Welcoming LGBT+ people and divorcees, women's square: the synod of the Catholic Church officially opened on Wednesday, October 4 with a mass in St. Peter's Square in front of all participants and thousands of faithful, before the beginning of discussions in the afternoon. Faced with the "expectations", "hopes" and "some fears" aroused by this Synod, Francis recalled that it was "not a Parliament".

General view of the opening Mass of the Synod of Bishops led by Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican, October 4, 2023. © Guglielmo Mangiapane, Reuters

"We are not here to conduct a parliamentary meeting or a reform plan" but to "walk together," he said, warning against "some dangerous temptations: to be a rigid Church, which arms itself against the world and looks back; to be a lukewarm Church, which submits to the fashions of the world; to be a tired, inward-looking Church."

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Pope Francis greets the new cardinals during the opening Mass of the Synod of Bishops in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican, October 4, 2023. © Guglielmo Mangiapane, Reuters

"The next synod will not be able to back down"

Since his election in 2013, the bishop of Rome has been working to reform the governance of the Church, which he wants to be less pyramidal and closer to the faithful, even if it means arousing strong internal resistance.

The main novelty for this 16th edition of a consultative institution created by Paul VI in 1965, lay people and fifty women will be able to vote, a first qualified as a "revolution".

Members of the clergy arrive before the opening Mass of the Synod of Bishops in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican, October 4, 2023. © Guglielmo Mangiapane, Reuters

"Among bishops there is an ecclesiastical culture. Among the laity, it will no longer work: they will not be satisfied with good words, there will be a requirement on procedure, the will for change, efficiency", notes a wise observer of the Holy See.

"We have put our finger in a gear, the next synod will not be able to back down," he said. "In this sense, Francis is moving the lines, that's why many are afraid," he told AFP.

Because if this plenary assembly will be followed by a second session in October 2024, making less likely a concrete result in the short term, expectations remain high.

Pope Francis leads the opening Mass of the Synod of Bishops in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican, October 4, 2023. © Guglielmo Mangiapane, Reuters

The role of women

A preparatory document published in June by the Vatican noted a "unanimous" concern of Catholics about the role of women, but also "concrete measures to reach people who feel excluded from the Church because of their affectivity and sexuality."

The consultations highlighted divergent visions sometimes far removed from those of the Vatican, especially between the German and American churches, going so far as to raise fears of a schism within the Catholic Church and its 1.3 billion faithful.

Women protest for the ordination of women ahead of the opening of the Synod of Bishops near the Vatican, in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2023. © Remo Casilli, Reuters

In a sign of the sensitivity of the subject, the Vatican decided to limit communication on the content of the debates, in contrast to the transparency required in previous phases.

With AFP

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