A Filipino prelate reminded canon lawyers of the Catholic Church to embody the spirit of Synodality as they carry out their mission to the faithful.
“The trap of sterility can lead to rigidity in the practice of the law… it is a double blow to the doctrine of the people of God,” said Jaro Archbishop Midyphil Billones.
“Synodality is not one among many options, as if we are doing a choice in front of a canonical buffet,” he also said. “Synodality is constitutive of who the Church is. It is who we are and how we should act.”
The archbishop was leading the Opening Mass of the annual convention of the Canon Law Society of the Philippines on February 23. Hosted by the Archdiocese of Jaro in Western Visayas, the four-day event has gathered hundreds of canon lawyers and lay tribunal personnel across the country.
Archbishop Billones urged them to become “advocates of the Holy Spirit” who genuinely interpret the Canon Law according to the Synodal nature of the Church.
“The doctrines on the people of God, authority as service, and the Church as communion should be reflected in the law of the Church,” he said. “The evil one cannot stop the momentum of Vatican II and its aggiornamento, but it can delay it by misdirection.”
Furthermore, the archbishop saluted canon lawyers who are actively studying how Synodality can be translated effectively within the ecclesiastical jurisdiction and governance to greatly impact the personal lives of Catholic families.
“I thank our canon lawyers for your hard work not only for expediting but for becoming more pastorally sensitive to wounded couples,” said Archbishop Billones. “It became more pastorally relevant when the penal side addressed even issues of abuses on the moral and financial.”
The 32nd National Convention of the Canon Law Society of the Philippines is an annual gathering that aims to ensure that the Church’s legal precision “never outpaces pastoral mercy, and that tribunals remain spaces where the walking together of synodality becomes a lived reality.”
This year in particular, the event will reflect on the tenth anniversary of Pope Francis’ motu propio Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus (The Gentle Judge, our Lord Jesus), which reformed the canonical process for cases of declaration of nullity of marriage.
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