the Klettenberg home and chapel
From our Klettenberg community, Germany
When we were young, we didn’t know the word “synodality”. For some years now, we have come across it more often, first in the writings of
Pope Francis and more recently in connection with the synodal assembly in Rome. Today we understand it as a new way of being church. Jesus
did not want a dictatorship for his church, he did not want a democracy either. He wanted the reign of God to be established. Today, synodality
seems to be the best way to build the kingdom of God together.
We have tried to describe synodality:
• Travelling together, moving forward towards a common goal, praying, thinking, discussing, deciding and acting together, guided by the Spirit.
• Everyone is responsible; in manageable groups everyone can have their say. Listening is the key to synodality.
• Allow differences, accept them with respect and appreciation, see them not as a threat but as an enrichment, which can also mean
changing my way of thinking. (“The greatest gifts will come from those with whom we disagree – if we dare to listen to them,” Fr. Radcliffe told
the synod participants in October 2023).
• Listening with goodwill and trying to understand what the other person is trying to say.
• Do not take personal interests or beliefs for objective truth.
How do we live synodality in our community?
We have a community project, which we call “Our Common Way”. We constantly remind ourselves that we are travelling with Jesus Christ,
our risen Lord. Our community currently counts 15 sisters divided into two groups so that everyone can have their say. We always try to listen
to each other anew when we pray together, talk, share our faith and share the Gospel.
In the project, we expressed that we want to cultivate attitudes of synodality: “Listening personally and together to the voice of the
Spirit; cultivating attitudes such as respect, goodwill and trust”. We are ready to be enriched, gifted and complemented by each one in their
uniqueness and diversity in order to achieve unity in diversity.
How do we want to respond to the Chapter’s invitation and promote communion, participation and belonging?
• We read the documents of the Congregation, deepen them together and commit ourselves seriously to answering any questions that may
arise.
• We practice “Conversation in the Spirit”. So far, however, we rarely get beyond the first step of the proposed method.
In the course of our deliberations, a question arose: Is synodality specifically Christian? Perhaps a reader or community can
send us an answer?
