By Jonathan Liedl 

An influential contributor to the ongoing Synod on Synodality is confident the process can lead to big changes in Catholic teaching and practice if participants endorse a disputed model of Church governance in its final document.

The key, says Venezuelan lay theologian Rafael Luciani, is for the synod’s outcome to affirm a contested interpretation of Vatican II’s teaching on the “People of God” that has already been embraced in places like Germany, clearing the way for a more decentralized, less hierarchical approach to Church authority.

Luciani, a key theological adviser to the Vatican office organizing the synod and leading proponent of “synodality” more broadly, said in a July 23 interview with Katholisch, the German bishops’ news service, that although controversial topics like women deacons were no longer on the October assembly’s agenda after Pope Francis shifted them to separate study groups, the synod could still open the door to big changes.

“If, at the end of the synod, we have a document that makes this ecclesiological leap and establishes the understanding of the Church as the People of God, there will be further developments in the areas of ministries and doctrine,” he said.

Luciani, who was appointed to the synod’s preparatory commission in 2021, praised the Church in Germany, with its controversial Synodal Way process, for already applying this model of Church life. However, he said most of the rest of the universal Church has failed to embrace the approach — including the United States.

“In the USA, the Church is basically dysfunctional and unfortunately there does not seem to be any real community among the bishops there,” said Luciani in explanation of why the American Church has not embraced the controversial interpretation of Vatican II.

The comments reveal the perspective of one of the most significant intellectual forces attempting to define “synodality” for the universal Church. Since Pope Francis popularized the term in the Church’s lexicon via a 2015 speech, Luciani has written at least nine books on synodality and many more articles.

Additionally, the Venezuelan served as the academic adviser and thesis director for Sister Nathalie Becquart, one of the top Vatican officials implementing the synod, during her 2019-2020 studies at Boston College.

The French religious, who is undersecretary of the Vatican’s Synod of Bishops, said in 2020 that Luciani’s guidance helped her “to discover more about the Latin American theology that has shaped Pope Francis’ vision of synodality and to embark on different projects to promote synodality.”

Church as ‘People of God’

“ People of God” refers to a key image of the Church taught by the Second Vatican Council in its dogmatic constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium. The concept emphasizes the communion of all members of the Church from different times, places and states of life and underscores that “all the disciples of Christ” are called to participate in the Church’s mission “in that way which is proper” to each person.

In his recent interview, Luciani has argued that decentralized and non-hierarchical governance are inherent to Vatican II’s teaching on the People of God, but that this ecclesial vision was blocked by Popes St. John Paull II and Benedict XVI, who “overemphasized” centralization and hierarchy.

The theologian, who is also on the faculty of the national Catholic university of Venezuela, has previously argued the synod is providing an opportunity to push forward with what he believes is the proper understanding of Vatican II.

“What we need is a fresher model of being church, imagining and building new structures that reflect a more synodal model and that involve the laity much more in decision-making processes,” he said in an August 2021 interview.

While the vast majority of theologians agree that the “People of God” is a key dimension of Vatican II’s teaching on the Church, there remains significant disagreement over how the concept should apply to questions of governance and authority and how it should be integrated with other aspects of the Church, like its hierarchical nature or sacramental character.

Several theologians have cautioned that Vatican II’s teaching on the People of God has been misunderstood by some in a sociological register, which risks relying on democratic processes, not divine Revelation, as the basis for ecclesial governance and teaching.

Joseph Ratzinger, the then head of the Vatican’s doctrine office, expressed this concern in a 2001 article in L’Osservatore Romano.

“The crisis of the Church, as it is reflected in the concept of People of God, is a ‘crisis’ of God,” the future Pope wrote. “It is a crisis of abandoning the essential. What remains is merely a struggle for power.”

Germany as a Model

In his interview with Katholisch, Luciani argued that a proper understanding of the “People of God” was received in some places in the years after Vatican II, “but this was not the case on all continents.”

In particular, the European-educated theologian, who has multiple degrees from the Jesuit-run Gregorian University in Rome and did post-doctoral research in Germany, cited countries like Austria, Switzerland and Germany as places where his preferred ecclesiology has been put into practice and “major developments” have been made.

“At this point in time, it is the churches in these countries and in Latin America that are pushing forward,” he said.

In particular, Luciani cited Germany’s Synodal Way, which has been criticized by Pope Francis for its attempt to create a joint lay-episcopal council to govern the local Church, as a positive model. He also referred to CELAM, the Latin American bishops’ conference that he advises and that includes an ecclesial assembly of bishops, laity, religious and priests.

However, outside of Europe and Latin America, Luciani claimed, “there has been no reception” of what he considers to be the authoritative understanding of Vatican II’s teaching on the Church.

“Anyone who looked to Africa, Asia or North America will recognize that the reception of the Council did not take place by means of the ecclesiology of the image of the People of God,” he said, also describing the understanding of the Church in Oceania and the Middle East as deficient in this regard.

Completing the ‘Ecclesiological Transition’

Luciani sees the synod as a corrective of this deficit and described the multiyear process, which began in 2021 and concludes in October with a Vatican assembly, as part of Pope Francis’ effort to push forward “a world Church that sees itself as the People of God.”

Synod organizers have repeatedly described the event as an opportunity for Catholics from across the world to gather and share their understanding of the Church and synodality. But Luciani suggested that its purpose is instead to legitimize the model of the Church animating initiatives such as CELAM and the German Synodal Way.

“It can therefore be said that the Synod on Synodality that is now taking place has advanced the whole world Church” in this direction, he said.

And Luciani said that although different local Churches are at different places in their reception of this ecclesiology, the synod would allow for radical decentralization by cementing the “People of God model” at the highest level.

“When the ecclesiological transition is complete, the local Churches will have their own authority,” he said, adding that this shift will mean that resolving ministerial and doctrinal issues “should not be a question of following everything that comes out of Rome.”

However, Luciani also said that securing this vision of the Church, and associated changes to ministry and doctrine, is not guaranteed.

“If an ecclesiology of the People of God has not been received in all local Churches worldwide, it is very difficult to open the horizon to the ordained ministries [to women],” he told Katholisch, suggesting that the German Synodal Way’s resolutions should be translated and disseminated to other local Churches.

Luciani’s provocative comments come just weeks after synod organizers released the guiding document for the Oct. 2-27 closing session of the synod. Although the agenda doesn’t include topics like attempting to ordain women or LGBTQ inclusion, both concerned theologians and eager activists said that it could “open the door” to bigger changes. University of Notre Dame theologian John Cavadini said that the image of the Church as the “People of God” “dominates” the text in a way that could imply a “complete but imbalanced ecclesiology.”

As he did at the 2023 Rome gathering, Luciani will serve as a theological expert at the 2024 Synod on Synodality assembly, responsible for helping to draft the final documents. The session will set the stage for a likely post-synodal teaching from Pope Francis — and further implementation of synodality throughout the universal Church.

This articel was first published in The National Catholic Register, EWTN Norway’s news partner.