Synodality and new relations between men and women: a missiological perspective

Abstract

This paper proposes the living of synodality through the
weaving of new relationships between men and women.
Synodality is a relatively new term which invites us to
“journey together”, in communion, promoting relations that are
harmonious, ordered and inclusive; testimonial relations that
embrace our Catholic identity (thus the world will believe that
we have been sent); relations lived in small daily details and
spaces that value each one for who she or he is and what they
contribue to the common good, which in turn lead to listening
to and respecting the other’s word; relations of adecuate and
mutual help, based on the divine creational principle.
From a missiological perspective, this “journeying
together”, taken together with animating our relationship with
God, also convokes us to enter into communion with those who
are different, with those who are beyond socio-ecclesial and
geographical frontiers, and with the cosmos. Thus we evoke
synodality as awareness of the eco-we, where protecting and
caring for life is a fundamental principle.