RADAR • SYNOD AND RELIGIOUS LIFE

GIVING A UNIQUE VOICE TO RELIGIOUS LIFE WITH THE PEOPLE WHO SUFFER IN WAR

In the Vatican, Pope Francis recently met a delegation of over 250 male and female religious participants of a conference which took place in Rome from 22^nd-24^th November 2023 on the theme “Synodality: a renewed appeal to hope,” organised by the Union of Superiors General (USG) and the International Union of Superiors General (UISG).

BY RICCARDO BENOTTI INTERVIEWS BROTHER EMILI TURÚ ROFES | GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE USG, AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE ASSEMBLY

Is choosing to celebrate the assembly together, men and women, a message
of unity in religious life?

We are walking together in the wake of the Synod. Numerically the reality is very different: the Union of Superiors General represents around 2,000 congregations, including diocesan ones; the men’s union, on the other hand, comprises more or less 200 congregations. In recent years the collaboration has strengthened. While the possibility of creating a single Union is being discussed, some operational difficulties must be overcome. Could we contemplate a Federation? Maybe. The important thing is to give religious life a unique voice.

So that women are also given greater consideration in the Church?

Now, when the opportunity arises, the president for women and the president for men must be heard. We support them in the desire for the Church to be open to women, to find the place that truly belongs to them. Religious life is united in this path.

How did the Synod enter the monasteries, communities and houses of religious people scattered around the world?

Consecrated life is synodal from the beginning. Let’s think, for example, of everyone’s participation in the election of the superior. Saint Benedict invited the youngest members of the community to participate, because very often it is precisely to the youngest members that the Lord reveals the solutions. From this first phase of the Synod, it emerged that consecrated life is a place from which to take inspiration. Then, certainly, the practical application is sometimes difficult: there are cases of abuse of authority, of poor listening. At the beginning, the parliamentary method was applied, because it was considered the most democratic method for listening to us. But now we see that it is insufficient, that more is needed.

Please elaborate

We must enter into the contemplative listening mode proposed by the Synod, which really makes the difference. This is very powerful for the Church and for the world. Learning to talk even to the person who is one’s direct opposite, trying to understand him or her. Dialogue means listening to understand, not to discuss, but to welcome. If we all make this effort, then there is a communion beyond ideas. We can be in communion even if we think differently.

From Ukraine to the Holy Land, more and more wars are bloodying the world…

They are the signs of a change of era. We have been talking about it since the Second Vatican Council and the Pope often repeats it: this is not an era of changes, but a change of era. An era is dying and we see the symptoms. I believe that religious people are committed to what the Pope writes in Fratelli tutti: the gestation of a new world is underway.

Friars, monks, nuns are present in the places with the most suffering. In Gaza, under threat of constant bombing, they remained close to the population. Why?

Sometimes we may seem ridiculous to the world because we contrast the strength of weapons with that of love. We may appear crazy in the eyes of the world. Yet we know that in Palestine the religious are in communion with the people. In Ukraine we remain there with the people, as in many African countries where there is war and violence. We firmly believe in the power of love, which is the engine of change.

Everything around us points towards hopelessness. But instead, we know that it is prophetic to have hope, because we believe in the strength of the Gospel and of love, which surpasses the power of weapons and destruction. The Synod is a very important moment to reaffirm that we are with the Pope. And that we must never lose hope.

Source: Comboni.org