![[Part II] “Don’t stand on the sidelines, take part.”](https://www.op.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/HOME-Carlos-Azpiroz-Dont-stand-on-the-sidelines_v2-1170x658.jpg)
“Don’t stand on the sidelines, take part”
The Fertility of Conversation in the Spirit for the Apostolic Mission
Testimony of Bro Carlos Alfonso Azpiroz Costa, O.P., Archbishop of Bahía Blanca (Part Two – Link to part I)
Bro Carlos Alfonso Azpiroz Costa, O.P., Archbishop of Bahía Blanca, Argentina, who participated in the work of both sessions of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission,” presents us with some insights for Dominican and synodal life in an extensive article that we are publishing in two parts. However, you can read or download the full article here.
Part Two – Link to part I
How is the bond of unity to be safeguarded in a Church that is synodal and on the way? Let me once again quote St. Paul VI, in his first encyclical Ecclesiam suam (n. 38). It was in a way the “programme” of his pontificate, as was the Redemptor hominis of St. John Paul II (1979) or the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium of Pope Francis (2013), for each of the two, respectively.
Dialogue, therefore, is a recognized method of the apostolate. It is a way of making spiritual contact. It should however have the following characteristics:
1) Clarity before all else; the dialogue demands that what is said should be intelligible. We can think of it as a kind of thought transfusion. It is an invitation to the exercise and development of the highest spiritual and mental powers a man possesses. This fact alone would suffice to make such dialogue rank among the greatest manifestations of human activity and culture. In order to satisfy this first requirement, all of us who feel the spur of the apostolate should examine closely the kind of speech we use. Is it easy to understand? Can it be grasped by ordinary people? Is it current idiom?
2) Our dialogue must be accompanied by that meekness which Christ bade us learn from Himself: “Learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart.” (56) It would indeed be a disgrace if our dialogue were marked by arrogance, the use of bared words or offensive bitterness. What gives it its authority is the fact that it affirms the truth, shares with others the gifts of charity, is itself an example of virtue, avoids peremptory language, makes no demands. It is peaceful, has no use for extreme methods, is patient under contradiction and inclines towards generosity.
3) Confidence is also necessary; confidence not only in the power of one’s own words, but also in the goodwill of both parties to the dialogue. Hence dialogue promotes intimacy and friendship on both sides. It unites them in a mutual adherence to the Good and thus excludes all self-seeking.
4) Finally, the prudence of a teacher who is most careful to make allowances for the psychological and moral circumstances of his hearer, particularly if he is a child, unprepared, suspicious, or hostile. The person who speaks is always at pains to learn the sensitivities of his audience, and if reason demands it, he adapts himself and the manner of his presentation to the susceptibilities and the degree of intelligence of his hearers.
In a dialogue conducted with this kind of foresight, truth is wedded to charity and understanding to love.
The conversation in the Spirit has been, throughout the entire synodal process or journey, the method proposed to guide this “dialogue” more fruitfully. I believe that only dialogue, with these characteristics, is the most suitable way to safeguard the bond of unity in a synodal Church on its journey. Even God has revealed Himself through the “dialogue” of creation and salvation. Today, He calls His People to follow that path. Otherwise, rebellion would arise.
In the same year as the publication of Gaudete in Domino, Pope St. Paul VI gave the Church Evangelii Nuntiandi, something like the “Evangelizer’s Letter or Guide” (published on December 8th, 1975, the 10th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council). Looking at reality as the Order does, that is, from joy or joy in the Lord, evangelization is the clearest and most joyful expression of sharing that gaze. How do we do it? Let us read n.76:
Let us now consider the very persons of the evangelizers. It is often said nowadays that the present century thirsts for authenticity. Especially in regard to young people it is said that they have a horror of the artificial or false and that they are searching above all for truth and honesty.
These “signs of the times” should find us vigilant. Either tacitly or aloud- but always forcefully- we are being asked: Do you really believe what you are proclaiming? Do you live what you believe? Do you really preach what you live? The witness of life has become more than ever an essential condition for real effectiveness in preaching. Precisely because of this we are, to a certain extent, responsible for the progress of the Gospel that we proclaim.
That text, which paraphrases the ritual text of the delivery of the Gospel book during the diaconal ordination, is repeated by Brother Damian Byrne, OP (Master of the Order, 1983-1992), in his letter to the Order on the ministry of preaching. Just as Pope Montini asks all evangelizers, Brother Damian questions the members of the Dominican Family about their primary contribution to the Church (the reason why and for which Saint Dominic embarked on his foundational task). Contemplation and offering others the fruit of our contemplation define us in some way and characterize our life and mission. Our particular way of governance highlights, at the same time and without absurd dialectics, the dignity of the person, their gifts, talents, and charisms, and, without undermining this, a strong communal emphasis. Why? Because, as we read in the Book of Constitutions and Ordinations of the Friars, and also in the Constitutions of the Nuns of the Order, “A good which meets with general approval is promoted quickly and easily” (according to the words of Blessed Humbert of Romans, in Opera de Vita Regulari; Ed Berthier I, 72).
The dialogue with God and the dialogue between brothers characterize and express this way of relating and connecting with one another. In these expressions, we could embrace the entire content of the Final Document of the Synodal Assembly! This is the key theme behind which many others have been unfolded, discussed, and discerned: the conversion of relationships, of processes, of bonds…
Is this not what we have learned from the joy of St. Dominic and the trust—shared joy—he had in his brothers to live with them and send them out to preach the Gospel?
We clearly learn this on the road (walking together) in the itinerancy that characterises us.
Bro Paul of Venice, one of the witnesses in the process of canonization of St. Dominic (Process of Bologna, Witness VIII), tells that “Master Dominic” used to say to him and to others who were with him: “Walk, let us think of our Savior.” He also testifies that “wherever Dominic was, he always spoke of God or with God;” he declares that “he never saw him angry, agitated or troubled, neither because of the fatigue of the journey, nor for any other reason, but always cheerful in tribulations and patient in adversities.”
What I experienced at the Synod allowed me to breathe in and breathe out the way of being of the Order in medio Ecclesiae. Breathing in and breathing out are the two moments of breathing. Similarly, I could also say: it is necessary to be nourished by the Church and, at the same time, in the Church, and to offer her that breath of St. Dominic, the foundation and meaning of all that is Dominican!
In the last session, long and tedious if you will, voting one by one on all the paragraphs (numbers) of the Final Document, with the qualified majority required for each paragraph to “pass” (273 of the votes), having concluded this most important formality, Pope Francis announced that he would adopt as his own all that was expressed and approved. That is to say that he would not write a “post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation” of his own authorship (cf. Final Document, 17th General Congregation, Pope’s final greeting, Saturday, October 26th, 2024).
The sustained applause, I would fearlessly say unanimous, expressed not only the deep satisfaction of the duty completed, concluded…, but also, before the eyes of the world, at war and creating divisions, cracks and absurd confrontations, that the Pope was the first to take very seriously (seriousness comes from “serio” and not from “series”) what was elaborated over the course of four years at the local (diocesan), national, continental, and universal levels. I will never forget that moment. We were leaving with the satisfaction of having fulfilled our duty, yes, but with the immense joy of having been taken very seriously in what was discerned and approved, made our own by the Successor of Peter. Perhaps there we understood the deeper, synodal meaning of all, some, one.
Now, we have to implement it in the conversion of our particular Churches, involving all God’s holy and faithful people.
The Synod has given me a deeper understanding of the conversion to which we have been called. I would like to summarize it in a clear and simple way. But it is not a game, it is an exhortation to live “ecclesiality” seriously, as St. Dominic, St. Catherine and all the saints of the Order lived and preached it! Otherwise, we will be nothing but sad snipers. This is why my final exhortation to each reader of this witness will be:
“Don’t stand on the sidelines; take part”
Fraternally in Christ, Mary and St. Dominic, let us walk together, pilgrims of Hope!
Bahía Blanca, 11 February, Holy Year 2025
+ Bro Carlos Alfonso Azpiroz Costa OP
Archbishop of Bahía Blanca
Fr. Carlos Azpiroz Costa, OP (Buenos Aires, 1956), a member of the current Province of San Agustín in Argentina and Chile, studied for a doctorate in Canon Law at the Angelicum. He served as Master of the Order from 2001 to 2010 and is currently the Archbishop of Bahía Blanca, Argentina.
