feelings and thoughts openly was an invigorating boost. People were stirred and surprised. It is as if the process modeled what people aspire to - a Church that is open, welcoming, engaging, and full of life.

A yearning for change and transformation was evident in calls for more women in leadership (especially in our churches), ordained women, married priests, a Synodal approach similar to the momentum experienced in the early post-Vatican II era, more adult faith formation, greater involvement in social justice and interfaith dialogue, more youth involvement, and Indigenous truth and reconciliation.

Above all, the overarching desire is for a welcoming Church that exudes openness, inclusion, acceptance, love, and belonging. Hope springs eternal, no matter where they are on their faith journey. Expressions of hope and gratitude abounded. The listening circles offered a breath of fresh air, allowing participants to be where they are at, listening and sharing, as beloved People of God. - p.5, RCDV Synod Report

https://2912651.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/2912651/RCDV%20Synod%20Report%20-%20FINAL%20-%202022-06-16.pdf

Touchstones

1. A gathering that intentionally incorporates uncertain (heterodox) voices and accords them equal status with faithful voices brings into question its focus. Is the Synod Catholic or inter-religious or ?
2. Worldly agendas. It is difficult to assign credibility to a process that is weak on substance, the substance of faithfulness to God's word and the Magisterium of the Church.
3. Christian consensus depends on a critical awareness of how the Holy Spirit acts, an awareness solidly rooted in the orthodoxy of Christian faith, hope, and love. The complements to those theological virtues are the transcendentals, truth, goodness and beauty: the truth received from the apostles; the goodness learned from the example of the saints; the beauty of holiness. The Holy Spirit always draws people to communion with Jesus Christ and His Church. The mission of the Holy Spirit is one of unity with God and His Church.
4. Synods should not be trying to convince people to join a foreign agenda nor demand the Church adopt some alien doctrine or practice. Rather, synods should be concerned with measuring our faithfulness to God in worship and hospitality, and where faith is lacking, synods should expose the details of the comparison, and the degree of deviation from (or accord with) Catholic belief and practice. Synods that indulge heterodoxy, rather than challenging it through charitable debate, risk creating division in the Body of Christ by a sin of omission. Synods should be about quality assurance. Seekers need to be able to trust the message they encounter.
5. Synods trumped by feelings risk missing the obvious: How does our witness measure up to the unchanging call of God to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to hand on sacred Tradition for the salvation of souls?

Father George Rutler called out the mentality that still has a foothold in many dioceses.

Cafeteria Catholicism, their fast-food version of the heavenly banquet, is neither feast nor fast. Its pastiche of Catholicism has become an anthropological vignette whose day is already past. The felt banners and ceramic butterflies that replaced crucifixes in the late 1960s and 1970s are fading away to the land of kitsch - detritus of the liturgical Martha Stewarts of their day. - He Spoke to Us: Discerning God in People and Places, 2016, by Fr George William Rutler

Synod Slam

Serious concerns about synodal processes are well founded given the liabilities identified, for example, by Dr. Larry S. Chapp.

“The use of non-scientific questionnaires developed by some faceless ecclesiastical bureaucracy in order to achieve predetermined results is no way to discern the movement of the Holy Spirit,” Chapp, a former professor of theology at DeSales University, told the Register in comments that echoed broad suspicions about the agenda of key officials overseeing the process. “Discerning the will of the Holy Spirit requires constancy in prayer and penance, with a deep examination of conscience. And even then God’s whispers can be hard to discern.” - Joan Frawley Desmond, Vatican/NCRegister, September 2, 2022

Coherence

1. The salvation of souls is the supreme law of the Church and the supreme responsibility of Catholics to uphold. To expose falsehood and laxity, provided people express themselves in a thoughtful and constructive manner, mindful of the good of the other person, is an act of charity.
2. It is hardly laudable to attempt to reinvent the mission of the Church - i.e., the salvation of souls - by substituting well-intentioned but cheap excursions that abandon individuals to religious chimeras.
3. Synods are places for people to call each other to witness to Christ with uncompromising zeal, an abundance of confidence in the Gospel and the received doctrine of the Church, and humility.
4. It is unfair to those promoting odd ideas incompatible with Catholicism for Catholics to pretend that a process will actually indulge those same ideas. There will never be women priests in the Catholic Church, for example. For synod organizers to pretend otherwise is an obvious violation of the Eighth Commandment.

Disorientation

Victoria, a diocese with a long history of zany liturgies, kooky and at times criminal abusive behaviour, and damnable financial scandals, is not alone in cheering a common cafeterianism.

Russell Shaw, at The Catholic Thing, writes:

Writing in Communio’s synodality issue, Nicholas Healy, who teaches at the John Paul II Institute in Washington, D.C., nailed the problem with deadly accuracy. Synod-related documents from official sources, he wrote, “convey the impression of a theologically impermissible democratization of governance and magisterial judgment in the Church.”

The point isn’t that lay people should have nothing to say about such matters. It’s that, in Healy’s words, “the authority to teach and govern the Church is a sacramental gift. Not all members of the Church receive this sacramental gift.” (emphasis in the original)

Shaw concludes his article with a firm and sage reminder.

So if we are now to tread the synodal path, let us do so alert to our basic responsibilities as Church: maintaining the body of truth we have received from those who came before us, sharing it generously with our contemporaries, and, when the time comes, passing it on intact to those who will come after.

Diocesan synods tend to malfunction when failing to appreciate the profoundly simple and profoundly important necessity that right orientation to God, right worship of God, is a required life-set for those attending synods. Synods are sacred conferences. Unfortunately, the DVBC Synod smacks of opinions that attempt to avoid or intentionally disregard God's very design for His Church.

“The Spirit is calling to us grow as a people. It is not about a hierarchy; it is about a circle. How do we grapple and make Eucharist so that it touches the soul of our beings and how do we reach out to others?” 

“There is a need to work with lay people toward a more meaningful liturgy. In the mystery of faith, we proclaim Jesus’s death and resurrection, but we don’t recognize his life. We are stuck in the past; we need life giving words and messages.” 

“I look forward to continuing with Synod and contributing to how we can be meaningful today.” - p.8, ibid.

The above citations, and those that follow, tend to confirm that many if not most members of the DVBC Synod have given in to the temptation to celebrate a worldly agenda, not to mention a lauding embrace of some very strange notions about the nature of the Church and the Holy Eucharist.

Where is the Spirit calling us to grow in communion?

People are looking for a more welcoming and inclusive Church. They want the Church to examine how we build up the faith outside of Sunday Mass with comments about being more than Sunday people. There is a desire to be more open to ecumenical services where all receive the Body of Christ and allow for interfaith communion, and to be more welcoming of non-Catholics by opening up the Communion table. There is interest in having more faith formation opportunities (diocesan and local parish), keeping the live-streamed Masses, and offering new parent groups.

People spoke about the need to dismantle clericalism, a concern for people who are left out or feel unwelcome (e.g., divorced people, LGBTQIA2S+), and discomfort with needlessly burdensome rules, such as the annulment process. There is a yearning to examine and find ways to be more inclusive of people that feel marginalized. There is a desire to continue with synodal conversations, listen to one another, develop a prayer life, ensure our parishes are hospitable, welcoming, and inviting, and engage with youth to find out how we can make the Church relevant to them.

“I am very worried about the young people. My daughter is married to a woman, and they are good people. I hope that the church will change in this area, so that gay people feel accepted and welcomed in the church. It is so hard for them in our church.” - p. 9, RCDV Synod Report

The good and holy Archbishop-emeritus of Philadelphia Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., citing St. Paul, wrote in his article for CatholicPhilly.com:

In Romans 1:21-27, speaking of the men and women of his time "who by their wickedness suppress the truth," Paul wrote:

"... for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools…. 

"Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

"For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error."

If reading that passage makes us uneasy, it should. Many of Paul's Roman listeners had the same response. Jesus didn't come to affirm us in our sins and destructive behaviors — whatever they might be — but to redeem us. Paul's message was as resented in some quarters then as it is now. In an age of sexual confusion and disorder, calls to chastity are not just unwelcome. They're despised. But that doesn't diminish the truth of the words Paul wrote, or their urgency for our own time.

What we do with our bodies matters. Sex is linked intimately to human identity and purpose. If our lives have no higher meaning than what we invent for ourselves, then sex is just another kind of modeling clay. We can shape it any way we please. But if our lives do have a higher purpose — and as Christians, we find that purpose in the Word of God — then so does our sexuality.

Acting in ways that violate that purpose becomes a form of self-abuse; and not just self-abuse, but a source of confusion and suffering for the wider culture. The fact that an individual's body might incline him or her to one sort of damaging sexual behavior, or to another very different sort, doesn't change this.

This can be a difficult teaching. It's easy to see why so many people try to finesse or soften or ignore Paul's words. In a culture of conflict, accommodation is always the least painful path. But it leads nowhere. It inspires no one. "Fitting in" to a society of deeply dysfunctional sexuality results in the ruin that we see in so many other dying Christian communities.

Catechesis or cacophony?

When liturgies amount to little more than comfortable or even uncomfortable social gatherings, one comes to expect that ideology will trump faith and reason among congregants who routinely attend those liturgies. That is to say, congregations are too often routinely fed a diet of half-baked sermons and poor catechesis. Further complicating and inhibiting authentic parochial dynamics are self congratulatory parish councils acting in a magisterial manner instead of the consultative role to which councils are limited by Canon Law (536 §2). That mix of "theologically impermissible democratization of governance and magisterial judgment in the Church" described by Shaw inevitably culminates in the kinds of warped preoccupations one can locate in the Synod of the Diocese of Victoria.

I Know Better

When people are preoccupied with making the Church "better", while ignoring the injunction to work out their salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), there is little or no ability among lazy religionists to map a course toward the Lord.

“We have an opportunity at this time in history with the church. Pope Francis is courageous. My mom was a Vatican II person before Vatican II. She challenged me to think for myself and challenged me to listen to the Holy Spirit within. My grandmother shared a story that life with God isn’t always inside a church and that struck me. The Holy Spirit calls us to listen to make us alive.” - p.11, ibid.

The Synod attendee's comments leave one with the impression that a rebellious spirit is something to be desired. The attendee's comparison of his or her opinion with that of Pope Francis' may very well constitute a case of false equivalence. There's nothing wrong with thinking for oneself provided that one measures one's thoughts against the high standard of fact and reason and the entirely reliable Magisterial teaching of our Holy Mother the Church.

The 1960s and subsequent decades have not been known for a high standard of critical thinking among noisier drunk-on-the-need-for-approval Catholics. It would be interesting to discover exactly what the attendee meant by "listen to the Holy Spirit within". For the last 60 years, we know that a generational preoccupation with a primacy of conscience emancipated from the magisterial teaching of the Church has had disastrous effects on people's lives. E.g., ignoring Humanae Vitae, Catholics practice artificial contraception and destroy their unborn children's lives with a frequency equal to that of the non-Catholic population.

Another typical paragraph drawn from the Synod Report that comes close but still avoids the very reality that defines us as Catholics - the Holy Eucharist, the source and summit of the Christian life (Lumen Gentium) - leaves a question lingering in the reader's mind.

Communion

How are we journeying together in communion – the joys? 

The celebration of the Eucharist is central, and gathering as a People of God to share in this Sacrament is life-giving, but there is concern about the lack of vocations. The Sacraments of the Church are seen as essential in the lives of God’s people. People expressed that the Eucharist is about communion and community that provides a sense of belonging. - p.8, ibid.

That lingering question? What are diocesan Catholics prepared to do to worship God in the manner God desires to be worshipped? For all the talk about the 'People of God', the Synod Report leaves observers to imagine these/those people are the people 'of' something, but what that 'something' actually is seems to elude their description, and thus for the most part the Report cannot be taken seriously.

Donsy Synod

Throughout the DVBC Synod documents, no mention is made of the wisdom of the saints. For all the talk of honouring elders these days, people with lengthy memories should be suspicious of attempts to bring a woke mentality into the Church. "Synodal" (c)atholicism - e.g., the German Synodal Way, progressive (c)atholicism, etc. - routinely ignores the Gospel written large in the magnificent lives of the martyrs and the sublime experience of the Doctors of the Church, our venerable elders in the Faith. Archbishop Chaput's essay comes to mind: "In a culture of conflict, accommodation is always the least painful path. But it leads nowhere. It inspires no one."

What's missing in the Report of the Synod of the Diocese of Victoria is a sense of real hope, of real joy, and that Jesus Christ is Lord. That joy finds a home in the soul of the worshipper who opens his heart to the unmistakable voice of the Holy Ghost Who speaks to the docile soul, the receptive soul, the soul uncluttered by foul thinking, the soul true to her baptismal promises and invigourated by the Sacrament of Confirmation.

If the DVBC Report is any indication, there is, ironically, precious little listening going on, except perhaps among those thrilling to the sound of their own voices. In a diocese that prides itself on diversity and inclusivity, and that invites observers from local Protestant communities to participate in the Synod, where, for example, are the voices of the Victoria Latin Mass community who, without doubt, must be near to tears reading the Synod Report? They, like many other 1962 Mass communities around the world, are barely tolerated. A little empathy would go a long way to assuring Catholics of the Diocese of Victoria that everyone has a seat at the table. Empathy, not the antipathy (unanswered official emails, passive aggressive responses to genuine inquiries, the referencing of vague policies to inhibit the formation of internationally established and Vatican approved lay associations) routinely enacted against Apostolic Catholicism and its enthusiasts.

The evidence of little or no hospitality by Diocesan upper-ups toward faithful priests, the Latin Mass community, and other tradition-minded groups and individuals within the Diocese who have shared their frustrations and confusion with yours truly, puts to the lie the assertion that the Synod Report reflects any kind of unbiased listening, at least given the evidence disseminated by the Diocese thus far. Unanswered official emails, and the obstinate refusal to engage established lay associations approved by the Holy See, are but two kinds of inhospitable responses to attempts to help the Diocese and parishes provide opportunities for authentic lay spiritual formation.

Verdict

St. Matthew 18:6; St. Mark 9:42; St. Luke 17:2

Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Diocese of Victoria Synod 2021 to 2023: milestone or millstone?

- - -

On other fronts

The Pillar has published a list of American Provinces that have submitted their synod reports.

https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/which-us-dioceses-have-completed

Seattle, for example.

“Hearts and minds were genuinely shared,” said Archbishop Etienne. “I’m grateful that many found these experiences both healing and hopeful, especially for those who shared deeply personal and painful stories. I encourage all Catholics to read the report, to reflect on their opportunities to accompany each other as one human family in Western Washington and to invite the guidance of the Holy Spirit more deeply into their efforts.”

Three key themes that emerged were community, leadership and handing on the faith to the next generation:

1. Community: Listening sessions revealed the importance of community. The value of parish communities, barriers to belonging and the marginalization of LGBTQ+ people were key topics of discussion around Church communities as “a home, not an institution.”
2. Leadership: Discussion focused on the role of Church leadership at the national level, the impact of the parish priest, models of leadership, the role of women, and concerns around both transparency and trust in the wake of the abuse crisis.
3. Passing on the faith: One of the most prevalent themes centered on sharing the faith with future generations, with a focus on how youth are disconnected. Meanwhile, youth reported feeling judged and like they do not belong.

 By contrast, San Francisco.

Methodology

1. The process was grounded in Prayer and Scripture. Prayer (e.g., Adsumus Sancte Spiritus, Prayer to the Holy Spirit and spontaneous prayer) was a cornerstone of the experience. Virtual and In-Person Sessions all incorporated prayer throughout. The Archbishop provided Acts 4:8-12 for the Scripture reflection time that preceded the topic discussions. This allowed participants to center their reflections on their relationship with Jesus Christ as well as get to know each other and set a tone of sharing and listening.
2. Facilitated consultative sessions (...)
3. Disciple Maker Index (DMI) Survey – An additional method of giving voice (...)

(...) 

In the sessions, people primarily spoke most of Jesus, the riches of the Catholic Faith, and their love for being part of the universal Church. They found joy in the living presence of Christ in the Church, in the celebration of the Mass and the universality of the liturgy, in their participation in and the availability of the Sacraments (especially during the pandemic), the gift of Sacred Scripture, and their sense of belonging to a parish community with a common identity. 

 And... San Diego (where the light is rising to meet the darkness).

The counterpoint to this widespread call for greater (LGBTQ &c) inclusion in the life of the Church is a belief by many that Catholic teaching has compromised too much in the current secular moment and has grown too lenient. “The Church does not seem to have a clear message on how they view people who have same-sex attraction or LGBT,” one participant said. “There does not seem to be a clear guidance on that issue.” Many participants expressed the view that Church doctrine is quite clear on debated issues, but the Church’s current leadership has intentionally obscured that teaching on LGBT issues and other topics, including abortion. These Catholics raise concerns that Pope Francis has introduced a corrosive ambiguity into the heart of Catholic moral doctrine. They are highly critical of Bishop McElroy for this same reason. Participants who share this viewpoint worry that Catholic doctrine lies on a slippery slope in these days, and propose that sharpening the line between the Church and secular society would have a reinvigorating effect for the Catholic community.

It should be noted that the name of Jesus is nowhere mentioned in the San Diego document.