1. The Synods have fostered the correlation between charism and ministry

1.1. The progress that has recently been made

It has been an arduous path that the Church has been taking in her self-understanding, which is, at one and the same time, a charismatic and institutional reality, visible and invisible, divine and human, theological and juridical, mystical and social⁷. There is an ever-growing ecclesial awareness of her organic communion. The ecclesiological approach that sustains it is very different from what it was 25 years ago, when it especially dealt with the topic of relations between Bishops and Religious. In order to avoid the tensions, it spoke of collaboration and it seemed like some kind of victory to agree one some criteria and operational channels.

Since the publication of the document Mutuae relationes (1978), much has been written on the topic. Doubtless this document helped to improve relations between Bishops and Religious in the post-conciliar Church. On various occasions a desire has been expressed to rewrite the text, and this was included in one of the propositions of the Synod on the consecrated life⁸. The Exhortation VC makes no mention of this idea, but it does offer some new theological reflections and orientations for achieving a fruitful and ordered ecclesial communion.

We have no concrete data on the current status of relations between Bishops and consecrated persons. Each of us has his own opinion based on the experiences of his Institute. What seems certain is that there is much greater clarity on the frame of reference in which both have to move. Since 1985 the Synod’s teaching and experience has been a determining factor⁹. The Church has affirmed that she is a mystery, communion and mission. It has promoted, among other factors, the centrality of the mystery of the Trinity in theological reflection, with special reference to the role of the Spirit in the life and mission of the Church; the deeper theological reflection on charisms and ministries; a greater awareness of the anthropology, of the psychology and the spirituality of this relationship; and an increased openness and sensitivity to the cultural and social contexts.

Each time we see more clearly that we build up the Church by contributing our difference. It is only the one who dares to be different who contributes effectively to the communion; if not, he is irrelevant. Therefore, it would be harmful to the Church to confuse communion with egalitarianism or seeking the least common denominator; just as it would be equally harmful to reduce it to a functional availability or to simple “submission.” The Church is the expression of a life participated and shared through different gifts and responsibilities. The mutuality of these gifts makes possible the fulfilment of the plan of salvation.

In the Synod on the laity (1987), on priests (1990) and on the consecrated life (1994) the Church has been professed and proclaimed as the mystery of the love and life of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This mystery of love is offered as a gift to those born of water and of the Spirit (cf. Jn 3, 5) and to those who have been called to live the communion of God himself and to manifest and communicate it in history. From the mystery of Trinitarian love arise the different Christian vocations and states of life¹⁰. These Synods have approached the various vocations and states of life and have tried to foster their richness in the service of the Church’s mission of evangelisation. Having shown that there is a diversity of charisms and ministries, they emphasised the correlation and complementary nature of them; they highlighted their reference to the universal Church and to the particular Church; they accented their communion with the Pope and the Bishops and with the other vocations in the People of God; and they strengthened their participation and shared responsibility in the holiness and the evangelising mission of the Church. The identity of each vocation is not defined by defining it entirely in terms of itself, but by its correlation to the other vocations.

The continental Synods, whose express goal was evangelisation in the various contexts¹¹, remained in this perspective and all of them issued a call to foster the diverse vocations and ministries in the particular Churches, to promote communion through a mutual knowledge and sharing and to achieve a new type of co-ordination in the works of the apostolate¹².

These continental Synods gave voice to and sketched the specific face of the local Churches in each continent, emphasising the contextualisation of the evangelising mission. Catholicity is no longer interpreted as meaning uniformity. They emphasised the value of the territory, the culture and the history of the people. They focused on the specific problems of each continent and gave pride of place to inculturation, dialogue and the integral development of the person and of the people¹³. The religious saw themselves confirmed in their more radical options in fidelity to their specific charism  and their desire “to care for the deformed image of God on the faces of their brothers and sisters, faces disfigured by hunger, faces disillusioned by political promises, faces humiliated by seeing their culture despised, faces frightened by constant and indiscriminate violence, the anguished faces of minors, the hurt and humiliated faces of women, the tired faces of migrants who are not given a warm welcome, the faces of the elderly who are without even the minimum conditions for a dignified life” ¹⁴.

All that has been said about the laity, priests and consecrated persons and all that has been expressed about evangelisation in the five continents have brought a new way of channelling and enlivening relations in the Church. We have learned to share, to face problems together, and the successes that have been achieved. At times we now feel the necessity of aiming beyond ourselves. At these times it was necessary to discover an MR that needed to integrate the laity and be more attentive to the cultural contexts of the life of the Church¹⁵. It is probable that, delving more deeply into the topic, the need will be seen for an MR for each geographical-cultural area, especially in view of the problems of activities and pastoral planning¹⁶.

Studying the process followed by the Synods, the coming Assembly brings to a close the cycle on the forms of life and evangelisation in the various continents. Might we not think that the Church is already prepared for another type of Synods, ecclesial in nature, wherein we find representatives of the Bishops, the consecrated persons and the laity? In this way it would begin a new, more broadly participative and better-articulated itinerary of the Church. The Synods of the People of God would begin.