Asked after a press conference at the
Vatican about the possibility of priestly celibacy and a women’s
deaconate being on the agenda in 2018, Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri
responded abruptly, “No.”
Cardinal Baldisseri is the secretary for the Synod of Bishops.
There has been speculation that the synod would focus on
priestly celibacy and the question of married priests.
Also mentioned as
a possibility was the topic of creating women deaconesses after Pope
Francis set up a 12-member commission headed by Archbishop Luis Ladaria
Ferrer last August to research the subject.
Archbishop Ferrer is the
secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith.
Instead, the upcoming 15th meeting of the Synod of Bishops
next year will focus on youth, with the motto: “Young People, the Faith
and Vocational Discernment.” Slogans calling for “a younger and fresher
Church” and fostering an “outgoing” Church were presented during the
press briefing.
Cardinal Baldisseri asked for feedback in the form of an
online questionnaire to help shape the agenda. Questions include: “How
can the values of the local culture be combined with the Christian
proposal, with consideration of popular folklore?” and “How can the
youth language be used in pastoral work, especially in the media, in
sport, and in music?”
The questionnaires are organized by continent to
give more precise responses about the expectations of the youth for the
synod.
“The questions will inform us about the experiences of the youth,” Baldisseri said.
His answer followed what Pope Francis wrote in an accompanying letter
published for the XV Synod “to Young People on the Occasion of the
Presentation of the Preparatory Document of the XV Ordinary General
Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.” Francis told the young people: “The
Church also wishes to listen to your voice, your sensitivities, and your
faith; even your doubts and your criticism.”
Cardinal Baldisseri, also involved in shaping the agenda at
the last Synod for the Family, added that the Church must abandon her
“highly complicated theological language” and step down to the level of
the new generation.
“The youth has her own language,” the 76-year-old Cardinal
explained. “Sometimes the faith has a Eurocentric taste. We have
included those questions to be able to deal with the cultural contexts
better.”