Theologians’ Corner – Being a Synodal Church – M001

Theologians' Corner First Meeting

Theologians’ Corner had its first get-together on Sunday, October 15th. The turnout was impressive, and some of us ended up sitting on the floor or perched in corners. It made me think of the early Christians meeting in cramped houses to discuss their faith and future.
We talked about the Synod on Synodality taking place at the Vatican. Father Alex provided context with a short presentation. It certainly helped me to see how the Synod related to the The First and Second Ecumenical Councils of the Vatican. Not that a Synod is an Ecumenical Council, of course!

It was interesting hearing everyone’s view on being consulted by the Church. The results of the OLM Synod questionnaire are on the OLM website.

Some concerns were expressed about whether our faith would remain the same if subjected to changes. After all, the Truth is the Truth, right? Father Alex eloquently addressed this with a visual metaphor. We heard about the Four Ds – Doctrine, Dogma, Discipline and Devotion. We heard about the Dubia (Doubts) expressed by some cardinals in five questions they posed to Pope Francis before the Synod.

I felt that we were a diverse group at this first Theologian’s Corner and that in the small room we represented a wide range of feelings and ideas about who we are and who we want to be as Catholics. Two thousand years later, we are still asking ourselves questions and actively living our faith. Before we met, I googled the origins of the word ‘Synod’. It means ‘ to travel together’. And that’s exactly what we did. We will do it again at the next Theologians’ Corner. You should come!