Missionaries of Africa
Rome Synod

Seán O'Leary M.Afr.
Auditor

Echos from African Synod,

Date: Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:30:42 +0200
Subject: Synod Report No.2

Dear Friends,

We are still in phase one of the Synod and that is the phase of
interventions. To date about 200 have given their five minutes
intervention on every conceivable subject. One has to accredit the Synod
as being a true consultation. What is interesting to note is that by and
large everyone is on the same page. One does not get the sense of a
'conservative' or indeed a 'progressive/liberal' sentiment but rather
most speaking in the same voice. This Synod is very clearly looking out
and is not an internal audit of where we are as a Church in Africa. The
real issues facing the Church in Africa; socio, political and economic
are coming time and again. It would be impossible to summarize where we
are at but the salient cry is for a global ethical renewal in all
spheres of society. The interventions ought to end today (Tuesday the
13th) and tomorrow we will be in small groups reviewing the first draft
or working document drawn from all that has been said to date; the
composition of which is a daunting task to say the least.

My moment of glory came on Friday October 9th when I was given the floor
to make my intervention and given I was an Auditor I was allowed four
minutes. I made one point and that was to suggest we need to form a
group of 'Peace Elders' drawn from those with conflict experience and
there are many; who would be ready to intervene in conflict situations
primarily to assist the local Church. My intervention was taken up by
CNN and Cardinal Martino, the head of the Pontifical Commission for
Justice and Peace asked to have a personal copy of my intervention. The
Southern Africa Bishops present have agreed to punt this idea further in
the small groups in phase two of the process. They will also punt the
work of the Southern African Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office.

What was interesting to note from the interventions was the number of
times the Denis Hurley Peace Institute was cited in gestures of
appreciation and gratitude. There are three Chairpersons who rotate
daily: Cardinal's Sarr from Senegal, Arinze from Nigeria and our own
Cardinal Napier. When Cardinal Napier chairs there is much laughter with
his cutting-edge 'quibs' and 'comments' after interventions, appreciated
as they are by one and all.

There were two formal interventions for an hour and a half, one on the
situation in Darfur and the other given by the Director of the UN Food
Organization and both were brilliant both in their content and delivery.
Again for me this shows that there is an attempt at least to make the
Synod an 'outward' looking event. Sadly both speakers painted bleak
pictures indeed and the enormity of both situations was not lost on the
audience.

The Holy Father's attendance record is good. Having sat all day in
respectful silence listening to an array of interventions it is
interesting to see his work load in the evenings after the Synod, which
are public knowledge recorded as they are in the media. While all of us
enjoy the breaks with high quality savories, the Pope meets the Synod
Fathers individually in private, which means he does not enjoy a coffee
break. The man's capacity for work at his age is breathtaking.

The lunch break is long (four hours) and given my identity badge gives
me free access to anywhere in the Vatican I have used the time to do a
true internal audit of what there is to see. The Vatican duty-free
supermarket is 'shabby' to say the least but the prices are amazingly
low.
The numerous interventions have been taxing to listen to all day every
day but we are poised to move into phase two and shift gear in the
process. My feeling is that the best has yet to come.

With best wishes,

Seán O'Leary
seanol@fastmail.fm