As Historic Synod Begins in Rome, Awake Asks Delegates to Remember Victim-Survivors

This is an important week for the Catholic Church, as clergy and lay leaders gather in Rome for a three-week meeting that is the next step of the Synod on Synodality. Called by Pope Francis in 2020, the synod is a three-year process of listening and dialogue designed to consider the future of the universal Church. In the words of the Vatican, the process is meant to address this question: “What steps does the Spirit invite us to take in order to grow as a synodal Church?”

Officially known as the 16th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, the gathering in Rome includes 464 participants, of whom 363 are voting members. While most of the participants are bishops, lay people—including 54 women—will have a vote for the first time ever.

This monumental process began with local listening sessions around the world, including two sessions that Awake held in June 2022, with the goal of ensuring that victim-survivors, their loved ones, and concerned Catholics had a voice. Our report of the Awake Synod Sessions is available here.

TWO CALLS TO REMEMBER VICTIM-SURVIVORS

Last week, in the run-up to the Synod of Bishops, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors issued an unprecedented statement urging synod participants to stand in “solidarity with victims and survivors in light of ongoing revelations of abuse” and to give the topic of safeguarding priority in this month’s discussions. “The reality of sexual abuse in our Church goes to the heart of the Synod’s agenda,” the statement said.  

Awake Executive Director Sara Larson was invited to attend a September 14 listening session hosted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to help prepare U.S. synod delegates for the gathering in Rome. Larson was one of 50 representatives from various dioceses and organizations throughout the United States at the session, which she described as “a prayerful discussion with those who will participate in the synod.” During the closing plenary session, she had the opportunity to speak, asking delegates to make the issue of sexual abuse a priority in their contributions to the synod.

HOPEFUL RESPONSES

The Awake team recently sent our synod report to many of the U.S. synod delegates, asking them to remember victim-survivors and the ongoing reality of abuse as they take part in these important conversations.

We received several positive responses, including a message from a bishop who said he would read Awake’s synod report on his flight to Rome. “It is extremely important that the voices of victim-survivors be heard and that the Synod promotes the healing that is still necessary for so many,” he said. One cardinal sent a handwritten note in response: “Thanks for your wonderful note and your work on the Awake Synod. It will be essential to bring the experiences and sufferings and resiliency of victims of abuse into all areas of the Church.”

“THESE ARE OPEN WOUNDS”

A document known as the Instrumentum Laboris summarized the main themes from the listening sessions in the first phase of the synodal process and is meant to guide the meeting this month. Awake’s leaders were glad to see the topic of sexual abuse raised in the document multiple times.

For example, the forward of the document notes:

In many regions, the Churches are deeply affected by the crisis caused by various forms of abuse, including sexual abuse and the abuse of power, conscience, and money. These are open wounds, the consequences of which have yet to be fully addressed. To the penitence it owes to victims and survivors for the suffering it has caused, the Church must add a growing and intensified commitment to conversion and reform in order to prevent similar situations from happening again in the future.

Elsewhere, the document asks: 

How can we continue to take meaningful and concrete steps to offer justice to victims and survivors of sexual abuse and spiritual, economic, power, and conscience abuse by persons who were carrying out a ministry or ecclesial responsibility?

In a section of the instrumentum related to “co-responsibility and transparency” the document asks:  

To what extent is it possible to distinguish between the members of an institution and the institution itself? Is the responsibility for mishandling cases of abuse individual or systemic? How can a synodal perspective contribute to creating a culture which prevents abuse of all kinds?

The fact that these questions are included in the synod’s guiding document does offer some hope to those concerned about sexual abuse and institutional betrayal in the Catholic Church. We pray that this Synod of Bishops (and its follow-up gathering, scheduled for October 2024) leads to concrete action that makes the Church safer for all. However, we remain cautious in our expectations, knowing that the synod will need to cover many topics of interest to the global Church and that deep transformation and healing take time.