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As the preparatory phase of the Synod of Bishops' assembly on synodality opens this Sunday in local dioceses, La Croix is following three places around the world
By Lucie Sarr (in Abidjan) | Ivory Coast
Pope Francis has already launched the preparatory phase for the next gathering of the Synod of Bishops, which takes place in 2023 at the Vatican.
He did that last Sunday at a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.
Now local dioceses throughout the world are expected to take up the baton this Sunday in an exercise of listening to the views and concerns of all the baptized faithful from now until next April.
The secretariat of the Synod of Bishops has sent the local Churches a preparatory questionnaire to help facilitate the consultations.
La Croix will be following the process in three dioceses in different parts of the world each month until February – the Archdiocese of Abidjan (Ivory Coast), St. Peter's Parish in Yvetot (France) and a basic Christian community on the outskirts of Sao Paulo (Brazil).
In Abidjan, a timid beginning
"What is a synod and how are we supposed to participate in it?"
Almost everyone we spoke with in Abidjan answered La Croix's questions with questions or confessions of poorly understood information.
"The announcement of the opening of the Synod was made in the parish, but I don't know what it is." This was a common response.
In Côte d'Ivoire, the vast consultations sought by the Holy See in the framework of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops – as the October 2023 gathering is officially called – are beginning, in fact, rather timidly.
Given this context, the role of Marie-Laure Abotcha-Boni, member of the communication commission of the national contact team in charge of piloting the work of the synod, is essential.
The first challenge this Ivorian laywoman faces is getting out information.
It will be a matter of "ensuring that Christians know what a Synod is and that they have access to the questionnaires that will be adapted to local realities by the theological commission, so that no one is left out", she said.
The national contact team for the Synod in Côte d'Ivoire is made up of 13 members, four of whom are lay people.
It was set up in early October. In the coming days, it should be broken down into diocesan structures. These will then be responsible for defining the concrete organization of consultations at the level of parishes, basic Christian communities (BCC) and Catholic associations.
Abotcha-Boni is also a founding member of the Mother of Divine Love community, the new ecclesial community to be set up in Côte d'Ivoire.
She also founded "Theos", an association of the faithful that has brought together dozens of Catholics for the past three years.
The goal "is to consolidate the faith of the faithful and to give them solid reference points so that they can act in accordance with their faith".
Throughout the local phase of the Synod, La Croix will follow this association as it participates in various activities.
For the moment, at the level of Theos, they are familiarizing themselves with the Synod documents.
"It is true that we have just been informed of the Synod," Abotcha-Boni admitted.
"But I believe that this process is inspired by the Lord because, with the evolution of the world, Christians are more or less disoriented and need reference points. They also want their concerns to be taken into account in order to know how to 'walk together'," she said.
In order to do this, she said it will first of all be necessary to help the members of the association better understand the abstract concept of "synodality" and to highlight the issues at stake in the process of "listening" to all Catholics.
Moreover, in addition to answering the questionnaires, Abotcha-Boni and the members of her association intend to be intermediaries with the national team of the Synod so that the information and the questionnaires are accessible to the "voiceless".
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