The Second Vatican Council is often presented as an opposition between the bad guys of the Roman party and the good guys of the progressive group. But this does not correspond to the complex reality of that historical moment of the Church and of the world.

The clearest example is the figure of Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani. «Trasteverino», son of a Roman baker, managed to hold the highest positions in the Church. The world called him «the policeman of God» because of his intransigence and conservative spirit. For the boys and for the common people of Rome he was simply and affectionately “Don Alfredo”, the priest who wanted, among other things, the oratory of Saint Peter, tribute to his origins as «son of the people».

His world was within the Vatican walls, and the Church that he sincerely defended was the only one he could know and that he thought was the banner of truth to be defended from the world. It was a question of horizons; the world came to him through institutional filters: for him the Roman Church was the «light of the people».

Quite different was the experience of Pope Roncalli, also «son of the people», but around the world, to weave relations, in contact with many different peoples, with other Christian Churches, with the Jews, close to the labor movement, aware of social changes and the value of peace. He summoned the Second Vatican Council. The Council fathers who arrived in Rome brought real humanity within those walls, with differences, needs, concerns and hopes. A severe blow to the ramparts. It was clear that «Christ, light of the people» had to be offered to the world.

We are struck by the fact that the Covid-19 emergency condensed a great deal of events connected with each other, that we are preparing, as Christians, to live: the Synod of Bishops that will open on 9-10 October in Rome and will continue in all the dioceses of the world until the meeting of the bishops in Rome in October 2023, and then continue in the implementation phase; the meeting of the Latin American Ecclesial Assembly in all dioceses and in Mexico City from 21 to 28 November 2021; the assembly of the World Council of Churches from 31 August to 8 September 2022 in Karlsruhe, Germany; the World Meeting of Families throughout the World and in Rome on 22-26 June 2022; for the Italians the important meeting of the Synod of the Italian Church starting from next October, reappeared in the dynamics of the General Synod of the Church. Prophetic moments to be grasped and that can germinate the fruits of the good tree of synodal conversion.

The spotlight is on the imminent beginning of the Synod. The same cliché between «good» and «bad» of the Second Vatican Council is repeated. They speak of sides and roped. To the binomial «traditionalists» and «progressives» is added that of «clerical» and «anti-clerical».

If the «Roman party of the Council» could be granted the «good faith» and the right intention, today this is no longer possible. The men of the Church disconnected from the world today would make us smile. We cannot delude ourselves into working in defence of institution and privilege and closing our eyes to suffering humanity and the need for a change of pace in the search for brotherhood and peace. The epochal change is real; for the Church it is the opportunity to realize «aggiornamento» for communion, participation and mission.

Pope Francis invites us to accompany with prayer the «synodal path» of the Church aware that in fact it has the potential to become a «founding event», a movement of history in which God works and everyone is called to play their part through discernment. Without this awareness on the part of all, it could pass in vain, without generating that dynamism rich in surprises on the part of the Holy Spirit, capable of bringing about significant changes.

With regard to Italy, there are points of clericalism in bishops, clergy and consecrated, more than in other nations; they must be purified in order not to block the synodal path. But even among the Italian laity this disease is even more widespread. We have repeatedly had experiences also in the academic field, of lay people who, if they declare themselves anti-clerical in words, in fact as soon as they approach the «sacred rooms», become more clerical than the clergy. They «tear down the ramparts» until they are outside, but once they enter, they do their utmost to fortify them by perpetuating the marginal role of the laity in the Church and placing themselves as a diaphragm, a filter that prevents pastors from reaching and listening to their flock. The problem is serious, it concerns the «people of God».

Clericalism nourishes that «foolish church» of which J. H. Newman spoke (cf.: «On the consultation of the faithful in matters of doctrine»): to the monsignors who objected that the skills of the laity are «go hunting, shoot and have fun», he replied: «the Church would seem foolish without them ... If the faithful are even consulted in the preparation of a dogmatic definition, as recently in the question of the Immaculate Conception, it is at least natural to expect a similar gesture of sensitivity and sympathy in the case of major practical issues».

With respect to the concrete life of the People of God, Italy must begin almost from scratch in the synodal path. There is no «theology of the pueblo». We are not like Latin America, we do not have the experience of liberation that unites us as a people and projects us into hope. From us theology, despite so many excellences, that which is born of the people, is unexpressed, not well defined in the eyes of the people. Italians are a good, full of mercy, brilliant and beautiful people, unfortunately fragmented and often distrusted.

In Italy, the synodal dynamics of the local Churches (dioceses and parishes) are more fundamental than elsewhere. We hope that all the forces in the field will be involved in a spirit of service, we have the courage to break the filters and diaphragms, to create communion and participation. We expect a commitment of the movements to abandon their forts laboriously conquered and sometimes disconnected with local dynamics, to collaborate together. We expect all the Italian theological faculties to encourage students, men and especially women, to be valued in their dioceses. Let us make them dedicate themselves pastorally to listening to families, the sick, the last, the poor present in the parishes, the dull young and without prospects. They were trained for this. Foreign students should be involved: their experience of Christian life is an important point of comparison, and it would help Italian Catholics to overcome the anachronistic superiority complex.

The «synodal path» is a people on the way: «We recall that the purpose of the Synod, and therefore of this consultation, is not to produce documents, but “to plant dreams, draw forth prophecies and visions, allow hope to flourish, inspire trust, bind up wounds, weave together relationships, awaken a dawn of hope, learn from one another and create a bright resourcefulness that will enlighten minds, warm hearts, give strength to our hands.».

* Fr. Paolo Scarafoni and Filomena Rizzo teach theology together in Italy and Africa, in Addis Ababa. They are authors of books and articles of theology.

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