Evangelical Reflections on the "Instrumentum Laboris" of the Synodal Church: Reflection 3

This is the third reflection on the recently published Instrumentum Laboris (IL). It will be the last until October 2023 when the General Assembly of Bishops will meet to carry the Synodal Church into is last phase. Until then, the IL is the most recent working document of the Synodal Church and will serve as a guide for discussions on synodality in October. The first two reflections on the Holy Spirit and the role of baptism have laid the foundation for the final reflection which concerns the mission of the Catholic Church as it moves toward synodality. This foundation is clear in the IL when it states that “a synodal Church is founded on the recognition of a common dignity deriving from Baptism, which makes all who receive it sons and daughters of God, members of the family of God, and therefore brothers and sisters in Christ, inhabited by the one Spirit and sent to fulfil a common mission” (IL, 20). Indeed, the core aim of the Synodal Path is to clarify and fulfill mission. “A synodal Church cannot be understood other than within the horizon of communion, which is always also a mission to proclaim and incarnate the Gospel in every dimension of human existence” (IL, 20).

For the Synodal Church mission cannot be understood to be a task of the church’s hierarchy or magisterium alone. Mission requires the participation of all the Roman Catholic faithful who are identified, united, and dignified through baptism and the sacraments. Through the administration of the sacraments the Holy Spirit guides the Catholic Church forward. While mission is indeed a task of the entire church, Evangelicals ought to carefully consider synodality and mission through the lenses of Vatican II and Pope Francis’s papacy. Indeed, it is impossible to consider mission in Roman Catholicism apart from Vatican II. It provides the interpretive key for understanding all aspects of modern-day Roman Catholicism. That said, some brief reflections regarding mission are warranted.

IL states that the mission of the Catholic Church is “to proclaim and incarnate the Gospel in every dimension of human existence (IL, 20).” The Evangelical church understands the Gospel to be the good news that Jesus Christ died on the cross to save and redeem condemned humanity from its sin, and through faith in Christ alone can one be saved (Acts 4:12; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Peter 3:18; Romans 5:8-10; 2 Corinthians 5:21). It is inconceivable to think of salvation apart from a confession that Christ Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9-10). It is this confession that defines and energizes the church’s mission to proclaim, preach, and incarnate the Gospel. Although the same words are present in Roman Catholicism, the clarity of their meanings are badly lacking from an Evangelical perspective. Four brief examples are helpful in underscoring this observation.

The first is Vatican II’s document Lumen gentium, paragraph 16. This paragraph states that Muslims are our brothers and that people who obey the dictates of their conscience, while perhaps not having heard or understood the Gospel but are doing the best they can, are considered by the Catholic Church as being on the path of salvation. Muslims, however, reject the death and resurrection of Christ and would under no circumstance affirm any of the Bible verses cited above as necessary for salvation. Furthermore, the Bible is clear that those who have not heard the Gospel cannot be saved (Romans 10:14). This begs the question: What Gospel is driving the mission of the Synodal Church and that is to be incarnated by the Roman Catholic faithful if Muslims are our brothers and people who have not heard the Gospel are on the path of salvation?

The second example is fruit of Lumen gentium 16 and is Pope Francis’s latest encyclical Fratelli tutti (All Brothers). According to Pope Francis all of humanity are united as brothers and sisters on the basis of having the same creator. Fratelli tutti is clear that “creator” is open for interpretation. The Bible says that a shared and common confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9-10; 1 John 1:5-10) is what makes us spiritual brothers and sisters and unites us. Pope Francis disagrees. We are instead all brothers and sisters, regardless of confession. If our common confession of Christ as Lord was what united us, Muslims could not be considered our brothers and sisters. But both Lumen gentium and Fratelli tutti very clearly say otherwise. On this basis it is very difficult to make sense of and define the Synodal Church’s understanding of Gospel proclamation and mission.

The third example builds off the first two and is a conversation Pope Francis had with a young Catholic boy named Emanuele who had the opportunity to ask the pope about his recently deceased father. Emanuele wanted to know where his dad was. The only information that Francis had was that the boy’s father was an atheist and non-believer but had his four children baptized. Francis reasoned that although he was an atheist, it was good that the boy’s father had his children baptized and this apparently made him a good man. Based on his goodness, and the goodness of a loving Father who would never cast away his children, Emanuele could be assured his father was in heaven. This proclamation by the head of the Catholic Church is clear fruit of Lumen gentium and affirms Fratelli tutti. But if atheists go to heaven because they are good people, what implications does this have for the mission of the Catholic Church? Francis’s idea of who goes to heaven directly contradicts Scripture. What Gospel, then, is to be proclaimed and incarnated by the Synodal Church and the Roman Catholic faithful?

Lastly, the Synodal Church is clear that it desires to be a Church that is radically inclusive (IL Worksheet B 1.2; DCS, 30). The Church is not a place for the perfect but is for the wounded and marginalized. It is not a place where people should feel judged, but where they feel welcome and accepted. These are good and right descriptions of the church, but they are greatly confused by The Synodal Church’s idea of the Gospel and mission. Pope Francis and the Catholic Church of Vatican II no longer speak of sin and repentance. Indeed, if we are all brothers, why speak of sin? The church should indeed be inclusive, but not at the expense of calling people to confess their sin, repent, and turn from their sin. Indeed, the church is not a place for the perfect because we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). It is, however, a place for those made righteous by faith in Christ Jesus and his work on the cross. The church itself does not cast judgement, but the Word of God that is to be faithfully preached by the church does judge and does condemn and does call us to confession and repentance of our sin. God’s Word does not welcome us as we are but calls us to turn from our sin and place our faith in Christ who makes us into a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). This language, however, is absent in the Synodal Church’s articulation of Gospel proclamation and mission.

These are important reflections for the Evangelical church to consider as the Synodal Path heads into a key phase this October. It speaks of Gospel proclamation and mission, but how they are defined and articulated are not at all clear and in fact seem to contradict Scripture. How will the above concerns be address in October, or will they? Let us pray and be careful observers.