Sr. Maria Cimperman is a Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She participated in the first assembly of the synod on Synodality in October
2023 in Rome. Sr Maria offers our readers some particular perspectives from the Synod Assembly 2023 in light of the following questions.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to share these reflections with you, particularly as I am aware that Conversation in the Spirit was a methodology used during your 2023 General Chapter. I imagine your General Chapter was your synodal experience.
What made “conversation in the Spirit” (CIS) such a powerful tool during the Synod experience?
First, CIS was a great equalizer. In the process, during round one and two each person has the same amount of time (and is kept to it) to
speak and to be heard. The time was the same for a cardinal and a student, for women as well as men.
There is a pause between speaking, so each person’s words have space to deepen in the listener, to be heard below the words. A touching
experience in this was also how people chose to be addressed. With each new table, the introductions consisted of asking, for name, place
and how she/he wished to be addressed. With only one exception, (and for that I think the issue was language. English was the person’s 3rd
language), each person invited others to address them by first name.
Second, conversation in the Spirit (CIS) invites more silence than words from each person. This allows the Spirit to soak into the listening more deeply. Even in the third round when the sharing is open, there was silence after every 5 or 6 comments.
Third, CIS offered and taught a communal method of discernment. Not everyone discerns in the same way, and communal discernment is
still a growing area for many in our Church. This was a method taught and used that can be used ANYWHERE. We need to teach and offer this much more in our local churches.
Fourth, CIS during the Synod included a facilitator at every table, and that allowed the other members at the table to be more relaxed with
a new process. My experience is that facilitation was essential for the work of this Synod to happen. We helped hold the space as a space of discernment. There were times a facilitator probed what was being said, and invited others who may not have yet spoken.
Fifth, CIS allowed for intimacy and vulnerability. In my experience, it was after the sharing of the first two rounds that vulnerability and
risk-taking increased. Respectful and responsive listening created an atmosphere in which one person could share the heretofore unnamed
fear, someone else could share a deep even desperate hope from the people in the person’s parish. As more and more was shared vulnerably,
the discernment process also deepened.
I do believe Conversation in the Spirit is one of the most significant components allowing for transformational space in each person,among the table members, and in the entire group.
What are for you the signs that the Spirit was and is the protagonist of the synodal journey?
A key sign for me was that in the Synod we found a way forward, beyond the polarization and divides. I must admit that until I could articulate
this, I didn’t realize how much I needed to see this. We were able to hold the tensions that go with conversations about which people have many diverse perspectives,
“because we know ourselves as sisters and brothers.”
We were respectful of one another even as we could name different perspectives. It was truly beautiful and hopeful to see this. It gives a sense that we can do this in more places, across our countries, across our church.
Another sign was that I watched transformation happen. I heard individuals share about the transformation that had happened interiorly,
shifts of mind and heart that surprised even the person sharing about it. A question that came up with it was, “How do I live this when I go
back home?”
A third example is that some of the interventions from theologians and Synod voting members came at exactly the right time. Some of the
interventions came at the perfect moments. One example was when theologian Ormond Rush offered his brief theological reflection on the
meaning of tradition, linking past and present calls. The timeliness of the presentation was stunning.
A final sign of the Spirit for me was the patience present among the Assembly members. We were embarking on new territory in this Synod,
and at various moments there were a few bumps in the road with, for example, technology and scheduling. People did not complain but
instead witnessed patience. That, from 400 people, in a month long meeting, was exemplary!
How would you describe your work with and for UISG?
My main ministry is Synodality Coordinator for the UISG (International Union of Superiors General). One part of this has been at the service
of religious life participating in and responding to the Synod processes since 2021. That has, understandably, taken much of my time in the Fall semester.
A second component of Synodality coordinator service is accompanying UISG members in living out their 2022 Plenary Commitment. The pledge of each is to:
“commit myself to live vulnerable synodality through service as a leader, animating it within the community together with the people of God.”
Another part of my ministry is that I also coordinate, with a team, the Women Religious Theologians project, in which we bring together
women religious theologians from across the globe under the age of 60. It is an effort to build networks among the sisters and to have more
generations who will respond to the call of theology service religious life. The project also seeks to assist sisters in seeing how they can
further serve consecrated life as it is also evolving.
In closing, and perhaps most importantly, I write here to thank the MSOLA sisters for the gift of living community among you here in
Rome. It is a gift for which I am daily grateful!
