Synod Expert: There is energy in the Church

(Vatican Radio) Describing himself as a pragmatic theologian, Fr. Eamonn Conway of the Archdiocese of Tuam is one of the 45 “experts” nominated by Pope Benedict XVI to the ongoing Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelisation.

Ten days into working sessions he speaks to Emer McCarthy about the “lively debates” of the evening sessions, the questions raised and challenges posed by participants, from the ordering of the Sacraments of Christian Initiation to dialogue with Islam. About the powerful interventions of leaders from the Church in Asia, which he says, are helping to re-vitalise the tired and disillusioned churches of Europe. About the role of women and about the Irish Church rising from the ashes. Listen:

Q: What is a Synod expert? What do you do?

A: “Our role has been to pay attention to the Instrumentum Laboris, the document to which all the bishops were invited to respond. Maybe in a sense, also to see how certain difficulties and tensions could be teased out. For example I was asked to keep an eye on the need to clearly protect the distinctiveness of the ordained ministry, while at the same time look at how can the work of lay people in the Church be better supported, acknowledged and recognised. In particular there was a call from a number of Synod Fathers for the establishment of a ministry of catechists as a stable ministry in the Church”.

Q: In fact, in the first week there were a number of interventions calling for greater emphasis put on the role of women in the Church…Archbishop Leonard of Brussels called for a clearer explanation of why women are not ordained to the priesthood, and one criticism of the Synod has been the small representation of the female voice within the Synod itself..

A: Archbishop Leonard very clearly called our attention to the Sacramental nature of ordained priesthood and that is the root of the issue regard to the maleness of the priesthood…a number of bishops have very clearly talked about the women being the spine the backbone of the Church and I think we know that from many of our Churches that the faith is carried by women…

Q: But not in governance was that the point being made?

A: To me the issue to be looked at there is that ordained ministry is a Sacrament; it’s a Sacramental and representative ministry that shares in the headship of Christ. I think that the stronger our sense of Sacramental ministry is, the better we will be able to see the other services that can be provided, and we won’t see these as a threat to one another, but rather as a complimentary service to the Body of Christ.

Q: You speak of the gifts that the young churches, particularly the Asian churches, are bringing to the Synod. What gifts, if any, can the Irish Church bring?

A: The Irish Church is in a very challenging situation…Perhaps it’s the sense of being liberated from any sense of pride, or reputation. We are in the ashes. But you know, there is a liberation that comes from being in the ashes. When all you can stand up for and rely upon in fact, is the Gospel, the power of the Cross, the power of the Resurrection. There is a certain liberation in that. We have to now find a voice that is courageous and confident yet utterly respectful of the pain of the past. A voice that speaks of humilty.

The biggest impression [the Synod -ed] has left on me is that the whole is bigger than the sum of its parts. The universal Church is gathered here and there is energy and a strength, which is not always the case in the individual churches, particularly in Europe. There is energy in the Church as a whole, because it is the body of Christ”.


Fr. Conway is Professor of Theology and Religious Studies in Ireland’s largest Catholic college, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. He is also President of the International Network for Societies of Catholic Theology and is past President of the European Society for Catholic Theology.