The Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Alphonsus Cullinan, has said the Irish national synthesis sent to Rome revealed “an attitude to what could be termed ‘traditional’ faith which is mildly dismissive.” As <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2022/08/30/bishop-criticises-synthesis-report-sent-to-rome-on-behalf-of-irish-catholic-church/">reported</a> in the <em>Irish Times</em>, the bishop felt the synodal process which led to the synthesis was rushed, while “a number of things emerge from the synthesis which challenge church teaching which she has held since the beginning”.
As the <em>Catholic Herald</em> recently <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/go-woke-go-broke-why-irish-churchs-liberal-turn-should-be-treated-with-caution/">reported</a>, the Church in Ireland <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2022/08/15/need-for-change-in-catholic-church-is-evident-to-anyone-with-two-eyes-in-their-head-says-archbishop/">sent a synthesis of 26 diocesan reports seeking reforms to the Vatican</a> following Pope Francis’s launch of a worldwide consultation in advance of the Synod on Synodality in 2023. The diocesan phase began with consultations throughout Ireland’s 26 dioceses, with all 26 reports – alongside 29 submissions from various Catholic organisations and individuals - considered at a national assembly last June. A steering committee prepared a synthesis report which was sent to Rome last month, calling for a greater role for women, removal of mandatory celibacy, and changes in attitudes to matters LGBT.
The Archbishop of Dublin - Dermot Farrell (pictured) – argued that the Church across Europe is on “a journey towards another way of living, with God, and with each other”. In reality, Europe is actually split by a <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/is-a-catholic-super-state-about-to-emerge-in-eastern-europe/">cultural Iron Curtain</a>. Meanwhile, if this is an attempt by the Irish Church to bring Catholics back into pews, it could be wishful thinking: a liberal drift by mainline Protestantism has failed to arrest the decline in Church attendance. Indeed, a move in the social justice direction has turned many Catholics in Latin America <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/how-the-catholic-church-can-reverse-its-collapse-in-latin-america/">away from Catholicism and towards Evangelicalism</a>.
The intervention of Bishop Cullinan could perhaps herald a new pushback. The cleric, believed to be the only Irish bishop who is a member of Opus Dei, said “from my own interaction with some ‘conservative’ or traditional’ believers it was clear that many did not engage with the synodal process at a parish level”. He suggested that “if the Church in Ireland is worried about groups on the margins of Irish society then we will have to dialogue in a more serious way with what might be termed ‘traditional Catholics’”.
Bishop Cullinan said he left the national assembly in Athlone “realising that we had heard very little on mission and the missionary outreach of the church”, wondering “where was the challenge to the prevailing culture of individualism and secularism? Are we just giving in to current trends and forgetting about the wisdom of past generations and the long tradition of the church?” Bishop Cullinan also felt that “generally speaking many of the submissions from the 26 dioceses show a difference in emphases to the final synthesis”.
There has been considerable criticism that the synodal consultations have <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/should-the-synod-on-synodality-be-ignored/">been far from representative</a> while overrepresenting liberal groups. Take <a href="https://www.cbcew.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/06/synod-national-synthesis-england-wales.pdf">England and Wales</a>, where the 30,000 estimated participants represent under 10 per cent of all Mass-going Catholics and under 1 per cent of all Catholics. In Ireland meanwhile - based on reports from the <a href="https://dublindiocese.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Dublin-Diocesan-Synod-Report.pdf">Archdiocese of Dublin</a> - there has been participation of just over 1 per cent. Could the intervention by the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore then inspire others, not just in Ireland but elsewhere in Europe, especially Germany, where the Synodal Path threatens actual schism within the Church?
For the Pope, the Synod on Synodality is a major legacy-building exercise and its completion in 2023 will be a milestone for the Pontiff. For some traditionalists however, it is seen as a waste of time due to its unrepresentative nature, while many believe it is undermining the foundations of the Church. A voice in the wilderness perhaps, the bishop’s words may herald a new pushback against the liberal turn of the Church in Ireland.
