VATICAN NAMES MEMBERS OF SYNOD'S DRAFTING COMMITTEE WHO WILL WRITE THE FINAL REPORT

In my experience, meetings are not usually called to make decisions.  Rather, meetings are called to give the appearance that decisions made in advance of the meeting were the result of a collaborative effort.

Given that the names of those who will form the Synod's Drafting Committee to compose the Final Report, it appears that my experience will hold true for this meeting as well.

In the text, titled Episcopalis Communio (“Episcopal Communion”), signed September 15 and published September 18, Pope Francis essentially maintained the current structure and function of the Synod, mostly keeping in place the same rules for how the gatherings are carried out, who gets to participate, and who gets to vote.

But, especially striking is the decision by Francis to uphold the current rules allowing the Supreme Pontiff to name whomever he wants to serve on a Drafting Committee for the Synod’s Final Report.

This was a major point of contention in the two previous Synods with many Bishops arguing that the Pope had “stacked the deck in his favor", naming Bishops who were likely to produce the outcome he desired even before the Synod commenced.

Suggestions were made by Bishops at the 2014-15 Synods that members of the Drafting Committee be decided by vote or by collegial consensus to make the body more representative of opinions within the Synod. 

However, Pope Francis has refrained from making those changes, and has maintained his power to name whoever he wishes to the Drafting Committee.

Taking a look at the Drafting Committee for this Synod on Youth, it appears that the concerns of the Bishops remain.

Elected by region, the five Prelates chosen by a vote of the Bishops to draft the Final Report are: Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, Archbishop of Mexico City, a Papal delegate to the synod; Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, Prefect of the Vatican dicastery for Integral Human Development; Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai and a member of the Pope’s “C9” Advisory Council; Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti, Italy, also a member of the Synod’s Organizing Council; and Archbishop Peter Comensoli of Melbourne, also a Papal delegate.

In addition, Italian Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, and Cardinal Sérgio da Rocha of Brasilia, General Relator of the Synod, are ex-officio members of the Drafting Committee.

Two others who will serve as Secretaries are Father Giacomo Costa, a Papal delegate to the Synod, who is also Director of the magazine Aggiornamenti Sociali, President of the “San Fedele Cultural Foundation” and Vice President of the “Carlo Maria Martini Foundation”; and Father Rossano Sala, Professor of youth pastoral outreach at the Pontifical Salesian University and Director of the Italian magazine Note di Pastorale Giovanile.

Pope Francis also handpicked three others to the Drafting Committee: Brazilian Father Alexandre Awi Mello, Secretary for the Vatican’s dicastery for Laity, Family and Life; Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Patriarch of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church; and Father Eduardo Gonzalo Redondo, Director of vocations ministry in Cuba.

In general, the Drafting Committee is largely composed of Bishops and Prelates who are both personal friends and collaborators of Pope Francis.

The Drafting Committee plays perhaps the most important role within the Synod.  

And in light of the Apostolic Constitution, Episcopalis communio, who sits on that Committee becomes even more critical not only regarding the Final Report which will pass as the teachings of the Synod but also the effect that Report will have upon the Church for decades to come.

So far, there have been no reactions from the Synodal Bishops to the naming of the Drafting Committee members.

We shall see if that remains the case over the course of the next few sessions.

Let us ask the Holy Spirit to inspire and guide the Synodal Fathers in their discussions and deliberations.