The English version of the Synod document is quite frankly a disgrace.
English is the world’s most important language, or are there some people in the Vatican who have not woken up to that?
The reaction to the Synod interim relatio rumbles on. I have read the document, which perhaps many have not, and a model of clarity, concision and elegance it is not. I note that the language of the Synod is not Latin but Italian, and goodness does that show! However, the Synod Fathers will be meeting in language groups, from which one can hope, in certain cases, for less waffle and more clear communication.
The question of communication is one that I have often written about in the past. Bad communication is aesthetically unpleasing to say the least. I have inherited from my old English master a horror at the way some people misuse and abuse language. The Church should be the repository and guardian of good usage. After all, language is the gift that God gave us which distinguishes us most clearly from the animals, and we should not abuse or undervalue this gift. The Church ought to be a place where words are respected. If we cannot respect words, how will we honour the Word? There used to be so many beautiful turns of phrase and expressions that were utterly Catholic and closely associated with the Church. Alas, that is no longer the case.
The English version of the Synod document is quite frankly a disgrace. Whoever is responsible for it should be ashamed. Nor is this the first time that the Vatican has produced such substandard work. There are some quite bright lads up at the North American College in Rome who can hold a pen and, I am sure, could do a lot better, stylistically, than this. Why didn’t someone go up that hill and ask them to lend a hand? After all, English is the world’s most important language, or are there some people win the Vatican who have not woken up to that?
But this is not just a matter of style. Style matters a great deal in itself, but also, as the masters of the Counter-Reformation knew so well, as a vehicle for theological truth. There is truth in this document, but reading the document resembles searching for bits of coal in a huge slagheap.
The truth the document tries to convey – and which it does not convey very well – is one of the central truths of the Gospel. Jesus came to call sinners, to repentance, and to new life. How can we make sure that all people, whatever their situation, hear and profit by the universal message of salvation proclaimed by Our Lord?
If the document itself is a car crash, what can we say about the press conference that followed its publication? Here embarrassment is the only charitable feeling. I was not there, but here and here are two people who were. I urge you to read what they have to say. It is astonishing, for this is what it amounts to: three Cardinals and one Archbishop between them had the task of presenting Catholic teaching to the world, and they mucked it up. They were asked straightforward questions, and they waffled. Princes of the Church are supposed to communicate the truth that the Church teaches, and they failed to do so. I am dumbstruck by their failure.
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