Penitential Vigil, Ecumenical Witness: Part One | Synod on Synodality

Matthew Neugebauer

Monday, October 28, 2024

Crowd in St Peters, featuring Pope Francis and bishops

Pope Francis presides over the Penitential Vigil concluding the opening retreat of the Synod on October 1, 2024.

Welcome to the next installment of my commentary on the 2024 Session of the Synod on Synodality. The following three blogs will reflect on the two prayer vigils that framed the first part of the session, the Penitential Vigil on October 1 and the Ecumenical Vigil on October 11.

Penitential Vigil, Ecumenical Witness Part One: A Synod framed by Prayer

As I was putting the finishing touches on Part Two of my commentary on the 2024 Instrumentum Laboris, it occurred to me that there was a potentially triumphalist tone to the article. There could have been an implication that the Eucharist entirely completed and perfectly realized the unity of the Church in the here and now; all we needed to do was show up for Mass, receive Communion, and all our divisions and bitter disagreements would magically go away. De Lubac, who faced his fair share of Church conflict (including with the pope!), had no illusions that our human prejudices, fears, and destructive habits could split Eucharist-receiving Catholics from each other.

The beginning of this month’s session of the Synod Assembly showed that the organizers are also deeply aware that conflicts and tensions exist in the Church today, and that they will continue until the Age to Come. At the end of the opening retreat on October 1, just before the session got “down to business,” delegates, observers, and others took part in a Penitential Vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica. This Vigil, as an integral part of the Synod, was a poignant reminder that we are always in need of repentance, reconciliation, and renewal.

At the press conference introducing the session’s schedule and methodology. Secretary General Cardinal Mario Grech movingly described this penitential service: “On the eve of such a solemn Church event as the Synod, some of the sins that cause most pain and shame will be called by name, invoking God's mercy.”

During the vigil, Grech and other cardinals from the Roman Curia and across the world were the ones to offer prayers of repentance to God on behalf of the hierarchy and the whole Church. A particularly moving petition came from longtime Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna and Vatican theological heavyweight Christoph Schönborn:

I ask forgiveness, feeling shame for the obstacles that we place in the building of a truly synodal, symphonic Church, aware of being holy people of God who walk together recognizing the common baptismal dignity. I ask forgiveness, feeling shame for all the times that we have not heard the Holy Spirit, preferring to listen to ourselves, defending opinions and ideologies that hurt the communion in Christ of all, expected at the end of time from the Father. I ask forgiveness, feeling shame for when we have transformed authority into power, suffocating plurality, not listening to people, making it difficult for many brothers and sisters to participate in the mission of the Church, forgetting that we are all called in history, For faith in Christ, to become living stones of the one temple of the Holy Spirit. Forgive us, Lord.

This prayer served to set the table for the type of reconciliation that this session of the Synod is tasked with working towards.

It’s important to note that introducing this service into the proceedings marks a change from last year’s pattern: in 2023, the retreat concluded with an Ecumenical Prayer Vigil involving leaders of various Christian Churches and communities.

Thankfully, the 2024 Session had a brighter ecumenical glow throughout: the number of Orthodox, Protestant, and other observers increased to 16 members, four more than last year.

More importantly, the Ecumenical Vigil was by no means displaced this year, but was moved to the middle of the Assembly. Synod participants and guests gathered again, this time in the Square of the Roman Protomartyrs just outside the basilica, on October 11. That day celebrated the 62nd anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, and the Feast of St. John XXIII. Among other things, Vatican II marks the formal entrance of the Roman Catholic Church into the ecumenical journey, spurred on by the leadership and likely, after his death, the saintly intercession of Good Pope John. You can watch the full vigil here.

Over the next two articles, I will consider the experience of the ecumenical movement and what it might offer to the increasing synodality of the Church, and then reflect on how the Penitential Vigil provided an example, to quote the task of Synod Study Group 10, of “an ecclesial practice…that [received] the fruits of the ecumenical journey” (2024 IL #107).

At this point, I should note that the reverse question, how the Synod and a more synodal Church can more fully contribute to the ecumenical movement, is outside the scope of this article. It’s a vital question, reflected in the 2024 IL’s assertion that “Among the most significant fruits of the 2021-2024 Synod is the intensity of the ecumenical impulse and the promise that marks it” (Ibid). Those interested in deepening their familiarity with ecumenism are invited to check out our One Body blog series, which has comprehensively addressed the question. The trio of contributors as well as guest writers are ecumenical veterans who discuss facets of the movement at an excellent level of expertise, extensiveness, and detail.

Stay tuned for Part Two in the coming days. You can watch the last episode of our weekly recap show, Step by Step: For a Synodal Church, this Saturday at 7:30 pm ET | 4:30 pm PT on Salt + Light TV. Catch up on previous episodes on Salt + Light Plus. For all of our coverage on the Synod on Synodality, be sure to visit slmedia.org/synod.