Who’s going to the Synod – a look at the list

The Holy See today released the full list of participants of the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region, to take place from 6 to 27 October in Rome. The assembly, which has been the subject of much discussion, hopes and fears over the past months, will discuss the problems faced by the Church in the Amazon region and try to find specific solutions with an eye on both the availability of the sacraments to the faithful there and the threats faced by people and environment in that area. Solutions which the synod assembly may arrive at could, some fear, then be applied globally. The topic of mandatory celibacy for priests has received special attention, as more than a few have suggested that the Synod could allow married men to be ordained to the priesthood so as to relieve that shortage of priests in the Amazon region. The theological and ecclesiastical repercussions, some fear, could have global consequences.

Apart from the usual suspects, such as the heads of the dicasteries of the curia and religious elected by the Union of Superior Generals, the majority of participants are bishops and priests from the Amazon region. Countries represented are Guyana*, Suriname*, French Guiana*, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

As ever, there will also be a number of ‘fraternal delegates’ representing other Christian church communities. In this case, the Presbyterian, Evangelical, Anglican and Lutheran churches and the Assembly of God. Other special invitations were issued to a number of lay experts including former secretary general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon.

Pope Francis has also selected a number of personal appointments. These include a number of cardinals who have long been considered his closest collaborators, such as Cardinals Maradiaga, Gracias and Marx.  He has also added three prelates who will be made cardinals on October 4th, just days before the assembly opens: Archbishops Ambongo Besungu of Kinshasa and Hollerich of Luxembourg (at left), and Fr. Czerny of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, who also serves as one of the two special secretaries of the Synod assembly.

Also of note is the role of Bishop Karel Choennie of Paramaribo (at right). As his diocese, which covers all of Suriname, is included in the pan-Amazon region, he is an automatic participant, but he has also served on the Presynodal Council, which was tasked with the preparations for the upcoming assembly. Another member of this body is Bishop Erwin Kräutler, the Austrian-born bishop-prelate emeritus of Xingu in Brazil. The 80-year-old prelate presents himself as a close confidant of Pope Francis, but he also supports a number of problematic changes to Catholic teaching and practice.

Lastly, while the list of participants makes clear that this special assembly is very much localised – devoted to a specific area, led by people from that area – there are some connections to the wider world. In the first place to Rome of course, with the curia involved as they are in every Synod assembly. Other continents are also represented however. Among the pontifical appointments, Europe stands out, mostly because of the presence of Italian prelates. And these are not only members of the curia, but also ordinaries of Italian dioceses. Among the special invitees, Germany is also quite present. While only Cardinal Marx was invited by the pope, the heads of Adveniat (the German Church’s aid organisation for the Church in Latin America) and Misereor (the German bishops’ development organisation) will also participate. Asia is rather absent, but Africa is not. The presence of two participants from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as, from Oceania, Cardinal Ribat from Papua New Guinea, makes sense, as these countries both include large stretches of pristine rain forest and a significant number of Catholic faithful who can not always be reached easily. The same problems are also faced in the Amazon. North America, then, is represented by a Canadian and four Americans, including Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego, a like mind to Pope Francis.

* As the bishops of these countries are members of the bishops’ conference of the Antilles, the president of that body, Bishop Gabriel Malzaire of Roseau, Dominica, also participates.

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With four presidents delegate, Francis focuses the Synod

As this autumn’s Synod of Bishops on youth and vocations draws nearer, Pope Francis has taken the next step when it comes to appointing the essential personnel. He selected four presidents delegate, who will, in turn, chair the daily deliberations of the Synod. The pope’s choices highlight that the Synod assembly’s focus is not in the first place on the west, where the Church struggles to reach, let alone engage the youth.

Pope Francis’ focus is a global one, and the world’s cultures where the youth are an integral part of the life of the Church, as they are of society, have taken a step into the limelight with the appointment of these presidents delegate. Furthermore, the choices are also entirely Franciscan: all four presidents are cardinals created by Pope Francis.

• Louis Cardinal Sako, Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldean Church of Iraq.
• Désiré Cardinal Tsarahazana, Archbishop of Toamasina, Madagascar
• Charles Maung Cardinal Bo, Archbishop of Yangon, Myanmar
• John Cardinal Ribat, Archbishop of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

Obviously, not a westerner among them, the four presidents delegate represent four different countries from three continents, and as such bring experiences with them which will colour the Synod deliberations. The presidents are, as the Ordo Synodi Episcoporum dictates, “to guide the workings of the Synod according to the faculties entrusted to [them]”, “to assign to certain Members, when deemed opportune, particular tasks, so that the Assembly might better proceed with its work” and “to sign the Acts of the Assembly” (Art. 3). Rather than just chairing meetings, they have some influence over their proceedings, and as such it matters who they are and what they bring to the table.

 

New cardinal appointments reveal papal focus

Yesterday, some of the new cardinals created by Pope Francis in his latest two consistories (November 2016 and June 2017) were given their duties in the Roman curia. More than simply an honorary title (although it sometimes is just that), a cardinal is expected to sit on various councils and congregations and so assist the Pope in running the affairs of the world Church. They are expected to be in Rome regularly to facilitate this, which, I imagine, does little to make life easier for some. Cardinal Mario Zenari, for example, serves in daily life as the Apostolic Nuncio to war-torn Syria. He has now been assigned to serve as a member of the Congregation for Oriental Churches as well.

Among the cardinals in question are Jozef Cardinal De Kesel (at left), archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, and Anders Cardinal Arborelius, bishop of Stockholm. They have been appointed as members of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, respectively.

The appointments of both cardinals are logical ones. Cardinal De Kesel has spoken out on numerous occasions on the role of the laity in the Church, and the dignity of human life. His appointment will undoubtedly herald his continued role in the debate about these topics, not least in the context of the Amoris laetitia its interpretation. Cardinal Arborelius has long since been involved with ecumenism, which is unavoidable in a country like Sweden. The Catholic Church is small but growing and has to relate to the secular society of the country and its Lutheran background.

The dicastery to gain the largest number of new members is the Dicastery for Integral Human Development. With five members (Cardinals Patrick D’Rozario (Dhaka, Bangeldesh), Maurice Piat (Port-Louis, Mauritius), John Ribat (Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea), Louis-Marie Ling Mangkhanekhoun (Vientiane, Laos) and Gregorio Rosa Chávez (auxiliary of San Salvador, El Salvador), all from Pope Francis’ favoured ‘peripheries’, it perhaps shows the importance he attaches to the dicastery which he established at the start of this year.

Photo credit: Reuters

 

Introducing Francis’ new cardinals

So here they are, the seventeen new cardinals created by Pope Francis this morning. All but one were present in St. Peter’s Basilica to receive their red hats and title churches or deaconries. Only Cardinal Sebastian Koto Khoaria remained at home in Lesotho, undoubtedly for reasons of age. The man is 87, after all.

Carlos Cardinal Aguiar Retes, 66, Cardinal Priest of Santi Fabiano e Venanzio a Via Fiorelli, Metropolitan Archbishop of Tlalnepantla, Mexico

Renato Cardinal Corti, 80, Cardinal Priest of San Giovanni a Porta Latina, Bishop emeritus of Novara, Italy

Blase Joseph Cardinal Cupich, 67, Cardinal Priest of San Bartolomeo all’Isola, Metropolitan Archbishop of Chicago, United States of America

Patrick Cardinal D’Rozario, 73, Cardinal Priest of Nostra Signora del Santissimo Sacramento e Santi Martiri Canadesi, Metropolitan Archbishop of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Sérgio Cardinal Da Rocha, 56, Cardinal Priest of Santa Croce in Via Flaminia, Metropolitan Archbishop of Brasília, Brazil

Jozef Cardinal De Kesel, 69, Cardinal Priest of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Metropolitan Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussel, Belgium

Kevin Joseph Cardinal Farrell, 69, Cardinal Deacon of San Giuliano Martire, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life

Anthony Soter Cardinal Fernandez, 84, Cardinal Priest of Sant´Alberto Magno, Metropolitan Archbishop emeritus of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Sebastian Koto Cardinal Khoarai, 87, Cardinal Priest of San Leonardo da Porto Maurizio, Bishop emeritus of Mohale’s Hoek, Lesotho

Dieudonné Cardinal Nzapalainga, 49, Cardinal Priest of Sant’Andrea della Valle, Metropolitan Archbishop of Bangui, Central African Republic

Carlos Cardinal Osoro Sierra, 71, Cardinal Priest of Santa Maria in Trastevere, Metropolitan Archbishop of Madrid, Easter Rite Ordinary of Spain.

Maurice Cardinal Piat, 75, Cardinal Priest of Santa Teresa al Corso d´Italia, Bishop of Port-Louis, Mauritius

Baltazar Enrique Cardinal Porras Cardozo, 71, Cardinal Priest of Santi Giovanni Evangelista e Petronio dei Bolognesi, Metropolitan Archbishop of Mérida, Venezuela

John Cardinal Ribat, 59, Cardinal Priest of San Giovanni Battista de’ Rossi, Metropolitan Archbishop of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Ernest Cardinal Simoni, 87, Cardinal Deacon of Santa Maria della Scala, Priest of Shkodrë-Pult, Albania

Joseph William Cardinal Tobin, 64. Cardinal Priest of Santa Maria delle Grazie a Via Trionfale, Metropolitan Archbishop of Newark, United States of America, Ecclesiastical Superior of Turks and Caicos Islands.

Mario Cardinal Zenari, 70, Cardinal Deacon of Santa Matria della Grazie alle Fornaci, Apostolic Nuncio to Syria