It’s not something I’ve ever written before on our site: “I told you so!” But, thanks to a good Catholic friend who enlightened me years ago on the true Eastern Christian concept of church synods, I was able to include a compare-contrast of that reality with what is being called “synodality” today in my piece, Synodality: The Latest Ecclesiastical MacGuffin.
Now, I find that a Greek Catholic Bishop, the Most Reverend Manuel Nin, is in agreement with my friend’s explanation, at least on a significant point. From the keyboard of Edward Pentin: Greek Catholic Bishop: Synod on Synodality Is Not Like Eastern Synods. Just under the headline on the Register’s site is this summary: “Greek Byzantine Catholic Bishop Manuel Nin stresses that Synod means, above all, journeying with Christ and warns against ‘Christian parliamentarianism’.”
Here is a point of comparison. Bishop Nin (as paraphrased by Mr. Pentin): “Despite claims to the contrary, the upcoming Synod on Synodality is unlike any synod of the Eastern Churches — it resembles a parliamentary process….” Yours truly: “…the occidental synodality being championed now is a bureaucratic simulacrum of the real thing.”
Mr. Pentin’s article is worth a read. If your Greek is good, you can read His Excellency’s original text here: Μερικές σκέψεις περί της συνοδικότητας.
