In Witness With One Another by Christine Delp

3

In Witness with One Another

BY CHRISTINE DELP

“Why am I here? What is my part to play in the global synod of a church that I’m not even a part of?”

These questions were at the top of my mind as I lugged camera equipment up a steep hill in Rome, my back sweating in the sweltering mid-October heat.

It was October of 2021, and I was in Rome with my friend and colleague, Pilar Timpane, to document the opening events of the Synod on Synodality. For months, we had been following women in the United States and Latin America who were bringing forth the question of women and the diaconate, including women in leadership positions at various Catholic organizations.

I knew from Pilar, who is Catholic and directing the film I am producing, some of the history and context for this historic moment of the Catholic Church. But finally being in Rome— at the center of power for one of the world’s oldest and most powerful institutions—felt weightier and more intense than I had anticipated.

Here in Rome, I was documenting women as they shared their most intimate callings and fears. I was sleeping in a convent with a curfew, taking part in evening meals and prayer services, and accompanying these women to meetings with

important Vatican leadership. My job was to point a camera at these women during both mundane and vulnerable moments and constantly ask, “How do you feel about this major moment not just in your life but in the history of the Catholic Church, which you may or may not want to talk about right now as I interrupt your prayer time?” (At least that’s how it went in my head. Out loud it sounded more like, “So what has this process been like for you?”)

As both a documentary filmmaker and a doctoral candidate in sociology researching ethics in the documentary industry, I am hyperaware of the care for participants that this work demands. In Rome, I was constantly afraid of overstepping, of being a nag or—worst case scenario—a harm to these women’s faith journeys. These worries were made more salient by the fact that as a non-Catholic, a Methodist who hasn’t regularly been to church in years, I was an outsider to this faith community.

But it was at the top of that Roman hill, in a sun-streaked cafe on the sidewalk of a quiet street, that I was given a sign that perhaps I was supposed to be here, on a synodal journey with these women.

As Pilar and I put our lens caps on our cameras after a brief interview, Lisa Amman, deputy director of engagement for Discerning Deacons, offered these words: “You know, doing these interviews feels like an incredibly valuable mystagogia of my experience participating in the synod.”

After I got clarification on what mystagogia meant, she continued: “You create more public space in this synod for a group of women to share their thoughts and feelings about their role in the church. It feels like a kind of rarified air, to not be doing this work in private. You are giving us more opportunities to

offer our witness in service to the church in public. I feel like it is inviting us to walk in a synodal path.”

Her words took my breath away.

I have often understood my experience with religion perhaps unconventionally, joking that I am “religious but not spiritual.”

As a producer, social scientist, and (more often than I would like to admit) pragmatist, often the internal, personal, spiritual part of faith—such as prayer—is difficult for me.

But the external, shared, communal experience of documenting other people’s faith in religious communities has consistently made me feel closest to God. With Lisa’s words, this was the first

Toward a Better Future

BY TIM MCMANUS AND SURYA KALRA

Itime I had ever understood that perhaps sharing one’s story in a documentary could also feel like a spiritual experience.

I will never pretend that there is not an unequal power dynamic between myself as a documentarian and those whom who I am documenting. The care and need to think critically about my position as a documentary filmmaker with participants—especially when I am an outsider—is ever present and complicated. But Lisa’s words reminded me of the beauty and holiness of the exchange; that witnessing and being witnessed to could be a spiritual experience for those of us on both sides of the camera, in community with one another. I didn’t have to feel like an outsider in this church, because God had a role for me here, too.

What is more synodal than that?

For more information about the QUERIDA documentary, visit wmm.com/sponsored-project/querida-working-title

Christine Delp is a documentary filmmaker and a doctoral candidate in sociology at the University of Minnesota, where she holds a National Science Foundation fellowship. Her work has been supported by Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, Field of Vision, and others and has been broadcast internationally on platforms such as HBO, PBS, and Al Jazeera. For more information, please visit falconparkpictures.com

n 2018, the West/Southwest region of the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) launched an ambitious project to partner with local dioceses in the development of lay leaders, particularly immigrants and those on the margins. To date, this strategy, called “Recognizing the Stranger,” has involved 21 dioceses and trained 5,000 lay leaders in the habits and practices that lead to listening, conversation, and building bridges that bring Catholic teaching more fully into public life.

Many bishops, including Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, and Bishop Daniel Garcia of Monterey, California, recognized the connection between this initiative and Pope

Francis’ global synod process and invited us to partner with them. In each instance, IAF worked closely with the bishop and synod coordinators to prepare parish leaders to conduct robust, face-to-face synod listening sessions. Historically, community organizing has been rooted in the belief in the capacity of people to come together in action that moves their communities closer to a common good. This involves thousands of conversations about what is happening in a community and what is to be done, and it requires a space for this process to unfold. Through parish organizing, IAF leaders and organizers have learned to patiently and with commitment engage in careful listening to create the type of

Above: A behind-the-scenes photo of Christine Delp filming a documentary in Rome during the Synod on Synodality. Page 6: Casey Stanton of Discerning Deacons appears in a still from Christine Delp's upcoming documentary.