The soon-to-be-cardinal Malaysian bishop said that the upcoming Synod must not get into all kinds of labels and avoid division as much as possible.
"We don’t get into trying to divide," said Penang bishop and cardinal-designate Sebastian Francis in his interview with Crux.
"As long as we don’t get caught up in labels, and remember that the whole world is present, symbolically, and the whole world is listening, and the whole world is engaged in this process," he said.
Bishop Francis said that the dialogical process is the highlight of the Synod, and everyone must not hesitate to engage with one another.
"This is the way we are going to live Church and be Church, and be constantly open to engaging and growing together, and making decisions as they are necessary," the prelate said.
The bishop said that the delegates of the 16th Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October must let the Holy Spirit lead the entire discussion.
"I feel that the spiritual conversations must happen and will happen," said Bishop Francis. "Out of these spiritual conversations will come the fruits of the Synod, whether they be for the Church as a whole… or dealing with any particular burning issues of the day that the press is focusing on."
"I don’t think the Church is afraid of any agendas on the part of anyone," he added.
The cardinal-designate also revealed that Malaysia has been going systematically into a Synodal Church a decade after the Second Vatican Council ended in 1965, called aggiornamento, or renewal, making them quite familiar with the Synod’s current theme.
Bishop Francis, along with 20 others, will be elevated to the cardinalate on September 30.
He said that if given a chance to speak with Pope Francis, he would remind him that the successors of the apostles are not the College of Cardinals but the College of Bishops in the entire world.
"Universality is not uniformity, and uniformity is a temptation," the bishop said. "It’s a weakness and may even be a sin… and telling us what he [Pope Francis] would want from us, from me, is both the enculturation of faith in the universal Church and the evangelization of cultures."
The cardinal-designate also reaffirmed that he remains one with the Holy Father and the Holy Spirit as he embarks on his new mission as a cardinal. - Luke Godoy
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