Hollerich voices satisfaction with European phase of Synod

“This is the first time that we are really talking to each other, Christians from Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Western Europe,” says Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich. The 64-year-old Jesuit archbishop of Luxembourg, who is the general rapporteur of the Synod on synodality, says Europe’s continental phase of the Synod has gone well. 

Bishops and representatives of all the People of God on the Old Continent have been in Prague this week to move the synodal process forward. They concluded their joint discussions on Thursday and now the heads of the national episcopal conferences will meet alone behind closed doors through Sunday in the Czech capital 

La Croix’s Malo Tresca spoke with Cardinal Hollerich about his hopes for the future of the synodal process.

La Croix: What is your assessment of this unprecedented European assembly?

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich: I feel comforted, because we know the differences that exist between the Churches in Europe. We have been able to respectfully listen to each other and to hear different opinions. We will be able to discern and move forward together.

I was particularly impressed by the sharing we had with those who followed the session online. I had the impression that they tried to ask themselves good questions about synodality.

This Synod is naturally focused on communion, mission and participation. We have too often forgotten this dynamic, which invites us not to be a Church turned in on itself. We must be a Church that goes out, that proclaims Christ, that is at the service of others – and not preoccupied with its own problems.

Do you think that the Prague assembly was "overly" preoccupied with its own problems? And if so, which ones?

At times. Some are pushing for women's ordination to the priesthood, while others see that as a catastrophe. Some are in favor of welcoming homosexuals, while others find that they are sinners we can’t associate with. But all these questions – as much the question of the place of women in the Church as that of all the marginalized, including the poor – are not problems to be studied in themselves.

We are not having a synod on homosexuality, or a synod on women's priesthood. I'm not saying that these are not important issues! But that is not the point. These topics can be addressed in the context of synodality, participation and mission.

Is there not a risk that the continuation of this process will fracture the churches of Europe a little more?

I don't think so. In fact, I think the opposite. This is the first time that we are really talking to each other, Christians from Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Western Europe. So I am very satisfied. It could have become much more brutal.

On the other hand, have you identified any major points of convergence?

That of being a missionary Church, although we miss the young people. They have another way of thinking, of feeling things; they already have a foot in the digital era that is beginning, when the rest of us have often already turned our eyes backwards... Their presence is essential in the Church, they have the right to be heard.

There has also been a lot of talk about women: this is very important for me. I don't want to talk now about the question of priesthood, of ordination… we need to go deeper. But there are things that can already be done in the dioceses. Women have things to say, and another way to react. When I think of the questions of abuse, I think that a female presence would have avoided many problems.

The second part of this assembly will be characterized by a reflection among the heads of the episcopal conferences... What will their approach be and why is it necessary?

I am already very satisfied that it has been said that the assembly of bishops and heads of episcopal conferences will not correct what has been produced. They will make their own document – and we will see what form it takes. 

I hope I'm wrong, but I think an assembly of bishops can be more complicated than any other ecclesial assembly. It is not a matter of politics, it is a matter of getting together to go into the future, to go and proclaim Christ together and serve the world.

The challenges are great. At the Synod in Rome [note: in October 2023 and October 2024], it will be the bishops, above all…  not only, but above all them  (who will decide). This is their function in the Church, but there are fears...

What are they?

First of all, there is the fear that the bishops will reverse the discourse. I don't think the bishops can do that. People feel too invested in this process. I'm sure public opinion and the laity would not tolerate it. 

The bishops complete a discernment; but the subject of the discernment has been given by all the People of God. So we can't say, "Now we're going to do something completely different". That would not be correct.