Like the Instrumentum Laboris, the Vatican’s Synthesis Report, summarizing the results of the first session of the Synod on Synodality, contains only a handful of Biblical quotes or citations, but includes a clear misinterpretation of St. John’s first epistle:
As for you, the anointing that you received from him (Jesus) remains in you, so that you do not need anyone to teach you. But his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not false; just as it taught you, remain in him (1 John 2:27).
In the report this appears in the context of Christian initiation and is at first interpreted straightforwardly:
By the anointing of the Spirit, who “teaches all things” (1 Jn 2:27), all believers possess an instinct for the truth of the Gospel, the sensus fidei. This consists in a certain connaturality with divine realities and the aptitude to grasp what conforms to the truth of faith intuitively (3c).
But then, in the same paragraph, the author of the report goes on to augment John’s message to imply something that he never intended:
Synodal processes enhance this gift, allowing the existence of that consensus of the faithful (consensus fidelium) to be confirmed. This process provides a sure criterion for determining whether a particular doctrine or practice belongs to the Apostolic faith.
Note the language: a synodal consensus is a “sure criterion” in determining whether a Church doctrine or practice is apostolic. This is putting words in John’s mouth who had stated the opposite in the preceding verses: the body of knowledge that the Christian community had received from the apostles was to be permanently binding:
Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father. …I write you these things about those who would deceive you (vss. 24-26).
There was a specific issue within the Christian community that John was addressing, the presence of false teachers. John calls them “antichrists” (vs. 18) who were at one time members of that Christian community (vs. 19). The context clearly affirms that doctrine, “what you heard from the beginning”, must be initially confirmed in the new believer and then, after anointing by Christ, the Spirit guides in discernment, the ability to judge errant teaching against the true instruction of the apostles.
The Church today, however, has an additional two thousand years of scripture interpretation, battles against heresies, councils, encyclicals, Doctors, etc., which have given it a rich depository of teachings, many of which carry apostolic authority. The claim made by the Vatican document that synodal processes that include laypeople could lead to a “consensus fidelium” that can review and revise certain doctrines and practices comes across as a means to justify making changes to established Church tradition with regard to faith and morals.
Moreover, what’s the likelihood of achieving a “consensus”? According to some participants who were willing to speak to the press, the synod discussions included a measure of contentiousness with regard to the subjects they were discussing: marital and sexual issues, along with female ordinations, central foci of the synod:
…[P]eople who feel marginalized or excluded from the Church because of their marriage status, identity or sexuality also ask to be heard and accompanied. There was a deep sense of love, mercy and compassion felt in the Assembly for those who are or feel hurt or neglected by the Church, who want a place to call “home” where they can feel safe, be heard and respected, without fear of feeling judged (16h).
By requiring a consensus of synod participants in order to make changes to Church doctrine or practice, the Vatican is setting the bar very high. But the document is clear; without a consensus fidelium, any attempt at implementing changes will lack credibility or authority. Consensus is not the same as a popular vote. John Paul II drew a distinction between sensus fidei and consensus fidelium in his Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio, adding a warning about heeding the advice of lay intellectuals:
The “supernatural sense of faith” [sensus fidei] however does not consist solely or necessarily in the consensus of the faithful [consensus fidelium]. Following Christ, the Church seeks the truth, which is not always the same as the majority opinion.
…The Church values sociological and statistical research, when it proves helpful in understanding the historical context in which pastoral action has to be developed and when it leads to a better understanding of the truth. Such research alone, however, is not to be considered in itself an expression of the sense of faith [sensus fidei] (Part 1,5).
…rjt
The Five Beasts 