Over 200 representatives of associations of the faithful, ecclesial realities and new communities gathered for the event organized by the Dicastery for the laity, family and life. The opening with the prefect, Cardinal Farrell: “Synodality is not implemented by simply inserting lay people, men and women, into the ‘places of power’ of the Church; it must serve, instead, to truly walk together and find the way together for a new impetus for the evangelizing mission of the Church”
The Osservatore Romano
Reflecting on the theme of missionary synodality “we ask for the charity which is a gift of the Holy Spirit because in our personal relationships, in our families, in our ecclesial communities, we always have a sincere love for the brothers that the Lord has placed beside us”. Cardinal Prefect Kevin Farrell said this at the annual meeting with the moderators of associations of the faithful, ecclesial movements and new communities, promoted by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life (DLFV), which took place today, Thursday 13 June , in the new Synod Hall in the Vatican. His words were echoed at the altar of the Chair of St. Peter’s Basilica, where the cardinal presided over the Eucharist which preceded the pontifical audience and the opening of the proceedings.
In the homily, Cardinal Farrell commented on the readings of the day, underlining in particular how Jesus poses “a demanding condition for entering the Kingdom of heaven: having a justice superior to that of the scribes and Pharisees”. The latter, in fact, “despite being very observant, thought almost exclusively about the relationship with God”; therefore «their “justice” focused on the vertical dimension of love, but neglected the relationship with others, the horizontal dimension».
In this regard, the cardinal added, “Jesus mentions three attitudes that separate us from our brother: getting angry with him, calling him ‘stupid’, calling him ‘crazy'”. It involves, he explained, as many “progressive degrees of condemnation: driving one’s brother away from oneself with anger; consider his ideas of little value; presume to enter into the depths of his conscience, going so far as to devalue even his relationship with God, considering it false, superficial and hypocritical”. And, Farrell observed, «Jesus pronounces these words while commenting on the fifth commandment: “thou shalt not kill”», thus making it clear that «one can “kill” one’s brother within oneself, that is, not materially, but spiritually. To despise one’s neighbor and condemn him without appeal is to violate the fifth commandment, it is already “killing” one’s brother in one’s heart.” Hence the invitation “to go beyond the “justice of the Pharisees”, to overcome the separation between worship of God and relationships with others”.
This delivery was received by over two hundred representatives of a hundred of the 117 international associations of the faithful, private and public, and other bodies with legal personality, over which the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life has direct competence and whose life and development is required to accompany.
At the end of the mass, the conference participants met in the new Synod Hall for the papal audience and subsequently for the proceedings, introduced by the cardinal prefect. After greeting in particular the Magnificat Community, the last association in order of time to have received pontifical recognition, Farrell illustrated the theme of the day – «The challenge of synodality for the mission» – explaining above all that «synodality is not implemented by inserting simply lay people, men and women, in the “places of power” of the Church, or by specifically creating new bodies to show” that they “are more involved in decision-making processes. It’s not even a question of filling” with them “the voids of parishes, dioceses, associations and movements. In this way we would end up “clericalizing” the laity”, as the Pope often warns. “Synodality, and the communion that it promotes in the Church, must instead serve to truly walk together – lay people and pastors, charisms and ecclesial institutions – and find together the path that the Spirit indicates to carry forward, with new impetus, the evangelizing mission of the Church”, concluded Farrell.
Rafael Luciani, professor of the Andrés Bello Catholic University, and Elisa Lisiero, official of the Dicastery, were given the task of delivering the main reports of the meeting, which concluded in the afternoon.
