Archbishop of Sydney

Synod of Bishops

By + George Pell
ARCHBISHOP OF SYDNEY
28 October 2001

It was a great experience to be with 250 bishops, plus priests, nuns and lay experts from 120 countries. A sat between archbishops from Kenya and Bolivia. Every member could speak for a minutes in one of the five main European languages or Latin. About one third, the biggest number, spoke in English; two spoke in Latin!

We then broke up into different language working groups, which prepared Latin propositions for our final voting. In the light of these votes a working party will draft a document, which the Pope will publish, probably in about a year's time.

The Holy Father attended all the general sessions. As he himself said "I'm O.K. Above the shoulders". He had every member to lunch during the month and was in sparkling form when a attended on the 23rd anniversary of his election. The bishops sang "happy birthday" to him in Italian (same tune), and "for he's a jolly good fellow" in English. He was pleased and touched.

We met in the shadow of the September 11 attacks and while the war commenced in Afghanistan on October 11 our usual morning prayer, mostly Old Testament psalms sung to the ancient Gregorian chant, was dedicated to the theme of peace and justice and we prayed the rosary together in the afternoon for the same purpose.

Life has changed in Europe after the terrorist attacks. Some Romans are staying away from St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, believing such a symbol could provoke another attack. Even numbers at the Munich Beer Festival were 10% lower and beer consumption was down even further! Traffic on the roads in London is reduced by 30%. Everywhere security is tight.

The bishop of Islamabad in Pakistan left early as rioting commenced there and Cardinal Egan of New York returned home. He instructed that every victim should have an individual service. Some parishes had forty or more such funerals, a great emotional strain for their priests.

Our discussions followed predictable lines from the Second Vatican Council teachings (1962-5). The late Cardinal O'Connor of New York once quipped halfway through the set speeches "Everything has been said but not everyone has said it".

As the theme was "The bishop: servant of the gospel of Jesus Christ for the hope of the world", the person and teachings of Jesus were a primary concern. In immensely different circumstances are we presenting the fullness of Catholic teaching in language people can understand? Are we practising what we preach? Is our service real and consistent?

Two points struck me in the discussions. Despite all the changes and challenges there was a universal confidence in the bishop's role in the Catholic scheme of things. Perhaps not surprising, but still a blessing.

a was also taken by the terribly difficult situation of some bishops. 3,000,000 Sudanese have died in the last 20 years in the continuing war there. In some African countries 30-40% of people are infected with HIV. Christian minorities are being squeezed out of the Middle East. Columbia continues to be ravaged by guerilla war. And so on.

In Australia we have many reasons to be grateful.