SW News:

Cardinal Blase Cupich, the Archbishop of Chicago, urged Catholics to discard any concerns about the upcoming Synod on Synodality announcing that the gathering is a part of a Catholic tradition that aims to remain faithful to Christ's own plan for the Church. 

In a statement that was published on August 30 in the Chicago archdiocese daily Chicago Catholic, Cardinal Cupich accused those who were opposed to the synod of stoking fears by implying that it may radically alter Church teaching and practice. 

A synod is a recurrent assembly of Catholic bishops with the purpose of discussing issues pertaining to the Church's doctrine, ethics, and practices. The first synod since 2018 will take place next month and will focus on synodality, which the Vatican defines as the participation and involvement of the whole people of God in the life and mission of the Church. 

Critics have voiced fear that the synod's bishops would adopt ideas for the Church that have been condemned and debunked by Catholic authorities, such as the ordination of women. The archbishop said that history has shown that the use of fear tactics by those who resist any kind of renewal that involves change is not new. He cited St. John XXIII's caution to beware of prophets of doom who are always forecasting disaster in the life of the Church, which was made at the beginning of the Second Vatican Council. 

Cardinal Cupich said critics of the synod totally mischaracterize their objectives. He asserted that the bishops' main topic of discussion at the gathering will be how Catholics are to remain faithful to Christ's own plan for the Church. He argued that the concept of synodality itself speaks to an ancient reality of the Catholic Church. 

The synod, which runs from October 4 to 28, will take place in the Vatican, and Cardinal Cupich is one of the delegates going there. The meeting scheduled for next month is a step in the multiyear synod process that Pope Francis requested in 2021. In October 2024, the Vatican will host a second gathering. Although the synod was initially supposed to end this year, Pope Francis said last year that it would continue until 2024 in order to have a more relaxed period of discernment.