Donata Horak, an Italian canonist, made her proposal at a synod-sponsored theological forum held at the Jesuits’ world headquarters in Rome on Oct. 9.
An influential canon lawyer speaking at an official Synod on Synodality event argued that the Catholic Church should be governed by synods that are balanced according to gender, among other factors, and empowered to make decisions, not merely recommendations.
Donata Horak, an Italian canonist who has previously presented before Pope Francis’ exclusive Council of Cardinals, made her proposal at a theological forum held at the Jesuits’ world headquarters in Rome on Oct. 9.
The Italian canonist described the Church’s current approach to synods, in which votes are consultative but not deliberative, as “monarchical” and a “lonely vision of authority.”
“It’s depreciative,” she said. “Coming from a democratic mentality, whoever has just a consultative vote does not count.”
Horak also said that synods should proportionately reflect the Church community they represent, taking into account professional backgrounds, abilities and especially differences in sex.
“Synod organisms of the future must be representative of the People of God,” said Horak, a professor of canon law at the Alberoni Theological Study in Piacenza, Italy, who is also a member of the Presidential Council of the Coordination of Italian Theologians and the secretary of the Coordination of Italian Theological Associations.
Although not a synod delegate or expert, Horak’s presentation at an official event of the Synod on Synodality was notable, given that changes to canon law are on the Oct. 2-27 gathering’s agenda. For instance, the synod is considering a proposal to alter the canonical formula that says that consultative bodies, such as pastoral councils, have a “consultative vote only.”
From the outset of her presentation, the Italian canonist claimed that her recommended changes to canon law were grounded in Catholic tradition.
“We don’t make reforms of synods to impose our vision of the Church,” she said, instead stating that her proposals were aimed at rediscovering the God-given mission “to make the Gospel believable” through “fair human relationships and fraternity.”
Horak also described her views as consistent with the theology of Vatican II, which she contended was not fully adopted into the 1983 Code of Canon Law of the Latin Church.
As a result, Horak said that the Latin Church’s canon law includes two rival “ecclesiologies,” or theologies of the Church: one that emphasizes co-responsibility of all the faithful, including in matters of governance, and the other that still seems to reserve ecclesial power to clerics.
Horak said the Latin Church’s “contraposition” between exclusively consultative synods and deliberative councils “doesn’t belong to our tradition” and pointed to the fact that the Eastern Catholic Churches have synods with decision-making power.
She did not mention that the synods of the Eastern Catholic Churches do not include non-bishops as voting members of their synods, a central element of her reform proposal.
While Horak emphasized that the Church cannot be a monarchy, she also said that this does not mean that the Church can embrace the “democratic model.”
“Synodality is deeper than monarchy and democracy,” she said, noting differences in office and charism within the Church. “We really have to discover the dynamic of a deliberative vote distributed to different subjects and interministerial organisms.”
As a way of making synods deliberative, Horak suggested that popes could accept the final document approved by a synod as magisterial, listing the names of all who participated, which would be possible due to Pope Francis’ 2018 canonical changes to the Synod of Bishops in Episcopalis Communio.
“This is paradigmatic,” Horak said about the possibility, which in theory Pope Francis could do with the final document of the current Synod on Synodality. “This should happen in all the consultative organisms.”
Although not formally participating in the Synod on Synodality, Horak is an influential canon lawyer. According to Vatican News, her June 18 presentation before Pope Francis and his cardinals’ council pointed out “various antinomies, such as justice and mercy, consultative power and deliberative power, hierarchical principle and ecclesiology of communion, democratization and monarchical model, in the context of a broader reflection on canon law.”
Horak’s presentation to the cardinals’ council will be included in a forthcoming book: Power and Life: Economy and Law for a Church of Women and Men. Published Oct. 18, the book calls for the Catholic Church to put “an end to all discrimination, first and foremost that of gender,” according to its publisher.
Horak’s presentation was part of a Synod on Synodality theological forum on “People of God,” one of four being offered at this year’s synod session. Organizers say the forums are being held to provide “moments of in-depth study” for participants in the synod and “to offer theologians and canonists the opportunity to contribute to the work of the assembly.”
Synod organizers did not respond to a request for comment regarding how forum presenters were selected.
