By Bishop Stephen Chow Sau Yan, SJ
“Enlarging the space of your tent” (Isaiah 54:2) is the image used in the working document produced by the General Secretariat of the Synod at the Vatican. Many of us associate the image of a tent with camping, socialising, and even ‘staycation’ at the later stage of the pandemic, but seldom relate it to our Church or her mission.
As a pilgrim church, our Church adopts the image of a tent, which was used for gathering and accommodation for the nomadic Israelites in the Old Testament. Hence, enlarging the tent means not only having a larger Church but making her more inclusive so that different marginalized or excluded groups outside of the Church may be welcomed and included.
The working document is the synthesis of all the reports collected from dioceses around the world at the initial Diocesan Stage of universal discernment on synodality launched by Pope Francis in 2021. It was used for consulting episcopal conferences and associate members, like Hong Kong, at the Continental Stage.
I was invited by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) to attend the Continental Stage discernment meeting held last month in Bangkok. Per the request of the organizer, a lay partner also joined me at the meeting. Close to 100 delegates with the majority from different dioceses in Asia were present. Our mission was to come up with a draft response to the aforementioned working document for Rome to draft a working document, to be used at the Synod this October.
The meeting was held with inputs followed by respective sessions of spiritual conversation, carried out in groups of seven or eight delegates from different parts of Asia. The spiritual conversation was employed to discern what should be included in the document, which will become the Asian report for the Synod of Bishops. Even though the quality of spiritual conversation varied from group to group, it was clear that the Holy Spirit was there guiding us. Our lacks would not deter the Holy Spirit, yet our good collaboration with the Spirit would certainly help.
Among the delegates from the groups, there appeared to be a converging voice calling for our Church to be more welcoming and inclusive towards our sisters and brothers who are facing different marital statuses; who are among the sexual minorities known as LGBTQ+; who are living in the bottom socioeconomic strata and those who are discriminated due to their low social status in society; those who are abandoned, such as elderly, migrants, refugees, and displaced peoples; those minors and individuals who are vulnerable to abuses; other world religions, and the Mother Earth which is our Common Home.
Other appeals from the meeting included considering structural changes in the ministries and governance of the Church so that women will have more provisions to serve and lead in our Church, and for the Church to be bridge-building for peace. Our diocese certainly shares the latter. We need your understanding, participation and prayerful accompaniment, our sisters and brothers, as we move together as a synodal Church, enlarging our tent.
+ Stephen Chow, SJ
