A Synodal Church, But The Keys Were Only Given To Peter

The Church Is Not A Democracy

Thank you for being a member of In Defense of Theology. This is the paid post for this week. My wife recently had our second child, so I was finally able to sit down and write this essay for you. If you want to support me and the work I am doing, consider becoming a paid subscriber today!

This Sunday, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul.

Very rarely does a Solemnity take the place of the Sunday proper, but this is one instance! Since that is the case, the Church is reminding us of the importance of these two pillars of the Church: one the rock Himself, and the other the missionary Apostle to the Gentiles.

In Matthew’s Gospel, we hear:

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

In this pivotal Petrine text, we have the classic Scriptural evidence of the primacy of Peter. The Messianic profession, the name change, and the giving of the keys are all necessary for Christ to establish Peter as head of the Church and His vicar on earth.

Begun under the papacy of Pope Francis, there was a three-year Synod process called the Synodal Process, or the Synod on Synodality. According to the Synod’s website, “Synodality denotes the particular style that qualifies the life and mission of the Church, expressing her nature as the People of God journeying together and gathering in assembly, summoned by the Lord Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel.”¹ Further clarifying this somewhat ambiguous term, Bishop Barron, a participant at the Synod, states that synodality means “first, the conscious and institutionally instantiated attempt to allow more of the people of God…to participate in the decision-making and decision-taking process. Second, we mean the establishment of protocols for accountability and transparency in regard to the governance of the Church.”² In other words, synodality is a process of the whole people of God, in the communion of the Spirit, to come together and assist one another, particularly in the governance of the Church and in major decision-making processes.

Synodality, without proper development and clarification, could be seen to be directly at odds with the Apostolic and Petrine Church. So, in what follows, I will attempt to walk the line between a genuine synodal understanding of the Church while also recognizing and defending the claim that Peter, and the 266 popes after him, hold absolute primacy in the Church.

Synodality Misunderstood

An Authority Problem

Many of the proponents of the “synodal way” can err on the pluralistic and democratic interpretation of the Church hierarchy. For instance, some that advocate for this interpretation say that the clerical hierarchy should include more women and should incorporate more diverse viewpoints, peoples, and cultures. Furthermore, taken to the extreme, synodality can even be seen as comparable and equal to the authority of the bishops, the Magisterium, and the properly constituted hierarchy of the Church—including the Pope himself.

The Example of the So-Called “German Synodal Way”

In an effort to “spread out” the authority and “include” more people, the unifying force of the inerrant Magisterium of the Church, guaranteed by the Pope, can be obscured. In the same article, Bishop Barron mentions this German way as an obvious problem with synodality taken to the extreme. Advocates of this German synodal way propose that a local bishops’ conference should be given the authority “at least to some degree, to make doctrinal determinations.”³ To a discerning Catholic, the consequences of this are clear: if individual bishops’ conferences are given the authority to make doctrinal decision, there is no central and unifying source of universal doctrinal authority. Doctrine in one place could be different than doctrine in another. What then is the difference between this “way” and the fracturing of non-Catholic communions such as Protestant denominations?

This can obviously not be the true meaning of synodality. Synodality would then take the place of Magisterial authority and Petrine supremacy, which would then make null the primacy given by Christ to St. Peter in the Gospel. That is a non-starter.

What then is a truly Catholic meaning of synodality?

---

To access the rest of this post and to support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber today to start studying theology so you can share and live your faith!

---

Petrine Authority AND Synodality