Synodality and the Culture of Encounter: Keynote Address by Rev. Timothy Radcliffe, O.P.

For more on this event, visit: https://bit.ly/3Cfm2Le For more on the Berkley Center, visit: https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu X/Twitter:   / guberkleycenter   Instagram:   / guberkleycenter   Facebook:   / berkleycenter   LinkedIn:   / berkley-center-for-religion-peace-and-worl...   December 16, 2024 | With the conclusion of the historic three-year Synod on Synodality the global Church faces the challenge of implementing what the Working Document calls an “ongoing conversion of the way of being the Church.” While concrete changes in law, structures, and ministries will emerge over time, Pope Francis has stressed that the main purpose of this synod is synodality itself: “becoming synodal,” that is, renewing and reforming its way of operating and mode of relationships in order to better witness to the Gospel in this “change of era.” Synodality is about (re)learning the ancient habits and practices of journeying together in prayerful communion, in order better to respond to the action of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the whole People of God. From the start of his pontificate, Francis has insisted that "time is greater than space": that we are called in this time above all to encounter one another over time in a spirit of humility and generosity, listening deeply and opening ourselves to a future together in ways that open us to the new horizons the Spirit is showing us. Synodal conversion is necessary for the sake of mission: in recovering the communion and participation of all the baptized, the Church can better witness to a culture and society increasingly marked by division and polarization. Synodality, in short, is key to the Church’s capacity to create a "culture of encounter" marked by listening, reciprocity, and humility, and which can render diversity fruitful and generative. The synod on synodality has lit up new paths ahead, but how, now, can those paths be followed? What does this historic event signify in the 2,000-year history of Christianity? How can synodality enable the transition to the coming “afternoon of Christianity” (Tomas Halík)? How can a synodal missionary Church build a more just and peaceful world? On December 16, 2024, Georgetown University and Campion Hall, Oxford, convened leading thinkers from across the world to reflect on the Synod on Synodality and its deeper lessons for the Church and the world. A first panel focused directly on the experience of the synod assembly and its concluding document; a second explored the synod's wider historical, cultural, and theological significance. Rev. Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., who Pope Francis invited to give spiritual reflections to the synod members both before and during the October 2023 assembly, provided a keynote.