In the consultation process, liturgy emerged as a strong grassroots issue.

However, as the Synodal journey unfolded, from our Australian Plenary Council through to the Continental Synod in Fiji and the two assemblies in Rome, liturgists were notably absent from the list of periti, and liturgy hardly rated a mention in any official documents.

Sudden shift in synod story

That is, until the Final Synod Report, where a whole section was devoted to ‘the Sacramental Roots of the People of God’ (21-27).

Notably, the last sentence recommended that a study group be set up to address ways to make ‘liturgical celebrations more an expression of synodality.’

In the second and final Synodal Assembly in Rome, liturgy was at last on the agenda.

Big questions, limited perspectives

Pope Leo entrusted the task of setting up the study group to the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, in collaboration with the Synod Secretariat.

Recently, interim reports from the study groups were posted on the Synod Website.

The interim liturgy report begins on page 24 with a summary of numbers 21-27.

The working group then suggest a series of a dozen or so questions for consideration.

The topics vary widely, from an understanding of the liturgy as synodal to the recognition of the role of women in the liturgy, a ‘healthy’ decentralisation of liturgical authority, and fostering liturgical preaching in a synodal way.

The group consists of thirteen ordained clerics and three women.
— Hardly the face of the synodal church.”

Key voices absent — credibility suffers

The report ends by naming the members of the working group.

Cardinal Gerald LaCroix has been appointed co-ordinator, and Fr Pierre Paul his assistant.

Both are Canadians and also members of the Dicastery for Worship.

Other members include three from North America and eight from Europe, including a representative of the Eastern Rites.

An Asian (South Korea) and two from the Global South (Mexico and Senegal), complete the working party.

The group consists of thirteen ordained clerics and three women.

Hardly the face of the synodal church.

So, no surprise, given the composition of the group, that two current pressing liturgical issues, creation and inculturation, are missing from the report.

A working party proposing a more synodal liturgical practice will fail to be convincing when those from the Global South, and women in general, are given so little voice at the table.

The Global South,
and women in general,
are given so little voice
at the table.

The risk of silence

We are invited to comment, ‘in the style proper to a synodal church’, directly to the Synod Secretariat (synodus@synod.va).

If we don’t take up this challenge, in the current climate, the tenuous nature of the church’s liturgy might once again be sidelined.

• Carmel Pilcher RSJ, PhD is a Liturgy and Culture Consultant and Educator, Darug and Gundungura country.