Helena Jeppesen-Spuhler, a delegate from Switzerland to the World Synod, is pleased that key concerns of the Swiss Church have been included in the working paper. At the preliminary meeting in Linz, she is hoping for an in-depth exchange about the different needs of the European Church.
42 representatives of the European local churches at the World Synod will meet in Linz at the end of August for an exchange.
Helena Jeppesen-Spuhler is one of three delegates from Switzerland at the World Synod. She is particularly pleased that the working paper includes the “synodal test phase” of the Swiss church and the call for decentralization. This decentralization should enable local churches to implement necessary reforms at their own pace and adapted to local needs.
Jeppesen-Spuhler, who works for the Swiss aid organization Fastenaktion, sees the upcoming preliminary meeting in Linz as an important opportunity to deepen understanding of the different needs and regulations within the Catholic Church in Europe. She stresses the importance of an intensive exchange on the status of the synodal process in the various local churches.
More participation
According to Jeppesen-Spuhler, a central concern for the World Synod is to strengthen the participation of all baptized people, which is to be sustainably secured through structural and canonical reforms.
The provisional final session of the worldwide synodal process initiated by Pope Francis in 2021 will take place in Rome in October 2024. While issues such as the ordination of women or the female diaconate have not yet been in focus, the Swiss delegate is counting on important reform concerns to continue to be taken into account.
(kath.ch – rp)
