Walking together: the synodal pathway in the Holy Land

The 2021-2023 Synod convened by Pope Francis is an opportunity to listen to and dialogue with others; a moment to rediscover the true identity of the Church, the “universality” from the beginning. The pathway involves all the dioceses of the world, including the Holy Land.

“As we set out on this journey, we are more aware than ever that together, as disciples of Christ on  this earth which is his home, we are all called to be his witnesses. Let us remember that his greatest desire is that we are one.”  (cf. Jn 17).

This is what we read in the letter of 26 January 2022 sent by the Catholic Ordinaries to the heads of the Christian Churches in the Holy Land regarding the 2021-23 Synod which has been  convened by Pope Francis and is entitled “For a Synodal Church: communion, participation, mission”.

Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem,  signed the letter which had the explicit aim of informing and involving brothers and sisters in various local ecclesial communities about the synodal journey that has begun in the Holy Land. He underlined the importance of listening to each other in order to grow closer  together on this fraternal journey.

Reference was made to the missionary nature of a “universal” Church, in Jerusalem, in particular. During a meeting held on 9 November 2021 after the opening of the Synodal Pathway, the Patriarch had spoken about this with the ecclesial movements and new communities present in the Holy Land.

“Our Church, the Church of Jerusalem, began life in the Upper Room at Pentecost, and, even then, it was both local and universal (…) especially in recent years, it has been enriched by many more charisms. For this reason, your presence here is not only a gift and  a sign of God’s providence (…), but it is also a contribution to the fulfilment of what God, the Lord, desires.”

The participants all listened to each other and spoke of their own experiences.  The valuable help of the Patriarch enabled them to  better understand how to approach the Synod at a local level.

Answering various questions, Mgr Pizzaballa shared his thoughts on synodality which “is a style – he said – a way of being, in the Church, but also outside the Church. It is an attitude.  Listening and dialogue are  expressions of this (…)”.

The movements and new communities – says the Patriarch- need to work in “cross platforms”, going to the heart of the experience of “communion” of the universal Church, the experience that, more than others, seems really difficult to live in the Holy Land.

“By communion I mean the awareness of belonging, of having freely received this gift, of having a life that is ‘inserted’  into other lives (…). All this stems from the experience of the encounter with Jesus. (…) after having met the Lord and experienced salvation, you understand that this experience becomes complete and  profound, when it is shared in a community (…).

This letter sent by the Catholic Ordinaries to the heads of the various Christian Churches in the Holy Land  renewed a deep longing in many people and opened up new horizons by underlining the desire to grow in fraternity and be enriched by the wisdom of others.

The hope of the Synodal Journey is that we should all experience ‘being together’ in  the atmosphere  similar to a shared meal where the group not only embraces suffering together but wants to immediately speak of the joys that life offers. It would be like the disciples’ journey to  Emmaus.  Although they were disappointed and sad, they  walked together and, in communion, supported each other until the Risen Lord came to them. An opportunity not to be missed, to recognise him in our midst.

Maria Grazia Berretta