The weaponized ambiguity employed to invoke countless post-Vatican Council II abuses could be even more ferociously deployed in the "Church of Synodality."
There’s good news and there’s bad news. The problem is that the good news isn’t very good, and we don’t know (yet?) how bad the bad news can be. Yes, you guessed it: I’m talking about “synodality.”
The good news is that “synodality” might actually be meaningless. (That raises some questions about why, then, we are spending so much time, energy, and money on the topic; but let’s try to manage one conundrum at a time.) The bad news is that, precisely because “synodality” is a meaningless term (and “meaningless” will be defined below, shortly), it can be used to signify—or worse, justify—anything.
Anecdotally, we are already very familiar with such verbal sleight of hand. “The spirit of Vatican II” was used to justify (if not explain) just about everything. You know how it goes:
Why are we ripping out Communion rails? “The spirit of Vatican II!”
Why should nuns get rid of their habits? “The spirit of Vatican II!” Ad infinitum.
My concern is that before very long when we ask, “Why should we change this or that?” or “Why should we stopping doing this or that?” or “Why should we do what the Church has never done before?” the infinitely elastic (and apparently self-justifying) response will be, “Synodality!”
More: https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/what-if-synodality-means-nothing
1 comment:
"Sin-nodality" to me means Protestantism.
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