The History of Synodality: It’s older than you think.
By John O’Malley, SJ in America Magazine on 17 February 2022
Excerpt:
“For all its prominence in church jargon these days, the term synodality does not have a long history; it is a neologism coined only about 20 years ago. No wonder, then, that Catholics are puzzled by it and by Pope Francis’ call for a more synodal church. The puzzlement is especially acute in the United States, where until recently scant attention has been paid to synodality. Yet it is an urgent issue, vital for the well-being of the church today. The Catholic Church in the United States should not lag behind the rest of the world in addressing it.
The definition of synodal as “relating to a synod” is one that provides little help. The term synod is itself only slightly more familiar, and insofar as it has meaning for Catholics, conjures up the image of the Synod of Bishops created by Pope Saint Paul VI in September 1965 as the Second Vatican Council was drawing to an end. Although related to the traditional institution, the Synod of Bishops very much modified a crucial aspect of the original institution, as I will explain later.
We must begin, therefore, by asking the basic question: What is a synod? Until the creation of the Synod of Bishops, the answer to the question was simple: A synod was a council; the words were synonyms, and the former was the Greek-derived word for the Latin-derived one. In the Western church, the two words were used interchangeably. The Council of Trent, for instance, referred to itself as “this holy synod,” and the official editions of the proceedings of Vatican II (some 53 volumes) are entitled the “synodal proceedings of the ecumenical council Vatican II” (acta synodalia).
But what is a council? The word is familiar; what it entails is not. If we survey the history of the 21 councils that Catholics consider ecumenical (church-wide) and the hundreds upon hundreds of local councils, the answer that emerges is clear: A council is a meeting, principally of bishops, gathered in Christ’s name to make decisions binding on the church.
Every word in that definition is important, beginning with “meeting.” A council is a gathering in which business is to be accomplished. It is not a debating society nor even a gathering to celebrate the glories of the church. A council takes action.”
Read the full article here: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2022/02/17/synodality-history-john-omalley-242081