Report from the meeting between synodal delegates and Cardinal Mario Grech during the diocesan pilgrimage in Rome on Monday, September 28th, at the Nepomucenum residence.
"What is important are not the documents, but the fact that you had a shared experience," said Cardinal Mario Grech to approximately one hundred delegates of the diocesan synod of the Pilsen diocese. They met during the diocesan pilgrimage in Rome on September 28th at the Nepomucenum residence, to discuss together the conclusions of the synodal process and what it can bring to the future life of the diocese.
The diocesan synod of Pilsen reached an important milestone this weekend in Rome. At the end of Sunday's service at the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, Bishop Tomáš Holub presented representatives of ten vicariates of the Pilsen diocese with the final document of the diocesan synod and its graphic presentation for study.. This followed a multi-year process of shared listening, prayer, and seeking what the Holy Spirit wants to lead the Church towards.
The following day, approximately 60 synodal delegates, some accompanied by family members, met with Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, at the Nepomucenum residence in Rome. The discussion about the conclusions of the diocesan synod was thus linked to the worldwide experience of a synodal Church.
The synodal journey of the diocesan synod of Pilsen thus received a Roman touch - not, however, a full stop to what was created during it. The Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, Cardinal Mario Grech, reminded the delegates that the true fruit of the synod is not primarily the pages of the final document, but the experience of shared listening, prayer, and seeking.
"I am convinced that your prayers during these shared journeys are part of the prayer of the entire universal Church," said the Cardinal. He also recalled the words of Pope Francis, that synodality is the path of the Church in the third millennium. "Synodality cannot be taught. It is possible to learn it through experience, “” he emphasized.
The shared journey itself can help the Church move toward evangelization, according to Grech. “A synodal Church is a Church that is ready to evangelize,” he said, adding that evangelization should be one of the main themes the Church should focus on.
He recalled the large number of baptized people who, in his view, are not aware of what they received in baptism. He compared them to a person sitting on a barrel, unaware that a treasure is hidden beneath it.
Another important topic, according to the cardinal, is formation. It should not be limited only to future priests. “We need to invest in the formation of everyone,” he said. He also warned against the danger that a person may feel they are working for God while not doing what God truly wants them to do.
At the end, Cardinal Grech answered questions arising from the final document of the Pilsen synod and also from the delegates themselves.
In connection with the Pilsen diocese, in response to a question from Father Petr Hruška, Cardinal Grech also touched on the experience of the first Christians and the “Pact of the Catacombs” (in which 42 bishops during the Second Vatican Council pledged to live in poverty and serve the poor, and more than 500 synodal fathers later joined the pact – editor’s note). The cardinal emphasized the dimension of a Church for the poor and for the poor – a Church that is willing to listen to people on the margins of society and does not close itself off.
Among the delegates was also Martin Baxa from Mariánské Lázně, who came to Rome with his whole family. “I was pleasantly surprised that the cardinal was casually dressed. I was struck by his point that some processes should not be rushed,” he said. He considers evangelization of young people an important topic. “We are a missionary territory from Mariánské Lázně.” I have worked hard to ensure that more work is done with young people, not only in Pilsen, and this has been achieved. The question is how it will proceed, he added.
The Roman meeting was therefore not just the end of one stage for the Pilsen delegation. It also raised the question of how to transform the experience of the synodal journey into the everyday life of the local Church – and how to rediscover the treasure that the Church already possesses.
Kateřina Odvodyová
