An influential canon lawyer speaking at an official Synodality Synod event argued that the Catholic Church should be governed by synods that are balanced based on gender, among other factors, and that have the power to make decisions, not simply make recommendations.
Donata Horak, an Italian canonist who has appeared before Pope Francis’ exclusive Council of Cardinals, made her proposal in a theological forum held at the Jesuit world headquarters in Rome, on October 9.
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The Italian canonist described the Church’s current approach to synods, in which votes are consultative but not deliberative, as “monarchical” and a “solitary view of authority.”
“It’s derogatory,” he said. “From a democratic mentality, those who only have an advisory vote do not count.”
Horak also said synods should proportionally reflect the church community they represent, taking into account professional backgrounds, skills and, especially, gender differences.
“The synodal bodies of the future must be representative of the People of God,” said Horak, professor of Canon Law at the Alberoni Theological Study in Piacenza, Italy, who is also a member of the Presidential Council of the Coordination of Italian Theologians and secretary of the Coordination of the Italian Theological Associations.
Although not a Synod delegate or expert, Horak’s presentation at an official Synodality Synod event was notable, given that changes to Canon Law are on the agenda for the Oct. 2-27 meeting. For example, the Synod is considering a proposal to alter the canonical formula that says consultative bodies, such as pastoral councils, have an “advisory vote only.”
From the beginning of her presentation, the Italian canonist stated that the changes she recommended to Canon Law were based on Catholic tradition.
“We do not reform synods to impose our vision of the Church,” he said, stating that his proposals were intended to rediscover the God-given mission “of making the Gospel credible” through “just human relations and brotherhood.”
Horak also described her views as consistent with Vatican II theology, which she said was not fully adopted in the Latin Church’s 1983 Code of Canon Law.
As a result, Horak said that the Canon Law of the Latin Church includes two rival “ecclesiologies,” or theologies of the Church: one that emphasizes the co-responsibility of all the faithful, even in matters of government, and the other that still seems to reserve ecclesiastical power to the clerics.
Horak said the Latin Church’s “contraposition” between exclusively consultative synods and deliberative councils “does not belong to our tradition” and pointed to the fact that the Eastern Catholic Churches have synods with decision-making power.
He did not mention that the synods of the Eastern Catholic Churches do not include non-bishops as voting members of their synods, a central element of his reform proposal.
While Horak emphasized that the Church cannot be a monarchy, he also said that this does not mean that the Church can embrace the “democratic model.”
“Synodality is deeper than monarchy and democracy,” he said, noting differences in office and charisma within the Church. “We really have to discover the dynamics of a deliberative vote distributed to different inter-ministerial subjects and organizations.”
As a way to make synods deliberative, Horak suggested that Popes could accept the final document approved by a synod as magisterial, listing the names of all who participated, which would be possible due to Pope Francis’s canonical changes in 2018 to the Synod of Bishops in Episcopal communion.
“This is paradigmatic,” Horak said of the possibility, what Pope Francis could theoretically do with the final document of the current Synodality Synod. “This should happen in all advisory bodies.”
Although she did not formally participate in the Synodality Synod, Horak is an influential canon lawyer. According to Vatican Newshis June 18 presentation before Pope Francis and his Council of Cardinals noted “various antinomies, such as justice and mercy, consultative power and deliberative power, hierarchical principle and ecclesiology of communion, democratization and monarchical model, in the context of a reflection more extensive on Canon Law”.
Horak’s presentation to the council of cardinals will be included in a forthcoming book: Power and Life: Economy and Law for a Church of Women and Men. The book, which will be published on October 18, asks the Catholic Church to put an “end to all discrimination, first of all gender discrimination,” according to its editor.
Horak’s presentation was part of a theological forum of the Synod of Synodality on the “People of God”, one of four that will be offered at this year’s synodal session. Organizers say the forums are held to provide “moments of deep study” for Synod participants and “to offer theologians and canonists the opportunity to contribute to the work of the assembly.”
Synod organizers did not respond to a request for comment on how the forum’s speakers were selected.
Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in National Catholic Register.
Jonathan Liedl
Jonathan Liedl is a senior editor at the National Catholic Register. He studied Political Science and Arabic Studies at the University of Notre Dame and has a Master’s Degree in Catholic Studies from the University of St. Thomas. He is currently completing a Master’s Degree in Theology at Saint Paul Seminary. He lives in the Twin Cities of Minnesota.