‘The Church of God is Convoked in Synod’: An Evaluation of the Synodal Process in the Catholic Church in the Czech Republic

Abstract

In October 2021, the synodal process of the Catholic Church worldwide began. All Catholic Christians were invited to participate in the consultation of the faithful, which represents the first stage of the Synod on Synodality For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission (2021–24). In this article, I offer a qualitative assessment of the national synthesis of the synodal process in the Catholic Church in the Czech Republic. I analyse the relevant ecclesiological suggestions in the Czech national synthesis and place them in the context of the broader theological and canonical discussion that is currently taking place in the Catholic Church on these issues. This article discusses how relevant these suggestions are and how they can contribute to the synodal renewal of the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis opened the synodal process of the Synod on Synodality in the Catholic Church (2021–2024) ¹ on 10 October 2021. The present Synod is entitled For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission. ² The ‘holy people of God,’ has been invited to embark on a journey of synodality, which the Bishop of Rome himself said some years ago is the path ‘which God expects of the Church of the third millennium.’ ³ These words, spoken on the 50th anniversary of the Synod of Bishops (17 October 1965), will be long remembered as the starting point of direction for the whole Catholic Church and its renewal—in all its structures, processes, and styles—in the sense of ‘walking together’ (syn-odos). The topic of the present Synod, which has changed from an event to a process, ⁴ is therefore not one specific aspect (pastoral, doctrinal, or disciplinary priority) but rather the very nature of the life and mission of the Catholic Church. ⁵ The obligatory first stage of this, and every subsequent Synod of Bishops, will be the consultation of the People of God in the various local Churches. ⁶ In the case of the Synod on Synodality, the consultation took the form of a synodal process, taking place in the dioceses from 17 October 2021 to 15 August 2022. Consequently, episcopal conferences on all the continents sent their ten-page national syntheses to the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops from which the Working Document for the Continental Stage of the Synod was created. ⁷

In this article, I want to focus on a qualitative analysis of the national synthesis of the Catholic Church in the Czech Republic and on a description of the most important elements that the Czech national synthesis brings. The main thesis of the text will be to find suggestions for the implementation of chapters 2 and 3 of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen gentium. In particular, I will focus on the suggestions for clarifying the status of the ecclesial existence of all the baptized as bearers of the common priesthood of the faithful (LG, chapter 2) and also on the form of ministry of the bearers of the ministerial priesthood in the Catholic Church (LG, chapter 3) as they emerge from the intuitions gathered during the synodal process. The ongoing Synod on Synodality can consequently be understood, as the Italian theologian Piero Coda argues, as the most important event in the life of the Catholic Church since the conclusion of Vatican II and as the beginning of a new stage in the reception of the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council. ⁸

I will proceed as follows: first, I will briefly describe the theoretical background of the synodal understanding of the Church as discussed in recent theological literature. Next, I will present the context of the life of the Catholic Church in the Czech Republic, based on which it will be possible to understand the basic qualitative assessment of the synodal process in the Czech Republic. The final section of the article will be devoted to a qualitative analysis of the national synthesis, especially concerning the suggestions it contains for the key principles of the ecclesiology of the Catholic Church. In the conclusion I will sum up the main findings of my research and I will situate them in the wider context of the ongoing synodal reform of the Catholic Church.

The Revival of Synodality in the Contemporary Life of the Catholic Church

The accession of Jorge Mario Bergoglio to the office of the 265th successor of the Apostle Peter can be seen as the starting point of a new stage in the updating of the synodal nature of the Catholic Church. It has been followed by a revival of interest in this important topic in the field of Catholic ecclesiology and Canon law. ⁹ In Pope Francis’s exhortation Evangelii gaudium one finds an emphasis on how to transform the styles and processes of the life of the Catholic Church to better realize what is stated in chapter two of Lumen gentium on the common priesthood of all the faithful. ¹⁰ Let us briefly mention two occasions in which Pope Francis emphasized the synodal transformation of the Church:

• a) During the 50th anniversary of the Synod of Bishops—that is, on the occasion concerning episcopal collegiality as a body gathered through its representatives cum Petro and sub Petro—by Pope Paul VI, a surprising moment occurred when Pope Francis quite consciously diverted the line of his speech from episcopal collegiality to the collegial synodality of the whole People of God. He stressed that ‘what the Lord asks of us . . . is already contained in the word “Synod,”’ ¹¹ namely, the common walk of ‘laity, pastors, the Bishop of Rome.’ Pope Francis thus shifted the focus to the importance of ‘listening to all,’ which expresses the synodal journey based on the awareness that through baptism: ‘(T)he holy people of God shares also in Christ’s prophetic office,’ and ‘the entire body of the faithful, anointed as they are by the Holy One, cannot err in matters of belief.’ This quality of all the faithful, sensus fidei, leads to the impossibility of preventing ‘a rigid separation between an Ecclesia docens and an Ecclesia discens, since the flock likewise has an instinctive ability to discern the new ways that the Lord is revealing to the Church.’ ¹²

• b) The theological development of synodality was anchored through Episcopalis communio, the apostolic constitution by which Pope Francis modified the structure of the work of the Synod of Bishops by incorporating collegiality into the broader framework of synodality. In this perspective, then, one shift must be stressed: pastors (bishops) are certainly teachers, but only after they are disciples since they are ‘appointed for the service of the holy People of God, to whom they belong through the sacrament of Baptism.’ ¹³ Therefore, their first (but not chronologically last) task is listening to the People of God, to make it clear that the collegiality of bishops is not separated from, but lives and is nourished by contact with, the local Church. It is therefore stipulated that the ‘consultation of all the particular Churches’ be ‘given special attention,’ since this consultation will mark the first stage of any future meeting of the Synod of Bishops. ¹⁴

These two examples show the flexibility and permeability between what is inherent at the level of collegiality and what needs to be opened and discussed at the level of the Church’s synodality. Further impulses for the renewal of the synodality of the Church can be expected precisely as a result of the Synod on Synodality. Its conclusion (October 2024) and the subsequent publication of a document that is expected to bring innovative elements to the style and structure of the Catholic Church are, for now, a distant reality. At this stage, the intermediate results of the synodal process, specifically in the form of syntheses from individual local churches (dioceses) or national syntheses and the document for the continental phase which is taking place in February/March 2023, have become the object of research by systematic and pastoral theologians, by canonists, and also by sociologists of religion. ¹⁵

If the diocesan and national syntheses are the fruit of the common discernment of Catholics, that is, if they are the first stage in the discovery of the infallibilitas in credendo of the whole people of God, what do these interim documents tell us? What impulses, what blowing of the Holy Spirit, can be discerned, reflected upon, and incorporated into the life of the Church to make the common journey of the Church more intense? ¹⁶ What impulses for the synodal transformation of the Church did this consultation of the People of God in the space of the Czech Republic bring? I address these matters in the following section of this article. Before I analyse the results of the synodal process in a specific region, however, it is important to apply a basic principle of hermeneutics; namely, if we are to properly read a text we must be aware of its context.

The Catholic Church in the Czech Republic: A Brief Background

According to statistics, the Czech Republic has a very high percentage of people who do not identify with any religion. ¹⁷ It is often pointed out that the Czech nation has a strong anti-institutional mindset, which dates back to the Hussite movement in the 15th century. This preceded the emergence of Protestantism at the beginning of the modern period and was linked to the thinking of the reform-minded thinker Jan Hus. ¹⁸ The Counter-Reformation (Recatholization) was seen as a violent act of conversion to Roman Catholicism based on the wishes of the Habsburg Monarchy (according to the rule cuius regio, eius religio). Moreover, in contrast to the situation in the surrounding countries of Central and Eastern Europe, ¹⁹ the nationalist movement in the 19th and early 20th centuries was perceived as a necessary departure from everything ‘Habsburg,’ and by implication Catholic. After the establishment of an independent Czechoslovak Republic at the end of World War I, this wave of anti-Catholicism was re-enforced by efforts to create a national church (the Czechoslovak Hussite Church), referring to the Protestant roots of the Late Middle Ages. This fragmentation of religiosity continued during the period of the Communist regime (1948–89), during which all kinds of organized religious activities were systematically banned, except for liturgical services. The early 1990s, therefore, saw a new wave of enthusiasm with the establishment of democratic government coupled with the expectation that a new national identity would also be supported by the leaders of the Christian churches.

Four national censuses from 1991 to 2021 show a clear trend. While in 1991, 43.9% of the population declared themselves to be believers, subscribing to a church or religion (of which 88.9% subscribed to the Roman Catholic Church), in 2011 it was only 14%, and according to the latest census the decline has continued to drop to 13.1% of the population (of which 53.9% subscribed to the Roman Catholic Church). ²⁰

We need to qualify this with two additional figures. The first is the fact that there has been no long-term decline—in the case of Roman Catholicism—in the proportion of regular worship attendees. ²¹ The second is the fact that, since 2011, it has not been mandatory to fill in the box on belonging to a particular church in the census (while maintaining a positive answer to the question ‘believer’). ²² This created a situation whereby 6.7% of the population declared themselves as believers in the 2011 census but did not specify their affiliation to any religion, and in the 2021 census, 9.1% of the population answered the same way. Moreover, in the 2011 census, 44.6% of the population chose the option of not answering the question about religious affiliation, and in 2021, 30% of the population did the same.

Regarding the situation of Christian churches in the Czech Republic, two facts need to be noted. In 2012, church property previously confiscated under Communism was returned. The largest beneficiary here was the Roman Catholic Church, which led to relatively strong anti-Catholic sentiments among the population. The Catholic Church was perceived as ‘coveting’ all the property previously taken away. ²³ The second factor worth noting was the wave of negative sentiment towards the Catholic Church in the wake of child abuse revelations in the Czech Republic.

These realities provide some guidance for further analysis of the outcomes of the synodal process of the Catholic Church in the Czech Republic. They allow us to establish certain preliminary interpretative hypotheses in the form of a restrained attitude towards (a) significant manifestations of the institutionalization of the Church, (b) the search for a relationship between the Church and civil society, all this seen in the context of (c) the new situation in which the Catholic Church finds itself on the threshold of the 21st century. Let us now proceed to a qualitative assessment of the National Synthesis. ²⁴

A Brief Chronology and Methodology of the Synodal Process of the Catholic Church in the Czech Republic

The synodal process of the Catholic Church within the Synod on Synodality continued the synodal experience that the Catholic Church in the Czech Republic had experienced in the form of the Plenary Council of the Catholic Church in 1997–2005. ²⁵ Without being overly pessimistic, it is fair to say that this earlier manifestation of synodality did not lead to greater success. A more detailed analysis of the final document of the Plenary Council of the Catholic Church in the Czech Republic shows one disturbing insight. Instead of setting clear priorities and following them, the proceedings of the Plenary Council sounded more like ‘chaff that the wind blows away’ (cf. Psalm 1:4). It seemed to some to be a missed opportunity to awaken the self-awareness and responsibility of the Catholic Church in the country. ²⁶ Therefore, it could be expected that many Catholics would look upon the invitation to the current Synodal Process with some suspicion.

How then did the synodal process, at the level of the dioceses of the Catholic Church in the Czech Republic, proceed? ²⁷ During September and October 2021, the National Synodal Team of the Czech Bishops’ Conference was created, and its task for the following months was to coordinate the common journey in the individual dioceses. ²⁸ In each diocese, one person was appointed by the bishop to act as diocesan coordinator, either from among the priests or lay women and men. In each diocese, these appointees formed diocesan synod teams and a wider network of vicariate/parish liaisons who coordinated the work of the synod groups in each parish/community. During October and November 2021, more than 1,100 parishes of the Catholic Church in the country were able to engage in this way, amounting to about 40% of all parishes in the country. ²⁹ Synod group contributions were sent to diocesan teams by March 2022. They then worked to create diocesan syntheses, which were sent to the national synod team at the Czech Bishops’ Conference by 15 May 2022. During June of that year, this team worked on the creation of the national synthesis, which was further discussed by the participants of the National Synodal Meeting and then sent to the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops by 15 August 2022.

Ecclesiological Impulses of the Synodal Process in the Czech Republic

In this section, I will present an analysis of the National Synthesis with a specific perspective focused on several ecclesiological impulses. Therefore, I will focus specifically on the first two of the three key concepts in the subtitle of the current synod: communion, participation, and mission. I will not deal with the subject of the mission of the Church which deserves its own analysis, a task beyond the scope of this article. Nor do I pretend to a full treatment of the synodal impulses for ecclesiology, which would deserve deeper study and interpretation.

I will divide the analysis of the National Synthesis into four areas which allow us to trace the strong impulses for a synodal church, and which are a response to the long-standing call of the German-Italian theologian Roman Guardini for a ‘revival of the church in the souls’ of individual Christians and the whole People of God. This awakening can be read as a development of the Second Vatican Council’s teaching, ³⁰ which outlined a vision for the ‘adult Christian’ in his/her co-responsibility for the life of the Church. This is a life based on baptismal dignity and lived as the ‘priesthood of the faithful’ with its participation in the threefold mission of Jesus Christ, a life lived in a dialogical conception of Christian revelation, and a form of the life of the Church with an emphasis on a communal discernment and a revised conception of the authority of the Church based on it.

Overcoming the Individualized Form of Faith

The Synodal Consultations in the Czech Republic have strongly demonstrated the fragility of an individualized form of faith. The recent situation of Christian individuals or families, shut up in their homes in times of pandemic lockdowns, has probably contributed to a realization of how important the theme of ‘communication’ is in the concept of faith. ³¹ This is to say, not only communication between the human person and God, but communication conceived as an ecclesial dimension of faith in which no one lives for himself or herself, but as a community of Christ’s disciples. ³² In this call one can read the desire to move from a Church for the people, i.e. a Church primarily understood as a sacramental service for the members of the Church by ministers who have received sacramental ordination, to a model of the Church such as the Church of the People of God, so often proclaimed not only by the present Pope Francis but especially understood as a model of the Church based on the documents of the Second Vatican Council. This notion of two styles of the Church reflects the quite different sociological perception of Catholic Christians themselves. Specifically, with regard to the situation of the Czech Republic as one of the post-Communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, it can be noted how short a road the Catholic Church has so far travelled in this country to transform life according to the vision of Lumen gentium. ³³ One might therefore ask whether there has been a transformation from restricting the life of the Church to the liturgical spaces of churches, as was the reality during Communism. This was an effort to limit the Church’s influence on civil society. The question arises, however, whether the Catholic Church in the Czech Republic has managed to develop a different, more communal, style of Church life in the past 30 years, or whether it is still searching for the courage to realize this transformation. The consultation of the People of God portrayed the reality that so far, the Catholic Church in the Czech Republic has not been able to move out of the ‘maintenance state’ (primarily focused on liturgical service and property management) ³⁴ to proclaiming the hope and primacy of God’s love which is open to all and becomes hospitable to all seeking answers to the deep questions of human existence. ³⁵

This is related to another point, so strongly expressed in the National Synthesis: What image of God do Christians succeed in spreading? ³⁶ The formation of the synod groups and their work could be seen by many as their first experience of a real local Christian community in which people could talk about their mission and their place in the world. It was on this occasion that the faithful became aware of what we might identify as a return to the original ‘kerygmatic simplicity’ of Christianity, consisting of the joy of the risen Christ, in the emphasis on God’s love, goodness, and mercy. ³⁷ This shows us the pastoral importance of the principle of the ‘hierarchy of truths’ of Catholic teaching, emphasizing the primacy of the triune God, of his love for humanity, and his presence in human life through the Incarnation of the Son of God. ³⁸

As a possible response to this need to experience the joy of the Gospel, one suggestion can be made: that is, to acknowledge the need to transform parishes into communities of ‘small communities,’ ³⁹ especially in larger (urban) parishes. The intimacy of relationships, a friendly environment in these communities, and mutual trust and depth of relationships among their members are proving to be an effective way to form adult Christians (missionary disciples), ⁴⁰ to shape ‘free, bold Christians who are open to others.’ ⁴¹ At the same time, the ambiguity of these communities must be emphasized. They can become either a space for the Church to close itself off from the world or act as a defense against a ‘sectarian’ enclosure of these groups. This can be achieved by making these communities missionary, and thus a place for the emerging Church to grow and the formation of its members to flourish. This positive vision contains, however, a major challenge; namely, how to reconfigure the territorial units we call parishes. What will be their future? And is it necessary to cling to their preservation in keeping with the centuries-old tradition of the Catholic Church? ⁴²

One further question can be identified for the future of the Catholic Church: how do we help Christian communities become places of effective ecclesiogenesis? Or to put it differently, how do Christian communities become places that generate a Gospel-based identity of all their members, places of self-awareness of their participation in Christ’s mission in the world?

A Hospitable Church: ‘Enlarge the Space of Your Tent’

The document for the continental phase of the synodal process is entitled ‘Enlarge the Space of Your Tent.’ This biblical image, taken from the Old Testament Book of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 54:2), is an apt representation of an overarching theme that has resonated strongly in the synodal process. The image of the Church as a tent emphasizes a space of communion and participation and a foundation for mission. This tent is characterized by its inherent flexibility, allowing for differently spaced and positioned tent pegs (doctrinal content) and requiring discernment of the tension of the tent ropes so that the tent’s canvas (the indwelling of God) can include all those who enter the tent.

In the Czech National Synthesis, we would find this image more concretely articulated through the desire for a hospitable, welcoming, Church. At the level of Christian communities, it is perceived that precisely the ‘small communities’ of Christians are a suitable semi-open environment for all those who are seeking their way to God, or even for those who have previously experienced disillusion in their relationship with the Church. This idea may lead us to reverse the usual premise of post-secular theories that speak of the return of the sacred in terms of the principle of ‘believing without belonging.’ Is it possible to imagine Christian communities as places of ‘belonging before believing,’ as places—of hospitality—for all those individuals and groups of people who may subjectively perceive themselves on the margins of the life of the Church, but also of civil society as a whole? Is this dimension possible without slipping into ‘therapeutic’ Christianity while developing a vision of the church as a ‘field hospital’? Here we can draw from the example of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who goes out even to the one lost sheep to bring it back home (John 10:1–21). This impulse of Jesus seems to be very important for the truly pastoral character of the life of the Church, open to dialogue and driven by the desire to learn from everyone. In this respect, the statement of the National Synthesis about who may feel marginalized in the life of the Catholic Church in the Czech Republic sounds very painful, and offers instead this question: who feels welcomed as a member of the Church? ⁴³

In the Czech National Synthesis, the Church’s self-communication and public image go hand in hand with the questions about Church authority and its role in civil society. In this respect, Pope Francis’s metaphor of the Church as a ‘field hospital,’ a place of refuge for anyone in need, resonates very positively. ⁴⁴ Also due to the influence of the centuries-old tradition, which defines itself against the strongly institutional concept of authority, the question of a new style of authority in the Church arises. While a positive perception of the Catholic Church in the field of social work is noted, ⁴⁵ the need for a style of authority that creates space and accommodates difference emerges in the broader context of the Church’s work. ⁴⁶ That is, a credible form of authority that ‘creates proximity’ rather than obedience. It suggests the legitimation of authority by the relational network that the Church constitutes in the model of Jesus. This is a form of authority that is intelligible, and so is accepted and lived out in the Church’s ministry (cf. John 13:1–15) for the benefit of all. This does not imply a devaluation or annihilation of the Catholic concept of authority, but rather a new understanding of its proper place and its form. The pontificate of Pope Francis marks a change of understanding in this respect. ⁴⁷

The Role of Ordained Ministers

I mentioned above the desire to overcome the individualized form of the Christian faith. The same shift echoes towards a rethinking and finding a new form of any human authority in the Catholic Church. A monarchical conception of authority is based on a certain political theology built up in the course of Medieval European society. ⁴⁸ Subsequently, it has been reinforced in the modern era by (1) the emphasis on the role of knowledge, a consequence of the Enlightenment, and (2) the dogmatization of the highest form of authority in the Catholic Church through the dogma of the infallibility and universal primacy of the Bishop of Rome. ⁴⁹ Is it possible to place this element of the exercise of authority in a broader synodal conception of a communion ecclesiology? A possible framework can be seen in what Alphonse Borras suggests when he speaks of the possibility of considering all ministries in the Church based on the priority of the local Church. The Church as congregatio fidelium, the concrete local Church in which the Church of Christ is realized (LG 23), is the principle and source of the existence of the various forms of potestas sacra and potestas iurisdictionis. The synodal conversion of the Catholic Church is not conceivable except through a transformation of the mentality from the ‘individualized’ form of the services to a communal form. That is, service understood as a range of responsibilities, missions, and tasks that are for the benefit of all. The way that this is thus offered is the ‘ontological’ distinction of the potestas iurisdictionis from the potestas ordinis, the latter linked exclusively to those who have received the sacrament of ordination. ⁵⁰ This is not the case, however, with the concept potestas iurisdictionis, which is based on personal competence and delegation rather than on the ministerial priesthood.

If the position of ordained ministers is fundamental to the sacramental structure of the Catholic Church, then the synodal reform of the Church shows that the essential reciprocity of the priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial priesthood needs to be actualized. The ministerial priesthood is not to be limited to the sacerdos form of the primary ritual concept of priesthood but to the presbyter presiding over the ecclesial community. ⁵¹ He leads the community, delegates responsibility, and facilitates the identification of endowments and charisms in service to all. ⁵² This leadership is ministerial, serving the whole community, and therefore the holders of this ministerial role need to be subject to accountability. True accountability has not yet been sufficiently reflected in the theology of priestly ministry and in canon law. At this point, collaboration between the bearers of the ministerial priesthood and bishops, especially in relation to pastoral councils in parishes and dioceses, is proving particularly sensitive. ⁵³

The final point I wish to mention in this section concerns the suggestion contained in the national synthesis on the form of life of diocesan priests involved in pastoral work in parishes. The current model of individualized authority can easily morph into to an abuse of authority. One negative consequence is immature communication, seen through ‘the priest’s isolation and inaccessibility, arrogant communication, political behaviour, the creation of elites, lack of trust in parishioners and blocking of their activities.’ ⁵⁴ Thus, the development of skills among priests that better equip them for teamwork and the ability to act in a synodal way (to show closeness and openness, to listen without making premature judgments and conclusions) is vital. So too is the intellectual formation of priests for the ‘soft skills’ of human cooperation, and also for evangelization work. ⁵⁵ This should be implemented not only for candidates for the priesthood, but also for those who are already ordained.

In the current model of the Church, a diocesan priest in the Czech Republic is usually the administrator of 2–3 parishes. ⁵⁶ Moreover, the number of new candidates for the priesthood in the country has decreased significantly over the last ten years. Therefore, the suggestions in the National Synthesis also question the wisdom of mandatory celibacy for priests, for two reasons; (1) practical-organizational reasons (the possibility of increasing the number of holders of the ministerial priesthood), and (2) because of a deeper awareness of the historical development of human and also ecclesial institutions. Therefore, the people ask ‘whether this form of life [celibacy] for priests today is a tool of evangelization’ or just ‘a holdover from the past.’ ⁵⁷ Thus, further exploration of questions about mandatory celibacy might be seen as a desire for a greater maturity of priests and their ‘ability to understand the problems of parishioners.’ ⁵⁸

For a Pneumatological Ecclesiology

The synodal transformation of the Church cannot be understood in any other way than the development of a ‘pneumatological ecclesiology.’ This is an understanding of the Church that traces all life and ministry in the Church to the event of Pentecost and to the action of the Spirit of God. Thus, an important task of the synodal transformation of the Church seems to be the appreciation of the specificity of women and their authentic service ⁵⁹ to the growth of the Body of Christ, including the continuation of the professional discussion on the access of women to some of the degrees of sacramental ordination. ⁶⁰

As the International Theological Commission’s document Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church points out, synodality is first and foremost a concrete ‘style’ of the life of the Church. This style expresses the nature of the Church as ‘the People of God journeying together and gathering in assembly, summoned by the Lord Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel’. ⁶¹ This style is rooted in ‘the listening to the Word and celebrating the Eucharist, the brotherhood of communion and the co-responsibility and participation of the whole People of God in its life and mission’. ⁶² It appears to be of utmost necessity to move from an authoritative style to a dialogical style of decision-making. In this process, the essential part is that of communal discernment culminating in a decision on the part of the one who bears the responsibility of this ministry. ⁶³ The preceding step of discernment involves, however, the involvement of all those who, with their professional competencies to contribute to the elaboration of an informed and responsible decision. ⁶⁴ In this regard, it is necessary to continue and further learn the method of ‘spiritual conversation,’ put forward by the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops as a modus procedendi for the consultation of the People of God in the diocesan phase of the synodal process. This method has deep theological roots and it leads the Church to a constant desire to learn. It is grounded in an awareness that the entire People of God is a learning Church. ⁶⁵ This ability and willingness are strengthened by the belief that the Holy Spirit guides the Church in daily discernment and decision-making. This consists of a consciousness of synodal authority, the bearer of the ‘living Tradition of the Church’ (DV 8), guided by the Spirit of God. ⁶⁶ This feature of synodality is, according to the Czech National Synthesis, essential for the healthy development of parishes and entire dioceses, whose development must necessarily be the result of teamwork under the guidance of its leaders. ⁶⁷

Conclusion

In this article, I have discussed the results of the synodal process in the Catholic Church in the Czech Republic with special reference to ecclesiological impulses. This topic was necessarily selective and focused only on some aspects of the synodal transformation of the Catholic Church. It, therefore, lacks analysis of the ecumenical dimension of the synodal transformation of the Church, ⁶⁸ the Church’s focus on its openness in evangelization work, ⁶⁹ suggestions for reflecting synodality in liturgical celebration, ⁷⁰ or a deeper analysis of the generational specificities of Catholic Christians in terms of their barriers and means for more effective identification in the Church. A deeper consideration of the impulses of the synodal process would also require a contextualization of the specificities of the Czech National Synthesis with other countries in Europe, not to mention a comparison with other regions of the Catholic Church on other continents. It would also be possible to more effectively quantify the participation of the faithful involved in the context of the recent census in the Czech Republic; that is, to make a comparison between the quantitative and qualitative levels of the life of the Catholic Church in the country.

It should be added that the Synod on Synodality is only in its first stages. The results of the consultation of the People of God will continue to pass through further levels of discernment, ⁷¹ including two meetings of the Synod of Bishops (October 2023 and 2024) and the publication of the final document by the Bishop of Rome. Despite all the limits just mentioned, the text reveals the coherence of the sensus fidei fidelium in the desire for synodal transformation of the Catholic Church as discussed in its various elements in the relevant literature in recent years. Thus, there is both a desire and concrete proposals for being more fully a subject of the Church, for being the Church of People of God, a co-responsible community, journeying through history under the guidance of Christ the Shepherd and the Spirit of God. In terms of the perspective I have been taking on the National Synthesis, it is possible to say that most of the statements of the sensus fidelium are directed towards a genuine development of a communion ecclesiology. This can be seen specifically through the call for a transformation of the individualized form of faith, but also for an adequate development of what it means to be aware of the common priesthood of the faithful, and their place to speak and act in the Church.