‘Synodality’ and ‘Clericalism.’

Who are these "unaccompanied minors" crossing the border and where are they going?

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Jarry got married.

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Tristan Jarry

A WOD recently was 'Vulcan,' the Roman fire and blacksmith god. Injured and deformed, he marries the spectacular Venus and is betrayed. The Greek equivalent is Hephaestus, similarly injured and betrayed. He marries Aphrodite.
I thought about the name Festus, a name I first learned on "Gunsmoke," a Western TV weekly starring James Arness, a big guy who played the monster in the original "The Thing." An important minor character was a deputy named "Festus," a kind of uneducated Everyman with his typical naivete and wisdom. The name is Latin, meaning "Festive" from "Festival," an irony on Gunsmoke, perhaps, but also of biblical origin; Festus was the Roman governor of Judea who succeeded Pilate. There is also a Greek god Festus who was some minor fertility god.

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‘Synodality’ and ‘Clericalism.’

Hélène de Lauzun has an article on a change in Vatican policy, seemingly aimed at Opus Dei. It is especially interesting in the context of the Church movement away from the structured hierarchy encouraging more "synodality."

"In a new motu proprio (“of one’s own initiative”) dated Tuesday, August 8th, Pope Francis amended the canons relating to personal prelatures, a status previously enjoyed by the organisation of Opus Dei, which had already been undermined a year ago by a previous papal reform.

The principle of the personal prelature dates back to the Second Vatican Council and was instituted by the decree Presbyterorum ordinis. Opus Dei, unaffiliated with a territory and therefore a diocese, needs the personal prelature to enable the organisation to carry out special pastoral tasks by virtue of a recognised ‘charism.’ The personal prelature has been used very little, since in the Catholic Church only Opus Dei, the organisation founded by Saint José Maria Escriva de Balaguer, has enjoyed this status since 1982.

At the end of July 2022, Opus Dei had already come under attack from Pope Francis. The motu proprio Ad charisma tuendum—conceived as a continuation of Praedicate Evangelium (“Preach the Gospel”), the apostolic constitution from 19 March 2022—intended to reform the structure of the Roman curia “in order to better promote its service in favour of evangelization.” It moved the supervision of personal prelatures, and therefore of Opus Dei, from the Conference of Bishops to the Conference of Clergy, which had the effect of weakening the authority of the Work and strengthening Vatican control over it. Ad charisma tuendum had also changed the status of the leader of the Work, who no longer had the rank of bishop: he could no longer bear the attributes of a bishop and or exercise the authority of a bishop.

Following from these earlier provisions, the “Apostolic Letter in the form of a Motu Proprio amending canons 295-296 on personal prelatures,” published on August 8th, now assimilates personal prelatures into “public clerical associations of pontifical right.” The edict, in simple terms, will further strengthen the Holy See’s control over the operation and development of universal or international associations, as is the case with Opus Dei, by virtue of canon 312 §1.

The pontiff “emphasises the associative character of the personal prelature,” according to the French canonist Msgr. Patrick Valdrini. The prelate of a personal prelature is now considered to be a “moderator”—a title reserved for leaders of associations of the faithful, like other existing communities, such as the Emmanuel Community—who retains the authority of an ordinary. In other words, prelates will remain leaders with executive power, which allows them in particular to open seminaries and incardinate deacons and priests.

The text also recalls that the faithful belonging to a personal prelature remains under the jurisdiction of their local diocese, which remains the region’s natural authority.

Finally, the new motu proprio insists that the statutes of a personal prelature must henceforth be “approved or issued by the Apostolic See.” Last April, Opus Dei voted on new statutes to incorporate the recent changes. These statutes must now be reconfirmed by Pope Francis, who may want to change them once more.

The reform is consistent with other measures already taken by Pope Francis, aimed at accelerating the centralisation of power despite the stated intentions of ‘synodality’ and the fight against ‘clericalism.’"

"Centralization" despite "stated intentions of of ‘synodality’ and the fight against ‘clericalism.’" A collision between the ideal and the practical, the spiritual and the mundane?