The synodal journey will undoubtedly open a new page in the coming decades, as did the Second Vatican Council. This is the impression of Hatem Bourial, a Muslim from Carthage, Tunisia, who participated in the African continental phase of the synod on synodality in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Hatem Bourial was speaking as a Muslim widely engaged with ecumenism and interreligious dialogue. The African continental phase of the Synod on Synodality, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 1 to 6 March, brought together more than 200 participants from 41 African countries and the Islands. Participants also comprised Ethiopians as hosts and guests from other continents, particularly those from the General Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops of the Holy See. One hundred lay people taking part included 32 young people and 50 women. There were also some consecrated persons, priests, Bishops and Cardinals. The Synod in Addis Ababa also welcomed guests from other religious traditions: Muslims and members of traditional African religions. Equally invited were Christians from other denominations. Hatem Bourial, a Muslim from Carthage, Tunisia, who took part in the synodal meeting, underlined the value of the African Synodal process, comparing it to the Second Vatican Council, which he said opened “a new page” for the Catholic Church and its relations with other faiths.
Walking together in communion broadens horizons
In an interview conducted for Vatican News in Addis, Hatem Bourial affirmed that walking together, in his opinion, means looking towards the same destination. “It is to stay in contact; to look at each other without judgment, to stop and sometimes to go back, to adjust the initial objective.” Evoking the example of the Israelites, who in Scripture were always a “people on the march,” the Tunisian emphasised that walking also implies an effort and a relationship that is reciprocal with fellow travellers but is also reflective with oneself; and transitive when it concerns a whole group. Reflecting on the shared journey, Hatem proposed a return to Isaiah’s reflection on the widening of the tent (Is 54:2) if we are to comprehend the precariousness and fragility of this “walking together.” He insisted that only then could we understand better that being together is a strength and being many and in communion represents more strength, stressed the Tunisian journalist.
