The Tablet
How Pope Francis outflanks his foes
Pope Francis refuses to be drawn into ‘either/or’ debates
Photo: CNS, Paul Haring
Photo: CNS, Paul Haring
What is the real lesson
to take from the Pope’s response to the synod on the Amazon? Our Rome
correspondent argues that both conservatives and progressives within the
Church fail to understand the radical nature of Francis’ reforms
Pope Francis has escaped the trap set for him by his opponents over the Amazon synod. Contrary to what was indicated by the initial reaction to his post-synodal exhortation, Querida Amazonia – relief at a perceived decision to maintain the status quo from the conservative side, disappointment at what they saw as inertia or lack of nerve from the progressives – he has in fact decisively propelled the Church further along the path of reform.
Nearly seven years after his election, the pyramid is gradually being inverted, and the Church is becoming more like the missionary, outward-facing Church of Francis’ dreams. But just not in the way people expected. After a synod in which 128 bishops from the region voted in favour of a proposal to ordain married men as priests in the Amazon, with 41 opposed, those intent on thwarting Francis’ determination to listen to the voice of the local Church kicked up such a fuss that he decided that announcing a change to the rules on celibacy would distract the world’s attention from the central message of the synod: the desperate urgency of the need to respond to the threat to the environment and the vital importance of standing in solidarity with the Amazon’s marginalised indigenous communities.
Faced with a pincer movement, Francis decided to simply ignore the questions of whether to allow the ordination of married men as priests and of women as deacons. But the story does not end there. The Pope’s response to the synod has opened doors rather than closed them. The groundwork has been laid for future reforms. The hot-button issues remain on the table, while a wider debate about the devolution of power in the Church away from a tiny group at the top is very much under way.
Time, as Francis is fond of pointing out, is greater than space. Look
at any opinion poll, and you’ll find that Massgoing Catholics across
the globe are increasingly supportive of married priests and would like
to see more women in leadership positions. The momentum for change is
like a flowing river, with only a rickety dam holding back its progress.
At some point the dam will burst. Francis knows this, and is building
up the banks for the new river to run into.
One of the ways he’s doing so is by putting his faith in the local Church. It’s significant he fully endorsed the Amazon synod’s final document, “The Amazon: New Paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology”. No riders or qualifications. For the first time, a synod document has been given its own authority; the Pope describes Querida Amazonia as a “brief framework for reflection” that accompanies, without intending to supplant, the synod document. It is a game-changer.
The acid test will be how this plays out on the ground. Brazilian Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, a pivotal figure in the Amazon discussions, says the proposal for married priests will continue to be developed. Fr António José de Almeida, an influential theologian in Brazil who was in Rome during the synod, goes further, arguing that bishops are free to petition the Pope to ordain married men on a case-by-case basis. This pope, or a future one, could allow married men to be ordained priests in the Amazon with the stroke of a pen.
Similarly, on the role of women, the Pope has pledged that the
commission he set up in 2016 will continue, while endorsing the bishops’
document that called for women to be admitted to lower-level ministries
and to make lay people leaders of local parish communities. Both are
important moves away from the clericalist models of the past, and
towards the more Gospel-centred model of the Church envisaged by the
Second Vatican Council.
When reading Querida Amazonia, it is worth recalling the reaction to the Pope’s hotly anticipated document on family life. When Amoris Laetitia was released in response to the synod on the family, reaction focused on whether or not the Pope had opened the door to allowing Catholics who had divorced and remarried to be readmitted to Communion. Famously, the only explicit reference to the issue was in a footnote.
But in both cases, what we see is Francis moving to enact something more profound than a shift in understanding doctrine: a transformation of the Church’s power dynamics. He has opened up a debate on questions that in previous pontificates were regarded as closed. He is giving greater authority to local Churches, and framing disputed questions within the context of pastoral need, rather than abstract ideological battles.
Since its release in 2016, Amoris Laetitia has become the blueprint for a renewed family ministry built around compassion, discernment and pastoral accompaniment. And yes, that has meant that a majority of bishops’ conferences that have issued guidelines, and an increasing number of individual bishops and priests, now acknowledge that there are circumstances where a Catholic who has been divorced and remarried but whose first marriage has not been formally declared null may receive Communion.
The Pope writes in Amoris Laetitia that “not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the magisterium”. The Amazon synod, with its unprecedented listening exercise involving 87,000 people, is the next step on this journey. In Querida Amazonia Francis points out that the synod report voted on by the bishops comes from those “who know better than I and the Roman Curia the problems and issues of the Amazon region”.
The Jesuit Pope is shrewd enough to know how easily reforms can be crushed in Rome. For that reason, he did not want the Amazon synod to become a referendum on married priests, or a self-referential discussion framed from the Church’s centre. As the synod concluded, Francis argued the Church’s diagnosis of the problems in the Amazon could not be reduced to a discussion on “intra-ecclesiastical discipline”, which a certain “elite group of Christians” was focusing on. It was an indication that he would do everything possible to avoid reaction to his post-synodal text being dominated by the issue of married priests.
The Pope’s studied ambiguity on disputed issues and his refusal to be drawn into “either/or” debates is a hallmark of his ministry. Some criticise him for allowing confusion to fester in the minds of the faithful. But Francis refuses the temptation to close down discussion and disagreements in the Church. Here, it is worth recalling the traps set for Jesus by the religious authorities of the time. When questioned about tax, or keeping the commandments, Jesus did not give “Yes” or “No” answers, but wrong-footed his opponents by offering counter-intuitive responses built on the Mosaic law and tradition. The law came to be fulfilled, not to be revoked, but cannot always be reduced to glib answers to complicated questions.
In some ways, nothing has changed: Pope Francis is leaving the teaching of the Church and many of its rules and disciplines as they are. In other ways, everything has changed. By generating a spirit of ongoing discernment and opening up reform processes Francis is utilising the tools of Catholic tradition as he lays the groundwork for a new way of being the Church.
Pope Francis has escaped the trap set for him by his opponents over the Amazon synod. Contrary to what was indicated by the initial reaction to his post-synodal exhortation, Querida Amazonia – relief at a perceived decision to maintain the status quo from the conservative side, disappointment at what they saw as inertia or lack of nerve from the progressives – he has in fact decisively propelled the Church further along the path of reform.
Nearly seven years after his election, the pyramid is gradually being inverted, and the Church is becoming more like the missionary, outward-facing Church of Francis’ dreams. But just not in the way people expected. After a synod in which 128 bishops from the region voted in favour of a proposal to ordain married men as priests in the Amazon, with 41 opposed, those intent on thwarting Francis’ determination to listen to the voice of the local Church kicked up such a fuss that he decided that announcing a change to the rules on celibacy would distract the world’s attention from the central message of the synod: the desperate urgency of the need to respond to the threat to the environment and the vital importance of standing in solidarity with the Amazon’s marginalised indigenous communities.
Faced with a pincer movement, Francis decided to simply ignore the questions of whether to allow the ordination of married men as priests and of women as deacons. But the story does not end there. The Pope’s response to the synod has opened doors rather than closed them. The groundwork has been laid for future reforms. The hot-button issues remain on the table, while a wider debate about the devolution of power in the Church away from a tiny group at the top is very much under way.
One of the ways he’s doing so is by putting his faith in the local Church. It’s significant he fully endorsed the Amazon synod’s final document, “The Amazon: New Paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology”. No riders or qualifications. For the first time, a synod document has been given its own authority; the Pope describes Querida Amazonia as a “brief framework for reflection” that accompanies, without intending to supplant, the synod document. It is a game-changer.
The acid test will be how this plays out on the ground. Brazilian Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, a pivotal figure in the Amazon discussions, says the proposal for married priests will continue to be developed. Fr António José de Almeida, an influential theologian in Brazil who was in Rome during the synod, goes further, arguing that bishops are free to petition the Pope to ordain married men on a case-by-case basis. This pope, or a future one, could allow married men to be ordained priests in the Amazon with the stroke of a pen.
When reading Querida Amazonia, it is worth recalling the reaction to the Pope’s hotly anticipated document on family life. When Amoris Laetitia was released in response to the synod on the family, reaction focused on whether or not the Pope had opened the door to allowing Catholics who had divorced and remarried to be readmitted to Communion. Famously, the only explicit reference to the issue was in a footnote.
But in both cases, what we see is Francis moving to enact something more profound than a shift in understanding doctrine: a transformation of the Church’s power dynamics. He has opened up a debate on questions that in previous pontificates were regarded as closed. He is giving greater authority to local Churches, and framing disputed questions within the context of pastoral need, rather than abstract ideological battles.
Since its release in 2016, Amoris Laetitia has become the blueprint for a renewed family ministry built around compassion, discernment and pastoral accompaniment. And yes, that has meant that a majority of bishops’ conferences that have issued guidelines, and an increasing number of individual bishops and priests, now acknowledge that there are circumstances where a Catholic who has been divorced and remarried but whose first marriage has not been formally declared null may receive Communion.
The Pope writes in Amoris Laetitia that “not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the magisterium”. The Amazon synod, with its unprecedented listening exercise involving 87,000 people, is the next step on this journey. In Querida Amazonia Francis points out that the synod report voted on by the bishops comes from those “who know better than I and the Roman Curia the problems and issues of the Amazon region”.
The Jesuit Pope is shrewd enough to know how easily reforms can be crushed in Rome. For that reason, he did not want the Amazon synod to become a referendum on married priests, or a self-referential discussion framed from the Church’s centre. As the synod concluded, Francis argued the Church’s diagnosis of the problems in the Amazon could not be reduced to a discussion on “intra-ecclesiastical discipline”, which a certain “elite group of Christians” was focusing on. It was an indication that he would do everything possible to avoid reaction to his post-synodal text being dominated by the issue of married priests.
The Pope’s studied ambiguity on disputed issues and his refusal to be drawn into “either/or” debates is a hallmark of his ministry. Some criticise him for allowing confusion to fester in the minds of the faithful. But Francis refuses the temptation to close down discussion and disagreements in the Church. Here, it is worth recalling the traps set for Jesus by the religious authorities of the time. When questioned about tax, or keeping the commandments, Jesus did not give “Yes” or “No” answers, but wrong-footed his opponents by offering counter-intuitive responses built on the Mosaic law and tradition. The law came to be fulfilled, not to be revoked, but cannot always be reduced to glib answers to complicated questions.
In some ways, nothing has changed: Pope Francis is leaving the teaching of the Church and many of its rules and disciplines as they are. In other ways, everything has changed. By generating a spirit of ongoing discernment and opening up reform processes Francis is utilising the tools of Catholic tradition as he lays the groundwork for a new way of being the Church.
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