Synodality and the Australian Plenary Council: Listening to and Looking at those who are Living in the Spirit

Abstract

In response to Pope Francis’s call for greater synodality in the Church, the Catholic Church in Australia has been preparing for a plenary council. Both Pope Francis and those preparing for the council have especially stressed the need to listen to the Holy Spirit through listening to each other. It is the burden of this article that while such ‘listening’ is necessary it is not sufficient. Using the plenary council as an example, and engaging with the work of the International Theological Commission and Ormond Rush on the sensus fidelium and synodality, it will be argued that although ‘listening’ is an essential prerequisite for success, for true synodality to occur we must also be ‘looking’ in order to see what the Holy Spirit is already ‘doing’ in the Church. This argument will be supported by examining the biblical meaning of koinonia (communion) and homothumadon (of one accord). These are essential for discerning what the Spirit wishes to say at this time to the Church.