BC Hosts Sr. Nathalie Becquart, Undersecretary for the Synod on Synodality

On October 27, the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry hosted a talk by Sr. Nathalie Becquart, XMCJ, Undersecretary to the General Secretariat for the Synod on Synodality titled “Becoming a Synodal Church: Issues and Challenges.” In the talk, Sr. Becquart outlined the vision that the synod is trying to implement in the Church.

For much of the talk, and in much of the imagery surrounding the Synod, the focus was to describe the Church as “a journeying together.” Sr. Becquart repeatedly brought up the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus as an image of the Church. She contrasted this conception of the Church with the traditional conception of the Church—describing a church that does more “listening” than “teaching,” a church that functions like an open square where all can be heard. The presentation claimed that synodality “radically reconceives the distinction between the hierarchy as ecclesia docens (the Church that teaches) and the laity as ecclesia discens (the Church that learns): ultimately the Church is always primarily learning.” 

Sr. Becquart even went as far as to say that the goal was to “get rid of the clerical Church.” She, however, claimed that this radical proposition was not actually a call for an entirely new Church, but a call for an entirely different Church. She contrasted two images to demonstrate her point, the first a painting of the Holy Spirit descending on Pope Pius IX at the opening of the First Vatican Council, and the second a photo of Pope Francis standing at a table with both clergy and lay people. Although the pope is ultimately the one that promulgates the decrees of a council, Sr. Becquart said that she did not like the image because it does not give the impression of an inclusive Church.

She also discussed reactions to the Synod from around the globe. According to her and the many quotations included in her presentation, the reception to synodality has been warm. In particular, she singled out the interest that young people have in synodality. Sr. Becquart noted that young people said they “desire to be involved and appreciated and to feel themselves to have a key role in the life and mission of the Church.” She thought that young people are going to be the ones that bring the Church more fully to synodality, since they are eager for it, and since, as the sister claimed, reform of the Church takes a generation to implement.

She also discussed the role of women in the Synod, arguing that it seeks to reevaluate the current position of women within the Church. The presentation put forward a “need to value co-responsibility between men and women based on equality and reciprocity.” It also called on the importance of increasing the role of women in ecclesial decision making while somehow still “respecting the role of the ordained minister.”

In the question and answer session, one of the audience members asked, in light of the goal of the Synod to let the voices of the whole Church be heard, what sort of people were having the hardest time being heard. Interestingly, Sr. Becquart said that priests were having the most difficulty in being listened to during the synodal process. This statement stands out in light of the broader goals of the Synod. It wants to “get rid of the clerical Church” and deemphasize the hierarchy that has led the Church since its founding by Christ on the rock of Peter. Although the talk ostensibly was to be about the issues and challenges of the Synod, Sr. Becquart did not delve into this potential problem—leaving clergymen behind in this “different” Church. Although the reimagined roles of the laity and women were clear, certain less intelligible issues, like the meaning of “respecting the role of the ordained minister,” did not receive further attention from Sr. Becquart.

The Synod will continue for another year before coming to its conclusion in October 2023.