My ‘Dog Days’ Blues: Tension, realism, and the 2023 Synod on synodality

Here’s why I strongly believe that any assessment of how the notion of synodality will play out in the upcoming synod must respect the prudential tension of two standards.

August 13, 2021 Sister Renée Mirkes Features, Opinion 8 Print

Pope Francis leads a Mass to close a three-week Synod of Bishops for the Amazon at the Vatican in this Oct. 27, 2019, file photo. (CNS photo/Remo Casilli, Reuters)

REWIND: It’s August. My childhood chums and I are nine going on ten. We’re running through lawn sprinklers trying to escape the stifling heat that visits our Midwest town every ‘Dog Days’ season. We aren’t the normal, cheerful, carefree kids we were in June and July—that’s for sure. We’re both sad and mad that the ‘Dog Days’ heat-induced growth of algae has infested our favorite swimming holes—the two fresh, inland lakes that border our city—making them inhospitable for swimming. No denying it. We’re afflicted with the funky melancholy that, like a wet blanket, hangs on all of us every darn August.

After the sprinkler stint, and for lack of better things to do, we begin to desolately kick stones down the street. At the end of our block, we’re stopped by a wave from Mrs. H, one of our favorite neighborhood moms. She stands up in front of her flower bed and declares ceremoniously: ‘I know what’s ailing the whole lot of you.’ ‘What?’ we yell back. ‘You’re suffering from the ‘Dog Days’ Blues.’

Our limited appreciation of musical genres accounts for our failure to grasp what the Blues were but, so as to save face, we waved and said something like ‘Oh-h-h, OK, Mrs. H,’ while we continued despondently to kick the stones in the opposite direction. However, I guarantee you, that night, every last one of us asked our parents the same question: What did Mrs. H mean by diagnosing us with the ‘Dog Days’ Blues?

The Cause & Effect: Here’s the general gist of what I remember from my parents’ explanation. ‘Well, Mrs. H was probably referring to the fact that you’re in the midst of a bit of tension—on one side, you’re having to say good-bye to the hazy, crazy, lazy days of summer and, on another, you’re having to stare down the prospect of school, whose studied discipline appears (mind you, I say appears) to rob you of all freedom. That tension leads to sadness—the Blues. You know, the music where the singer and/or instrumentalist flattens even the flat notes, and just pours out their grief over something that’s near and dear—like your summer set of freedoms—that’s now been taken from them—like your suspicion of school with all of its apparent restraints.’ My response was to do what kids do: ask another question. ‘So how do I shake this feeling, these blues?’

The Cure: ‘Don’t run away from school,’ my parents counseled. ‘Embrace it. Love that building that sits just two blocks away. See it as a way to resolve the tension that lies at the source of your August ‘Dog Days’ Blues. Embrace school for what it really is: a place where you and your friends can learn the real meaning of freedom. Not so much the freedom to do whatever you want, but the ability to excel in always choosing what’s right, so that your next summer will be even more fun, even more exhilarating. See school and the virtues it teaches and the vices it warns you about as the gateway to character excellence, one of the best means you have—right in your neighborhood—to grow into a really good person, a good daughter, a good citizen, a saint!

FAST FORWARD: It’s August, 2021. Now I’m an adult consecrated religious woman, someone who writes, lectures and does consulting in bioethics, and somebody who—would you believe—is suffering from a relapse of my puerile ‘Dog Days’ Blues.

The Cause & Effect: You see, during the past June and July, I was swept up into the euphoria of a theological ‘high.’ I was convinced realization of the lofty conceptual descriptions of a synodal Church—its modus operandi and modus vivendi—would be just the ticket for a Church in crisis, a Church reeling from, among other things, the wounds of clerical pedophilia, Vatican mishandling of ecclesial finances, and the consistent uptick of “nones”—those baptized Catholics who’ve left the Church and who prove it by answering polls assessing their religious affiliation with “none.”

I was viscerally heartened by what I viewed as an opportunity to weave the “Feminine Genius” into the fabric of the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops. First, with the choice of a consecrated religious woman to not only serve as an Undersecretary but to also cast a deliberative vote alongside the bishops. And, second, by the choice of a Sister from my own congregation to assist in the Secretariat’s preparations and execution of the October 2023 Synod.

I had explicit confidence that realized synodality—lay men and women united with their respective bishops, and the college of bishops united with and under the Pope all traveling together (sun) on the same path (hodos), the salvific road of Jesus, joyfully proclaiming His “good news” that anyone who believes in Him may not die but may have eternal life—would garner a rich harvest of ecclesial revitalization. Just what the doctor ordered.

So, you ask, what caused my relapse into ‘Dog Days’ Blues?

A good dose of realism. Midst the stifling heat of August, 2021, I began to examine how things are going at the current German national synod of bishops. I tried to square Pope Francis’ recent restrictions on the use of the Tridentine Mass against his synodal insistence on listening to and respecting the opinions of all baptized Catholics. I concurred with the hermeneutic of suspicion that grounds various critiques of the ’23 Synod by theological experts I respect.

Before you know it, I was enmeshed in the same melancholic funk of my childhood’s ‘Dog Days’ Blues. Trapped by a gloomy, cramped tension, all fueled by concern over a possible dystopian outcome to the ’23 Synod. In short, I was spider-webbed by the concern that when the rubber hits the road, synodal praxis at the Roman 2023 synod will, like the German synod, fail to match its original theoretical heights. In plain English, instead of being the solution from heaven, this next universal synod could turn out to be a Trojan horse.

Despite my wariness, I strongly believe any assessment of how the notion of synodality will play out in the upcoming synod must respect the prudential tension of two standards. First, the old Latin principle: abusus non tollit usus (i.e., just because the idea of synodality could be abused should not prohibit attempts to realize it). And, second, the norm of Ronald Reagan: ‘trust but verify’ (i.e., pursue each phase of the synod, but with guarded caution at every juncture).

That’s to say, the bishops, like our President’s Secret Service, should protect the lay/collegial unity with and under the Petrine primacy by carefully scrutinizing the generally well-intentioned synodal crowd for possible outliers—like those reportedly identified at the German synod:

  1. Political partisans who prefer to balkanize the Church, perhaps to the point of schism.
  2. Power brokers who view exercise of Church authority less as gospel servanthood and more as a grasp for power, as in wielding-control-over-others.
  3. Lay and religious women who concern themselves more with feminist theories of sexual empowerment than with optimizing the complementarity of male and female genius when it comes to listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit, and
  4. Intellectual activists who subscribe to a horizontal, democratized, anthropocentric, and individualist ecclesiology.

The Cure: The ultimate resolution of the tension of anyone’s synod-related ‘Dog Days’ Blues is, as St. Jane Frances de Chantal counsels: “To rise above self, to rise above all feelings, opinions and dislikes, so that we gaze upon God,” so that we attune ourselves, “by a simple assent,” to the directives of His Holy Spirit.

And where can every baptized Catholic who’s involved in the ‘23 Synod—whether male or female layperson, or bishop, or Pope—find the courage to forget self? Find the wisdom to search only for the face of God? And the freedom to listen only to the voice of his Holy Spirit? The Eucharist—of course! The one Divine remedy open to all who will plan, participate in, and implement the 2023 Synod. The one reality capable of purifying each synod participant so that they’re guided in their respective synodal activities, not by their own lights, but by the light of Divine truth, the Holy Spirit, the personal truth that is Jesus.

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About Sister Renée Mirkes 24 Articles
Sister Renée Mirkes, OSF, PhD a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, directs the Center for NaProEthics, the ethics division of the Saint Paul VI Institute, Omaha, NE. She received her masters degree in moral theology from the University of St. Thomas, Houston, TX (1988) and her doctorate in theological ethics from Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI (1995).

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Synod on Synodality: Read the full list of delegates

July 8, 2023 Catholic News Agency 2
Pope Francis led the opening procession of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region from St. Peter’s Basilica to the Synod Hall where he led the opening prayer, Oct. 7, 2019. / null

CNA Newsroom, Jul 8, 2023 / 08:30 am (CNA).

The Vatican has published the names of those participating in the upcoming Synod on Synodality assembly in October, including laypeople who will be full voting delegates at a Catholic Church synod for the first time.

The delegates are made up of representatives selected by bishops’ conferences and Eastern Catholic Churches, leaders in the Roman Curia, and 120 delegates personally selected by Pope Francis.

In total, 363 people will be able to vote in the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, according to statistics released by the Holy See Press Office on July 7. Among them, 54 of the voting delegates are women.

In addition to the voting members, 75 other participants have been invited to the synod assembly to act as facilitators, experts, or spiritual assistants.

Here is full list of participants:

President 

Pope Francis 

General Secretary 

Cardinal Mario Grech of Malta

President’s Delegates

His Beatitude Ibrahim Isaac Sedrak, Patriarch of Alexandria, head of the Synod of The Coptic Catholic Church, Egypt. 

Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, Archbishop of Mexico City, Mexico 

Archbishop Gerardo Cabrera Herrera, O.F.M., of Guayaquil, Ecuador

Archbishop Timothy John Costelloe, S.D.B., of Perth, Australia

Bishop Daniel Ernest Flores of Brownsville, Texas, USA 

Bishop Lúcio Andrice Muandula of Xai-Xai, Mozambique

Father Giuseppe Bonfrate (Italy) 

Sister Maria De Los Dolores Palencia, C.S.J., Mexico

Momoko Nishimura, S.E.M.D. (Japan) 

General Relator

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, S.J., Archbishop of Luxembourg

Special Secretaries

Father Giacomo Costa, S.J., Italy, president of Fondazione Culturale San Fedele of Milan, national spiritual companion of the Italian Christian Workers Associations 

Father Riccardo Battocchio, Italy, Rector of the Almo Collegio Capranica, president of the Italian Theological Association

Commission for Information 

President: Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, Vatican City 

Secretary: Sheila Leocádia Pires, communications officer, Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC), Mozambique

From the Eastern Catholic Churches

His Beatitude Ibrahim Isaac Sedrak, Coptic Church Patriarch of Alexandria, head of the Synod of the Coptic Catholic Church

His Beatitude Youssef Absi, patriarch of Antioch of the Greek-Melkites, head of the Synod of the Greek Melkite Catholic Church

His Beatitude Ignace Youssef Iii Younan, Patriarch of Antioch of the Syrians, head of the Synod of the Syrian Catholic Church

Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï, O.M.M., Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites, head of the Synod of the Maronite Church

Bishop Mounir Khairallah of Batrun of the Maronites

Cardinal Louis Raphaël I Sako, Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, head of the Synod of the Chaldean Church

His Beatitude Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian, I.C.P.B., Patriarch of Cilicia of Armenians, head of the Synod of the Armenian Catholic Church

His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Halyc, Kyiv, head of the Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

Bishop Teodor Martynyuk, M.S.U., Titular Bishop of Mopta, auxiliary bishop of Ternopil-Zboriv

Monsignor Bohdan Dzyurakh, C.SS.R., Apostolic Exarch of Germany and Scandinavia, Titular Bishop of Vagada

Cardinal George Alencherry, Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly, head of the Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church

Metropolitan Archbishop Andrews Thazhath of Trichur, president of the Catholic bishops’ conference of India

Archbishop Joseph Pamplany of Tellicherry, India

His Beatitude Cardinal Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, head of the Synod of the Syro-Malankara Church

Bishop Cristian Dumitru Crişan, Titular Bishop of Abula, Auxiliary Bishop of Fagaras Si Alba Iulia Dei Romanians

Cardinal Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, Metropolitan Archbishop of Addis Abeba, president of the Ethiopian and Eritrean bishops’ conference, president of the Council of the Ethiopian Church

Metropolitan Archbishop William Charles Skurla of the Byzantine Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, president of the Council of the Ruthenian Church  

Bishop Milan Lach, S.J., auxiliary bishop of Bratislava, Slovakia

Metropolitan Archbishop Menghesteab Tesfamariam of Asmara, president of the Council of the Eritrean Church 

Metropolitan Archbishop Fülöp Kocsis of Hajdúdorog for the Byzantine Catholics, president of the Council of the Hungarian Church 

Episcopal Conferences 

Africa

Northern Africa (CERNA)

Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero, S.D.B., Archbishop of Rabat, Morocco

Angola and Sao Tome

Bishop Joaquim Nhanganga Tyombe of of Uíje, Angola

Benin

Archbishop Coffi Roger Anoumou, Bishop of Lokossa

Botswana, South Africa, and Eswatini

Archbishop Anton Dabula Mpako, Archbishop of Pretoria, Military Ordinary of South Africa

Burkina Faso and Niger

Archbishop Gabriel Sayaogo of Koupéla, Burkina Faso

Burundi

Archbishop Georges Bizimana, Bishop of Ngozi

Cameroon

Archbishop Emmanuel Dassi Youfang of Bafia

Bishop Philippe Alain Mbarga, of Ebolowa

Chad

Bishop Nicolas Nadji Bab of Laï

Republic of Congo

Bishop Ildevert Mathurin Mouanga of Kinkala

Democratic Republic of Congo

Archbishop Marcel Utembi Tapa of Kisangani

Bishop Pierre-Célestin Tshitoko Mamba of Luebo

Côte D’ivoire (Ivory Coast)

Archbishop Marcellin Kouadio Yao of Daloa

Ethiopia

Archbishop Markos Ghebremedhin, C.M., Apostolic Vicar of Jimma-Bonga, Titular Bishop of Gummi of Proconsulari

Gabon

Archbishop Jean-Patrick Iba-Ba of Libreville

Gambia and Sierra Leone

Archbishop Edward Tamba Charles of Freetown, Sierra Leone

Ghana

Bishop Emmanuel Kofi Fianu, S.V.D., of Ho

Archbishop Gabriel Charles Palmer-Buckle of Cape Coast

Guinea

Archbishop Vincent Coulibaly, of Conarkry

Equatorial Guinea

Bishop Juan Domingo-Beka Esono Ayang, C.M.F., of Mongomo, president of the Episcopal Conference

Kenya

Archbishop Martin Kivuva Musonde of Mombasa, president of the Episcopal Conference

Archbishop Anthony Muheria of Nyeri

Lesotho

Bishop John Joale Tlhomola, S.C.P., of Mohale’s Hoek

Liberia

Bishop Anthony Fallah Borwah of Gbarnga

Madagascar

Auxiliary Bishop Jean Pascal Andriantsoavina of Antananavarivo,  Titular Bishop of Zallata

Malawi

Archbishop George Desmond Tambala, O.C.D., of Lilongwe, Apostolic Administrator of Zomba

Mali

Bishop Hassa Florent Koné of San

Mozambique

Archbishop Inácio Saure, I.M.C., of Nampula

Namibia

Archbishop Liborius Ndumbukuti Nashenda, O.M.I., of Windhoek

Nigeria

Bishop Donatus Aihmiosion Ogun, O.S.A., of Uromi

Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama of Abuja

Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji of Owerri

Indian Ocean (CEDOI)

Bishop Alain Harel of Port Victoria

Central African Republic

Bishop Nestor-Désiré Nongo-Aziagbia, S.M.A., of Bossangoa

Rwanda

Bishop Edouard Sinayobye of Cyangugu

Senegal, Mauritania, Cape Verde, and Guinea-Bissau

Bishop Ildo Augusto Dos Santos Lopes Fortes of Mindelo, Cape Verde

Sudan

Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla of Juba, South Sudan

Tanzania

Archbishop Jude Thaddaeus Ruwa’ichi, O.F.M. Cap., of Dar-Es-Salaam

Bishop Flavian Kassala of Geita

Togo

Bishop Dominique Banlène Guigbile of Dapaong

Uganda

Bishop Sanctus Lino Wanok of Lira

Zambia

Archbishop Ignatius Chama of Kasama

Zimbabwe

Bishop Raphael Macebo Mabuza Ncube of Hwange

Americas

Antilles

Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon of Porto of Spain

Argentina

Bishop Óscar Vicente Ojea of San Isidro

Archbishop Marcelo Daniel Colombo of Mendoza

Archbishop Carlos Alfonso Azpiroz Costa, O.P. of Bahía Blanca

Bolivia

Bishop Pedro Luis Fuentes Valencia, C.P., of La Paz, Titular Bishop of Temuniana

Brazil

Archbishop Emeritus Geraldo Lyrio Rocha of Mariana

Bishop Joel Portella Amado of São Sebastião do Rio De Janeiro, Titular Bishop of Carmeiano

Bishop Pedro Carlos Cipollini of Santo André

Archbishop Leonardo Ulrich Steiner, O.F.M., of Manaus

Bishop Dirceu De Oliveira Medeiros of Camaçari

Canada

Bishop Marc Pelchat of Québec, Titular Bishop of Lambesi

Bishop Raymond Poisson of Saint-Jérôme-Mont-Laurier

Archbishop John Michael Miller, C.S.B., of Vancouver

Bishop William Terrence Mcgrattan of Calgary

Chile

Archbishop Luis Fernando Ramos Pérez of Puerto Montt

Bishop Carlos Alberto Godoy Labraña of Santiago de Chile, Titular Bishop of Pudenziana

Colombia

Archbishop Luis José Rueda Aparicio of Bogotá

Archbishop Ricardo Antonio Tobón Restrepo of Medellín

Archbishop José Miguel Gómez Rodríguez of Manizales

Costa Rica

Bishop Javier Gerardo Román Arias of Limón

Cuba

Bishop Marcos Pirán of Holguín, Titular Bishop of Boseta

Ecuador

Archbishop Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera, O.F.M., of Guayaquil

Bishop David Israel De La Torre Altamirano, Ss.Cc., of Quito, Titular Bishop of Bagai

El Salvador

Bishop William Ernesto Iraheta Rivera of Santiago De María

Guatemala

Bishop Juan Manuel Cuá Ajacúm of Los Altos, Titular Bishop of Rosella

Haiti

Archbishop Launay Saturné of Cap-Haïtie, president of the Episcopal Conference

Honduras

Archbishop José Vicente Nácher Tatay, C.M., of Tegucigalpa

Mexico

Bishop Gerardo Díaz Vázquez of Tacámbaro

Bishop Oscar Efraín Tamez Villarreal of Ciudad Victoria

Archbishop Faustino Armendáriz Jiménez of Durango

Bishop Adolfo Miguel Castaño Fonseca of Azcapotzalco

Nicaragua

Bishop Sócrates René Sándigo Jirón of León 

Panama

Bishop Edgardo Cedeño Muñoz, S.V.D. of Penonomé

Paraguay

Bishop Miguel Ángel Cabello Almada of Concepción En Paraguay

Peru

Archbishop Héctor Miguel Cabrejos Vidarte, O.F.M., of Trujillo

Bishop Edinson Edgardo Farfán Córdova, O.S.A., Bishop Prelate of Chuquibambilla

Cardinal Archbishop Pedro Ricardo Barreto Jimeno, S.J., of Huancayo

Puerto Rico

Bishop Rubén Antonio González Medina, C.M.F., of Ponce

Dominican Republic

Bishop Ramón Alfredo De La Cruz Baldera of San Francisco De Macorís

United States of America

 Bishop Timothy Broglio, Military Ordinary of the United States of America

Bishop Daniel Ernest Flores of Brownsville, Texas

Bishop Robert Emmet Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota

Bishop Kevin Carl Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana

Cardinal Timothy Michael Dolan, Archbishop of New York

Uruguay

Bishop Milton Luis Tróccoli Cebedio of Maldonado-Punta Del Este-Minas

Venezuela

Bishop Juan Carlos Bravo Salazar of Petare

Archbishop José Luis Azuaje Ayala of Maracaibo

Asia

Central Asia 

Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, I.M.C., Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Bangladesh

Archbishop Bejoy Nicephorus D’cruze, O.M.I., of Dhaka

China (Chinese Regional Bishops’ Conference)

Bishop Norbert Pu of Kiayi, Taiwan

Korea

Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-Taick, O.C.D., of Seoul

Philippines

Bishop Pablo Virgilio S. David of Kalookan

Cardinal Archbishop Jose F. Advincula of Manila

Bishop Mylo Hubert C. Vergara of Pasig

Japan 

Archbishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, S.V.D., of Tokyo

India (CCBI)

Cardinal Filipe Neri António Sebastião Do Rosário Ferrão, Archbishop of Goa and Damão

Archbishop George Antonysamy of Madras and Mylapore

Bishop Alex Joseph Vadakumthala of Kannur

Cardinal Anthony Poola, Archbishop of Hyderabad

Indonesia

Bishop Antonius Subianto Bunjamin, O.S.C., of Bandung

Bishop Adrianus Sunarko, O.F.M., of Pangkalpinang

Iran

Archbishop Dominique Mathieu, O.F.M. Conv., of Tehran-Ispahan of the Latins

Laos and Cambodia

Father Enrique Figaredo Alvargonzalez, S.J., Apostolic Prefect of Battambang, Cambodia 

Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei

Cardinal William Seng Chye Goh, Archbishop of Singapore

Myanmar

Bishop John Saw Yaw Han of Kengtung

Arab countries

Monsignor Paolo Martinelli, O.F.M. Cap., Apostolic Vicar of South Arabia

Pakistan

Monsignor Khalid Rehmat, O.F.M. Cap., Apostolic Vicar of Quetta

Sri Lanka

Bishop Raymond Kingsley Wickramasinghe of Galle

Thailand

Cardinal Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij, Archbishop of Bangkok

East Timor

Cardinal Virgilio Do Carmo Da Silva, S.D.B., Archbishop of Díli

Vietnam

Bishop Joseph Đo Manh Hùng of Phan Thiêt

Bishop Louis Nguyên Anh Tuán of Hà Tinh

Europe 

Albania

Archbishop Arjan Dodaj, F.D.C., of Tiranë-Durrës

Austria

Archbishop Franz Lackner, O.F.M., of Salzburg

Belgium

Bishop Koenraad Vanhoutte of Mechelen-Brussels, Titular Bishop of Tagora

Belarus

Bishop Aliaksandr Yasheuski, S.D.B., of Minsk-Mohilev, Titular Bishop of Fornos Major

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bishop Marko Semren, O.F.M., of Banja Luka, Titular Bishop of Abaradira

Bulgaria

Bishop Strahil Veselinov Kavalenov of Nicopolis

The Czech Republic 

Bishop Zdenek Wasserbauer of Praha, Titular Bishop of Butrint

International Episcopal Conference of Sts. Cyril and Methodius

Archbishop Ladislav Nemet, S.V.D., of Beograd, Serbia, president of the Episcopal Conference

Croatia

Bishop Ivan Ćurić, Auxiliary of Ðakovo-Osijek, Titular Bishop of Tela

Russian Federation

Archbishop Paolo Pezzi, F.S.C.B., of Mother of God in Moscow

France

Bishop Alexandre Joly of Troyes

Bishop Jean-Marc Eychenne of Grenoble-Vienne

Bishop Matthieu Rougé of Nanterre

Bishop Benoît Bertrand of Mende

Germany

Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg

Bishop Bertram Johannes Meier of Augsburg

Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck of Essen, Military Ordinary for the Federal Republic of Germany

Great Britain (England & Wales)

Archbishop John Wilson of Southwark

Bishop Marcus Stock of Leeds

Great Britain (Scotland)

Bishop Brian Mcgee of Argyll and the Isles

Greece

Archbishop Georgios Altouvas of Corfu, Zakynthos, and Kefalonia

Ireland

Bishop Brendan Leahy of Limerick

Bishop Alexander Aloysius McGuckian, S.J., of Raphoe

Italy

Archbishop Roberto Repole of Turin, Bishop of Susa

Bishop Franco Giulio Brambilla of Novara

Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti-Vasto

Archbishop Domenico Battaglia of Naples

Archbishop Mario Enrico Delpini of Milan

Latvia

Archbishop Zbigņev Stankevičs of Riga

Lithuania

Bishop Algirdas Jurevičius of Telšiai

Malta

Archbishop Charles Jude Scicluna of Malta

Netherlands

Bishop Theodorus Cornelis Maria Hoogenboom of Utrecht, Titular Bishop of Bistue

Poland

Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki of Poznań

Archbishop Adrian Józef Galbas, S.A.C., Coadjutor Archbishop of Katowice

Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski of Kraków

Portugal

Bishop Virgílio do Nascimento Antunes of Coimbra

Bishop José Ornelas Carvalho, S.C.I., of Leiria-Fátima

Romania

Archbishop Gergely Kovács of Alba Iulia, Apostolic Administrator, Ad Nutum Sanctæ Sedis of the Ordinariate for Catholics of the Armenian Rite residing in Romania

Scandinavia

Bishop Czeslaw Kozon of København, Denmark

Slovakia

Bishop Marek Forgáč of Košice, Titular Bishop of Seleuciana

Slovenia

Bishop Maksimilijan Matjaž of Celje

Spain

Archbishop Vicente Jiménez Zamora, Archbishop Emeritus of Zaragoza 

Archbishop Luis Javier Argüello García of Valladolid

Bishop Francisco Simón Conesa Ferrer of Solsona

Switzerland 

Bishop Felix Gmür of Basel

Turkey

Bishop Massimiliano Palinuro, Apostolic Vicar of Istanbul, Apostolic Administrator Vacant See of the Apostolic Exarchate of Istanbul 

Ukraine

Bishop Oleksandr Yazlovetskiy of Kyiv-Zhytomyr, Titular Bishop of Tulana

Hungary

Bishop Gábor Mohos Mohos of Esztergom-Budapest, Titular Bishop of Iliturgi

Oceania

Australia

Archbishop Patrick Michael O’Regan of Adelaide

Bishop Shane Anthony Mackinlay of Sandhurst

New Zealand

Archbishop Paul Gerard Martin, S.M., Coadjutor of Wellington

Pacific

Bishop Paul Patrick Donoghue, S.M., of Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands

Bishop Dariusz Piotr Kałuża, M.S.F., of Bougainville

Bishops Without an Episcopal Conference

Europe

Archbishop Selim Jean Sfeir of Cyprus of the Maronites

Presidents of International Meetings of Episcopal Conferences

Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa And Madagascar (SECAM)

Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, O.F.M. Cap.

Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC)

Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, S.D.B.

Federation of Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Oceania (FCBCO)

Bishop Antony Randazzo

Council of Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE)

Bishop Gintaras Grušas

Latin American Bishops’ Council (CELAM)

Bishop Jaime Spengler, O.F.M.

The Union of Superiors General and the International Union of Superiors General

Sister Nadia Coppa, A.S.C., president of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG)

Sister Elizabeth Mary Davis, R.S.M.

Brother Mark Hilton, S.C., Superior General of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart

Sister Elysée Izerimana, Op. S.D.N., General Councilor of the Working Sisters of the Holy House of Nazareth

Abbot Mauro-Giuseppe Lepori, O. Cist., Abbot General of the Cistercian Order

Sister Patricia Murray, I.B.V.M., executive secretary of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG)

Sister Maria Nirmalini, A.C., Superior General of the Sisters of the Apostolic Carmelite Order

Brother Ernesto Sánchez, F.M.S., Superior General of the Marist Brothers 

Father  Arturo Sosa, S.I., Superior General of the Society of Jesus

Father Gebresilasie Tadesse Tesfaye, M.C.C.J., Superior General of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus

Heads of Dicasteries of the Roman Curia

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State

Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, Sostituto for the Secretariat of State

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for the Relations with States

Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization 

Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization 

Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández, future Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, papal almoner, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity

Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches

Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect for the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, M.C.C.J., Prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue

Archbishop Robert Francis Prevost, O.S.A., Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops

Cardinal Lazarus You Heung-Sik, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy

Cardinal João Braz De Aviz, Prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life And Societies of Apostolic Life

Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family And Life

Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery of the Causes of Saints

Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.

Cardinal José Tolentino De Mendonça, Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture And Education

Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., Prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development

Archbishop Filippo Iannone, O. Carm., Prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts

Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication

Members Nominated by Pope Francis 

Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, Archbishop of Mexico City, Mexico

Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa De Chinchetru, Secretary of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, Vatican City

Cardinal Jeans-Marc Aveline, Archbishop of Marseille, France

Archbishop Ignace Bessi Dogbo, Archbishop of Korhogo, Ivory Coast

Father Giuseppe Bonfrate, Italy

Bishop Dante Gustavo Braida, Bishop of La Rioja, Argentina

Archbishop Erio Castellucci, Archbishop of Modena-Nantola-Carpi, Italy

Bishop Stephen Chow Sau-Yan of Hong Kong, China

Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, S.D.B., Archbishop of Perth, Australia

Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, USA

Cardinal Jozef De Kesel, Archbishop Emeritus of Mechelen-Brussels, Belgium

Bishop Lizardo Estrada Herrera, O.S.A., Auxiliary Bishop of Cuzco, Peru, Titular 

Bishop of Ausuccura, Secretary General of the Latin American bishops’ conference (CELAM)

Archbishop Paul Dennis Etienne, Archbishop of Seattle, USA

Cardinal Juan De La Caridad García Rodríguez, Archbishop of San Cristóbal de La Habana, Cuba

Bishop Felix Genn, Bishop of Münster, Germany

Cardinal Wilton Gregory, Archbishop of Washington, D.C., USA

Cardinal Jeans-Claude Hollerich, S.I., Relator General of the Synod on Synodality, Archbishop of Luxembourg

Bishop Nicholas Gilbert Hudson, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster, Great Britain

Archbishop Dražen Kutleša, Archbishop of Zagreb, Croatia

Cardinal Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, S.J., Prefect Emeritus of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Vatican City

Cardinal Robert Walter McElroy, Bishop of San Diego, USA

Bishop Marco Mellino, Secretary of the Council of Cardinals, Vatican City

Bishop Gjergj Meta, Bishop of Rrëshen, Albania

Bishop Lucius Andrew Muandula, Bishop of Xai-Xai, Mozambique

Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Vatican City

Bishop Antonello Mura, Bishop of Nuoro, Italy

Archbishop Robert Christopher Ndlovu, Archbishop of Harare, Apostolic Administrator of Masvingo, Zimbabwe

Bishop Manuel Nin, O.S.B., Apostolic Exarch for Byzantine Rite Catholics in Greece, Titular Bishop of Carcabia, Greece

Cardinal Seán Patrick O’malley, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Boston, USA

Bishop Stefan Oster, S.D.B., Bishop of Passau, Germany

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., Prefect Emeritus of the Dicastery for Bishops, Vatican City

Bishop Joseph-Csaba Pál, Bishop of Timişoara, Romania

Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, S.D.B., Archivist Emeritus of Tegucicalpa, Honduras

Archbishop Angel S. Rossi, S.J., Archbishop of Córdoba, Argentina

Archbishop Grzegorz Ryś, Archbishop of Lodz, Polonia

Archbishop Joseph Spiteri, Apostolic Nuncio to Mexico, Mexico

Bishop Radoslaw Zmitrowicz, O.M.I., Auxiliary Bishop of Kamyanets-Podilskyi, Ukraine

Enrique Alarcón García, president of the Christian Fraternity of People with Disabilities of Spain, Spagna

Father Riccardo Battocchio, Rector of the Almo Collegio Capranica in Rome, President of the Italian Theological Association, Italy

Sister Simona Brambilla, Superior General of the Consolata Missionaries, Italy

Father Luis Miguel Castillo Gualda, Rector of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Valencia, Spain

Father Giacomo Costa, S.J., president of the San Fedele Cultural Foundation of Milan; National Spiritual Companion of the Italian Christian Workers’ Associations, A.C.L.I., Italy

Cristina Inogés Sanz, Theologian, Spain

Father James Martin, S.J., USA

Sister Maria De Los Dolores Palencia, C.S.J.

Sister Samuela Maria Rigon, S.S.M., Superior General of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows, Italy

Father Elias Royón, Vicar for Consecrated Life of the Archdiocese of Madrid, Spain

Father Antonio Spadaro, S.J., director of La Civiltà Cattolica, Italy

Sister Xiskya Lucia Valladares, Nicaragua, co-founder of Imisión, director of the Communication Department of the Centro De Enseñanza Superior Alberta Giménez (CESAG), Comillas Pontifical University

Sister María De Fátima Vieira Diniz, S.Smo.S., Superior General of the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament, Venezuela

From the Continental Assemblies (also selected by Pope Francis)

Africa

Father Vitalis Chinedu Anaehobi

Father Michel Jean-Paul Guillaud

Sister Ester Maria Lucas, F.C.

Sister Josée Ngalula, R.S.A.

Norha Kofognotera Nonterah

Father Agbonkhianmeghe Emmanuel Orobator, S.I.

Sheila Leocádia Pires

Sister Marie Solange Randrianirin, F.S.P.

Sister Solange Sahon Sia, N.D.C.

Father Rafael Simbine Junior

North America

Sami Aoun

Cynthia Bailey Manns

Catherine Clifford

Richard Coll

Chantal Desmarais

Father Ivan Montelongo

Wyatt Olivas

Julia Osęka

Sister Leticia Salazar

Linda Staudt

Latin America

Erika Sally Aldunate Loza

Jesus Alberto Briceño Cherubini

Sister Rosmery Castañeda Montoya

José Manuel De Urquidi Gonzalez

María Cristina Dos Anjos Da Conceição

Sister Gloria Liliana Franco Echeverri, O.D.N.

Sônia Gomes De Oliveira

Father Francisco Gerardo Hernández Rojas

Valeria Karina López

Néstor Esaú Velásquez Téllez

Asia

Vanessa Cheng Siu Wai

Rosalia Minus Cho Cho Tin

Father Joel Casimiro Da Costa Pinto, O.F.M.

Father Clarence Devadass

Father William La Rousse, M.M.

Father Momoko Nishimura, S.E.M.D.

Estela Padilla

Anna Teresa Peter Amandus

Sister Lalitha Thomas, S.J.T.

Father Vimal Tirimanna

Eastern Churches and the Middle East

Adel Abolouh

Father Khalil Alwan, M.L.

Saad Antti

Sister Houda Fadoul

Sister Caroline Jarjis

Rita Kouroumilian

Caroline Rafaat Awd Narouz

Claire Said

Lina Taschmann

Matthew Thomas

Europe

Aleksander Banka

Geert De Cubber

Giuseppina De Simone

Sister Anne Ferrand

Helena Jeppesen-Spuhler

Sister Anna Mirijam Kaschner, C.P.S.

Father Jan Nowotnik

Oksana Pimenova

Father Luis Manuel Romero Sanchez

Maria Sabov

Oceania

Manuel Beazley

Trudy Dantis

Renée Köhler-Ryan

John Lochowiak

Father Denis Nacorda

Kelly Paget

Sister Mary Angela Perez, R.S.M.

Father Sijeesh Pullenkunnel

Susan Sela

Grace Wrackia

Under-Secretaries of the General Secretariat of the Synod

Bishop Luis Marín De San Martín, O.S.A., Titular Bishop of Suliana

Sister Nathalie Becquart, X.M.C.J.

Members of the Ordinary Council

Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, S.D.B., Archbishop of Yangon, Myanmar

Bishop Jaime Calderón Calderón of f Tapachula, Mexico

Cardinal Joseph Coutts, Archbishop of Karachi, Pakistan

Archbishop Anthony Colin Fisher, O.P., of Sydney, Australia

Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of Bamenda, Cameroon

Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay, India

Cardinal Gérald Cyprien Lacroix, I.S.P.X., Archbishop of Québec, Canada

Archbishop Gabriel Mbilingi, C.S.Sp., of Lubango, Angola

Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga, C.S.Sp., Archbishop of Bangui, Central African Republic

Cardinal Juan José Omella Omella, Archbishop of Barcelona, Spain

Cardinal Sérgio Da Rocha, Metropolitan Archbishop of São Salvador Da Bahia, Brazil

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, O.P., Archbishop of Wien, Austria, president of the Episcopal Conference of Austria

Cardinal Daniel Fernando Sturla Berhouet, S.D.B., Archbishop of Montevideo, Uruguay

Cardinal Joseph William Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, USA

His Beatitude Ignace Youssef Iii Younan, Syrian Patriarch of Antioch, head of the Synod of the Syrian Catholic Church, Lebanon

Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, Archbishop of Bologna, Italy

Special Guests

Father Alois, Prior of the Taizé Community, France

Luca Casarini, Mediterranea Saving Humans, Italy

Monsignor Severino Dianich, theologian, Italy

Eva Fernández Mateo, Catholic Action

Margaret Karram, Work of Mary-Focolare Movement

Father Hervé Legrand, O.P., theologian, France

Monsignor Armando Matteo, secretary of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Vatican City

Father Thomas Schwartz, Germany

Other Participants

Spiritual Assistants

Father Timothy Peter Joseph Radcliffe, O.P., Oxford Monastery, Great Britain

Mother Maria Ignazia Angelini, O.S.B., Monastery of Viboldone, Italy

Referent for the Liturgy

Father Matteo Ferrari, O.S.B. Cam., Della Comunità Di Camaldoli


Experts and Facilitators

Father Dario Vitali, Italy, Coordinator of Theological Experts

Wissam Abdo, Lebanon

Father Adelson Araújo Dos Santos, S.I., Brazil

Father Paul Béré, S.J., Burkina Faso

Sister María Luisa Berzosa González, F.I., Spain

Monsignor Philippe Bordeyne, France

Monsignor Alphonse Borras, Belgium

Father Andrea Bozzolo, S.D.B., Italy

Father Pedro Manuel Brassesco, Argentina

Father Agenor Brighenti, Brazil

loy Bueno De La Fuente, Spain

Monsignor Valentino Bulgarelli, Italy

Father Juan Jorge Bytton Arellano, S.J., Peru

Sister Daniela Adriana Cannavina, C.M.R., Colombia

Sister María Suyapa Cacho Álvarez, Honduras

Father Carlo Casalone, S.J., Italy

Sandra Chaoul, Lebanon

Sister Maria Cimperman, R.S.C.J., USA

Monsignor Piero Coda, Italy

Professor Eamon Conway, Ireland

Sandie Cornish, Australia

Father Ian Cribb, S.J., Australia

Professor Klára Antonia Csiszár, Romania

Father Hyacinthe Destivelle, O.P., France

Sister Anne Béatrice Faye, C.I.C., Ivory Coast

Paolo Foglizzo, Italy

Father Carlos Maria Galli, Argentina

Iris Gonzales, Dominican Republic

Father Gaby Alfred Hachem, Lebanon

Sister Philomena Shizue Hirota, M.M.B., Japan

Austen Ivereigh, Great Britain

Claire Jonard, Belgium

Sister Jolanta Maria Kafka, R.M.I., Poland

Christina Kheng, Singapore

Leonardo Lima Gorosito, Uruguay

Mauricio Lopez Oropeza, Ecuador

Sister Laurence Loubières, X.M.C.J., Canada

Professor Rafael Luciani, Venezuela

Father Anthony Makunde, Tanzania

Father Miguel Martin, S.J., Brazil

Father David Mc Callum, S.J., USA

Father Vito Mignozzi, Italy

Sister Paola Nelemta Ngarndiguimal, S.P.C., Chad

Susan Pascoe, Australia

Father Asaeli Raass, S.V.D., Fiji Islands

Sister Yvonne Reungoat, F.M.A., France

Father Gilles Routhier, Canada

Anna Rowlands, Great Britain

Father Ormond Rush, Australia

Father José San Jose Prisco, Spain

Monsignor Pierangelo Sequeri, Italy

Thomas Söding, Germany

Sister Nicoletta Vittoria Spezzati, A.S.C., Italy

Father Christoph Theobald, S.I., France

Erica Tossani, Italy

Monsignor Juan Fernando Usma Gómez, Colombia

Myriam Wijlens, Holland

General Secretariat of the Synod

Father Justo Ariel Beramendi Orellana

Thierry Bonaventura, Communication Manager

Father Pasquale Bua

Pietro Camilli

Alfonso Salvatore Cauteruccio

Andrea Cimino

Karina Fujisawa Simonetti

Tanyja George, M. Id.

Father Ambrogio Ivan Samus

Noemi Sanches

Monsignor Tomasz Trafny

Federica Vivian

Paola Volterra Toppano

Pedro Paulo Oliveira Weizenmann

Sister Marie-Kolbe Zamora, O.S.F.

[…]

8 Comments

  1. We read: “In plain English, instead of being the solution from heaven, this next universal synod could turn out to be a Trojan horse.”

    On the heels/hoofs of the Council, Dietrich von Hildebrand published a book entitled “Trojan Horse in the City of God” (Franciscan Herald Press, 1967). The four parts are most fitting today: (I) True and False Renewal, (II) Dangers of our Time, (III) the Secularization of Christianity, and (IV) Sacred and Secular.

    Which leads to Sr. Mirkes’ concluding list of outlier participants for the (applause!) synod on synodality. The synod likely will be a Church disaster not only for who gets a meal ticket, or for what it pretends, but especially and simply for the way in which it is conducted…

    The (corrupted synodal) method IS the message. But even a Council is only what the Church does, not what the Church IS. Likewise for synods…

    The German synodal way(ward) resisted early efforts to be at least more structured—and thus is deliberately mongrelizing the Apostolic Succession with a street crowd intent on majority-rule “binding” decisions on all manner of stuff, doctrinal, moral, sacramental, and manipulative/ organizational. The same tired disaster as the earlier Call-to-Action hoopla conducted in Cobo Hall in Detroit in 1976; disowned—finally—three years later by the duped bishops in America.

    Hildebrand’s epilogue reads in part:

    “This book has been written out of a deep sorrow at witnessing the emergence of false prophets with the City of God. It is sad enough when people lose their faith and leave the Church. But it is much worse when those who in reality have lost their faith remain within the Church and try–like termites–to undermine Christian faith with their claim that they are giving to Christian revelation the interpretation that suits ‘modern man.'”

    Reply

  2. The last “synod” staged by the Pontiff Francis culminated in his orchestration of idolatry in Rome in October 2019.

    The men and women who confected that synod “have the mind of McCarrick,” they are of one single mind and heart as the same sociopathic counterfeit Christian, and are intent on destroying the priesthood of Jesus and the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. They are, like McCarrick, slaves of the false god they worship, which is the fleeting, unaccountable power they labored their dwindling lifetimes to steal for themselves, pretending to sacrifice their lives to Jesus, while betraying Jesus and abusing his flock, and now brazenly dare to dethrone Christ as head of his own Church, and assert themselves as the Hydra’s Head.

    Theirs is the spirit of anti-Christ, cut off from the Vine himself, and their spirit and their actions can only be driven out as Jesus advised, by prayer and fasting, and they should be confronted to their face, and called what they are: false shepherds, who must recant and repent, or be excommunicated.

    Reply

  3. Thank you for sharing the sweet innocent memories of childhood , as a background for our times that face the turbulent seas and mightier waves of the rebellion of the self will ..yet , the dawn of the Reign of the Divine Will too seen in the good wisdom and works of institutes such as the Pope Paul V1 , dedicated to bring forth goodness in birth related aspects in families .

    Hope the preparation for the Synod would include steps to clarify the areas in the Divine Will revelations that need same , in order to bring its simplicity to many more places that could find same as appealing as swimming in an ocean as calm and clear as a spring fed lake , in the company of The Mother , whose Light and Love would be sufficient to ward off any and all real or imaginary counterfeits ..

    http://www.comingofthekingdom.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/66-Our-Blessed-Mother.pdf

    The Magnesium rich waters of the oceans – hope the Institute too would help to draw more attention to the benefits of this essential mineral , in all age groups and both sexes , to help reduce inflammations from the virus too .

    Blessings !

    Reply

  4. Written on the tombstone of the Blues Singer: “Well I didn’t wake up this mornin'”

    I’ve been waiting for years to say that.

    Reply

  6. Sister, I appreciate your fine writing and the “blues” image. And yet, your conclusion left me stumped. Will the Eucharist be the answer? What percentage of the synod attendees do not believe in it, or have scanty awareness of its meaning?
    1)My own family (educated in Catholic Schools through Grade 12 after which religious education seemed to STOP even though they attend Mass every week) never heard then or since…that the bread and wine we bring to the altar represents US. As it is consecrated, we are changed, consecrated anew, made (with our consent and over time) more Christlike.
    2)Some of my own certificate program theology students are not even sure that Christ is God!
    3) Oh, I could go on with examples.
    For sure my questioning goes on: What will a Synod of various forms of “Catholics” accomplish but more aimless, mindless arguing? Maybe we need to go back to basic education and let people “take it or leave it.” Or, get busy and re-write it all in their “language.”
    Oh no, now I have the “blues”!
    And yet, I know that on occasion, Jesus had the blues too and, sometimes, he even wept. “Into Your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit” …and the spirit of the Synod.
    That’s what you implied isn’t it? Thanks for your article!
    -In Christ

    Reply

  7. —Oh please, I beg you give this 2023 Synod on synodality some oxygen—the green algae just might disappear.

    —Not a chance, it’ll take a good cold winter to refresh the pond—by spring the algal blooms will be gone. Save the oxygen.

    Reply

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