Synod ends, will pope be.... (ritual, tradition, mission, spiritual)

[Victor]

Now what? As synod ends, will pope be 'all write' with propositions?

By John Thavis
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist drew to a close in late October, bequeathing to Pope Benedict XVI something he's probably not eager to receive: the raw material for a new document.

The pope, who said bluntly in mid-October that writing more documents was not the mission of his pontificate, may be stuck with the task this time. Bishops have come to see the follow-up text by the pope as confirmation of their work at the synod.

"He could choose not to write a document. But then what would be the point of the synod -- to discuss a few things and go back home?" asked Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil of India.

Still, the unthinkable was being whispered by a few people at the Vatican as the synod wound down.

What if three weeks of discussion among nearly 300 bishops and experts results simply in a list of recommendations to Pope Benedict and a brief message to the world?

What if yet another 200-page apostolic exhortation doesn't drop through the pipeline over the next year?

Or, what if the pope decides to offer a brief reflection on a few key issues instead of an all-encompassing summary of every synod theme?

Post-synodal documents have become so routine that they're taken for granted. Pope John Paul II wrote one after every regular synod assembly, encyclopedic tomes that touched all the topics but usually broke no new ground.

It wasn't always like that, however. The first three synods in 1967, 1969 and 1971 ended by submitting written advice to the pope, but there was no follow-up document.

In 1974, Pope Paul VI decided to take things a step further, using the synod's recommendations to write his landmark apostolic exhortation on evangelization, "Evangelii Nuntianti." Ever since then, papal documents have been a post-synod tradition.

There are several reasons to think that might change.

Many bishops took note when the pope told Vatican Radio Oct. 16: "My personal mission is not to issue many new documents, but to ensure that (Pope John Paul's) documents are assimilated."

This particular synod may have even less need for a new papal text: It was preceded by Pope John Paul's encyclical on the Eucharist in 2003 and by a major Vatican document on liturgy last year.

For Pope Benedict, writing about the Eucharist would be covering familiar ground. In 2001, he wrote an entire book on the theology of the Eucharist, and in earlier works he explored liturgical issues in depth.

During the synod, in fact, it was hard to think of a topic of discussion that has not been addressed in detail by the pope in his many earlier writings, including the Eucharist as more than a communal meal, the real presence of Christ (understood not as material transformation but as something "more profound"), Communion in the hand ("perfectly reasonable" if done with reverence), eucharistic adoration as an extension of Mass and not individualistic piety, and the need to recognize that Communion is not for every person at every Mass ("the Eucharist is not worthless if one does not receive Communion").

Pope Benedict's expertise on these questions helped explain why several bishops who addressed the synod quoted his writings on the Eucharist.

Would it offend the bishops if the pope decides there's no need to say any more?

"The pope is free to do what he wants. It's clear the synod is a consultative body," said Father Joseph W. Tobin, superior general of the Redemptorists and a synod participant.

"I would be disappointed only because I respect the pope as a theologian," Father Tobin said. He said he thought that, despite all that's been written about the Eucharist, there remain unanswered questions and things that need to be clarified.

Father Tobin said he'd be surprised if the pope, a teacher at heart, would let that opportunity pass.

One option for the pope is simply to publish the synod's final recommendations, something Pope John Paul did in 1985, after an "extraordinary" synod session on the Second Vatican Council.

It was Pope John Paul who added most to the growing list of Vatican documents over the last 25 years. He published his first encyclical less than five months after his election, and within his first year had written three other important documents.

Pope Benedict has yet to publish a major papal document, although he recently completed work on a 46-page encyclical for release in early December. Sources told Catholic News Service that the encyclical was a spiritual meditation focused in large part on "eros" (love) and "logos" (the word) and their relationship to the person of Christ.

In the first six months of his papacy, Pope Benedict has also produced far fewer messages and given fewer speeches than his predecessor.

The slowdown in production may allow the Vatican to catch up with the compilation of papal pronouncements, a monumental task under Pope John Paul. As of this fall, the Vatican had published the late pope's complete teachings up to June 2003. They occupy 54 volumes, each averaging more than 1,500 pages.

[BeeSoubirous]

Victor, I'm trying to get a question about the recent synod answered. Catholic Answers
(Jimmy Akin, catholic.com) said the bishops had on their agenda "blessings in lieu of communion." Do you know, or can you tell me how to find out, what the decision was on this matter? Thanks, BeeSoubirous (known to you as Annthropology)

[michel]

Originally Posted by BeeSoubirous

Victor, I'm trying to get a question about the recent synod answered. Catholic Answers
(Jimmy Akin, catholic.com) said the bishops had on their agenda "blessings in lieu of communion." Do you know, or can you tell me how to find out, what the decision was on this matter? Thanks, BeeSoubirous (known to you as Annthropology)

Hi BeeSoubirous,

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