What If “Synodality” Means Nothing?
There’s good news and there’s bad news. The problem is that the good news isn’t very good, and we don’t know (yet?) how bad the bad news can be. Yes, you guessed it: I’m talking about “synodality.”
The good news is that “synodality” might actually be meaningless. (That raises some questions about why, then, we are spending so much time, energy, and money on the topic; but let’s try to manage one conundrum at a time.) The bad news is that, precisely because “synodality” is a meaningless term (and “meaningless” will be defined below, shortly), it can be used to signify—or worse, justify—anything. The bad news is that, precisely because “synodality” is a meaningless term (and “meaningless” will be defined below, shortly), it can be used to signify—or worse, justify—anything.Tweet This
Anecdotally, we are already very familiar with such verbal sleight of hand. “The spirit of Vatican II” was used to justify (if not explain) just about everything. You know how it goes:
Orthodox. …