“Synodal Catholicity: A Discourse on Relational Ecclesiology within University Chaplaincy”

Okpaleke, Ikenna Paschal
(2025) LEST XV: Leuven Encounters in Systematic Theology: Catholicity, Theology, and the University: Conjectures in a Complex World — Location: KULeuven (22.October.2025)

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In most discourses about synodality, theology Faculties have largely focused on ecclesiological and canonical research that seek to develop and deepen the synodal style in different church settings but with little or no attention to the university chaplaincy. University chaplaincies and parishes are spaces where the pastoral agency of young people are most evident. Certainly, there are some references to the involvement of young people in the project of synodality (Synthesis Report §§1b,8d&n,16e, Final Document §§62,106,118), often in reference to the Post-Synodal Exhortation Christus Vivit (2018), yet these are always done passively, either in terms of their being ‘digital natives’ or the critical questions they pose to the church today. What appears missing is the role of young people as authentic actors in the doing and living of a synodal church, and thus, as agents in constructing catholicity. This paper argues that nowhere is such an agency clearly demonstrated than in the university chaplaincy or campus ministry. Unfortunately, this ministry appears to have been completely sidelined in the synodal deliberations and documents, with the presumption that it belongs to the same context as a typical parish. Yet a well-organized campus ministry constitutes a space for ecclesiological creativity of young people which has the potential to shape the future synodal leadership in the church. In consideration of this potential, this paper poses the questions: What type of ecclesiology is operational in a typical Catholic university chaplaincy? How can such an ecclesiology produce a transformative synodal culture among university students for synodal mission in/of the church? In response to these questions, this paper argues in favour of a ‘relational ecclesiology’ as a formative synodal leadership paradigm that highlights the agency of young people in fostering synodality and catholicity.
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Okpaleke, I. P. (2025). “Synodal Catholicity: A Discourse on Relational Ecclesiology within University Chaplaincy”. LEST XV: Leuven Encounters in Systematic Theology: Catholicity, Theology, and the University: Conjectures in a Complex World, KULeuven.