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On
September 29 and October 1, Synod delegates participated in a spiritual
retreat led by Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP, and Mother Maria Ignazia
Angelini, OSB. Following the retreat, Pope Francis presided over a
penitential vigil at St. Peter’s Basilica on October 1. The vigil
included testimonies from people who have suffered from war, sexual
abuse, and migration. Seven cardinals asked for forgiveness of sins on
behalf of the faithful, including sins against the environment, sins of
abuse, and the sin of “not been able to preserve and propose the Gospel
as a living source of eternal newness, ‘indoctrinating’ it and risking
to reduce it to a pile of dead stones to throw at others.”
On October 2, Pope Francis formally opened the Synod with a Mass. During
his homily, he recommitted to his idea of the Synod as a spiritual
event, urging the international group of nearly 400 participants to be
“ready even to sacrifice our own point of view in order to give life to
something new.”
I was traveling during these events, so I followed along with coverage from the National Catholic Reporter and Crux.
The media team of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of
Bishops—the technical term for the Synod on Synodality—also provides a
comprehensive daily newsletter.
After settling into my room and getting my bearings in the city, my
first destination on Wednesday evening was the Basilica of Saint Mary of
the Angels and Martyrs near the Piazza della Repubblica. The basilica
was built on the ruins of the baths of Diocletian that date to 305 AD.
Pope Pius IV commissioned Michelangelo to oversee the design of the
basilica in 1561, and it was the artist’s final project before his death
at in 1564 at age 86.
My interest in the basilica was tied to the fact that it houses a work
of art that I’ve long loved but had never seen in person: the statue of
Saint Bruno, the founder of the Carthusian order of monks, by the
sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon. The Carthusians held the basilica from
1581 until 1873—thus the tribute to the founder, who occupies a niche
near the entrance.
Looking up at the 10-foot marble statue, knowing of the Carthusian
vocation to silence, I was reminded of Mother Angelini’s words to the
Synod retreatants: “Silence is the struggle against banality, it is the
search for truth, it is the acceptance of the mystery hidden in every
person and in every living being. It does not explain the suffering, but
it goes through it. Silence can help us rediscover the true and
authentic rhythm of synodal dialogue.”
I was struck by another juxtaposition within the basilica: the
expansiveness of the central transept that was designed to recall the
scale of the original Roman baths with a small clutch of icons,
including a Deesis
showing Mary and John the Baptist pointing to Christ, gathered in a
corner. The interplay of the vastness of the space with the intimate,
serene focus of the icons fostered a special kind of prayer—an image of
the grand scale of the universal church with the particulars of the
local churches. I thought of how the Synod media team reported on a
theme of Fr. Radcliffe’s retreat: that he sees “the greater challenge
[of the Synod] as how the Church can embrace all the diverse cultures of
the world while remaining united.”
The feeling of light and space anchored in a particular time was
underscored by the presence of a massive inlaid bronze-and-marble
sundial that arcs across the transept floor. A hole in the basilica’s
wall allows sunlight to shine through onto the line of the sundial, a
measurement system accurate enough to regulate Roman time until 1846.
Synod delegates begin their first full day of spiritual conversation and conversion today. US groups including Discerning Deacons and FutureChurch will be hosting related events. ♦
Michael Centore
Editor, Today's American Catholic
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