Salzburg Archbishop Franz Lackner described the synodal process with the second part of the World Synod of Bishops on synodality, which is due in October, as a “very important step”. The Catholic Church has thus taken a path, “and this path will continue, no matter what happens next,” said the chairman of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference on Saturday in an interview with the Kathpress news agency. The occasion was a three-day working meeting of the European synod participants, which took place from Thursday to Saturday in the Linz seminary.
Just as Pope Francis represents a surprise for the church, the processes he has introduced also come as a surprise to many, “and the surprises will not stop,” said Lackner, who described his basic attitude with the “principle of hope”: “Hope is that Believe in what you can’t yet see.” This also applies to the church itself.
Of course, a “realistic view” is necessary for progress, which is why in Austria, for some people with excessively high expectations – “some of which were also pushed” – initial enthusiasm gave way to disappointment and frustration. What contributed to this was that the Pope removed certain topics from the synod and thus also from the working paper (“Instrumentum laboris”) and delegated them to working groups. The fact that this is the case should be respected, “but I would be interested to see what happens next,” said the archbishop.
Flower meadow instead of monoculture
The working document itself presented in July was “really good,” said Lackner, who particularly praised the chapter on distinction. The church has learned a lot when it comes to “distinguishing,” as the encounters and sessions at the workshop in Linz confirmed for him. Basically, the step called for by Pope Francis is about seeing before making decisions that “there are not only yes and no, but that you also see the differences and let them shine. The differences make up the diversity, are, figuratively speaking, a flower meadow, not a monoculture.”
The archbishop noted that the differences were definitely expressed in Linz. “That’s important because it’s dangerous when people just stay quiet.” Lackner also acknowledged that an open, sincere conversation had been achieved in Linz, which should also be practiced at the World Synod in October, but also at all levels below. Metaphorically speaking, synodality must begin “in a nutshell” and it is important to resist the temptation to always want to go to the next level, said the bishops’ conference chairman.
The Archbishop of Salzburg said that he himself reported on experiences with young people during the consultations in Linz. When he meets, he is often “riddled” with their questions and then tries to give answers, which he never quite succeeds in. But then he also asked a question himself, namely: “How are you really?” In the silence that followed, he asked his young guests what the church should do for young people. The tenor of the conversation that ensued: “Church should be a place where people can express themselves, where what is said doesn’t immediately make the rounds, as usually happens on the Internet.”
Understand secularity positively
It also became clear to him that the church in Western Europe had to introduce a “positive concept of a secular world”. Lackner: “Secularity is not just a waste product. People have grown to the point of being able to do good on their own initiative. We have this experience here as a church when we have to say: We no longer have preferential treatment, there are others too. We Believers do good things for a good reason, since God is good, but man has the inherent ability to be good – which is evident in secularity.”
As a further aspect, the bishop’s conference chairman, who belongs to the Franciscan order, also noted the realization that “we ‘Westerners’ should come empty-handed.” Europe set the tone in theology for centuries, but that is now over. “I believe we should continue on our path, strive, take steps and dare, but we should no longer come and tell the world how to do it.” The “emptiness” should be understood positively – “not a yawning emptiness, but the one that makes you open to other things,” says Lackner.
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