How to be a synodal Church in mission?
Second Session of Synod with new forums and expanded participation
The eyes of Catholics around the world are on the Vatican as the days count down towards the start of the second session of the ongoing Synod on Synodality, which will hold from 2-27 October. The central theme for the discussions, which will gather clergy, consecrated persons and laity alike for one month is “How to be a synodal Church in mission?”
Ahead of the opening of the second session, Cardinal Mario Grech, the Secretary General of the Synod, and Cardinal Jean Claude Hollerich, the Relator General of the Synod, announced organizational details at a mid-September press conference. They revealed that the Synod will include 368 voting participants from six continents, comprising 272 bishops and 96 non-bishops, including 54 women. Additionally, 16 “fraternal delegates” from other Christian communities will attend, up from 12 at last year’s First Session.
The month-long event will be preceded by a 2-day spiritual retreat given in the Vatican (on 30 September and 1 October) by Dominican priest, Timothy Radcliffe and Mother Maria Ignazia Angelini, the abbess of a Benedictine abbey in Viboldone, near Milan. The retreat will conclude with a penitential vigil presided over by the Pope on the evening of 1 October in St Peter’s Basilica.
On Friday 11 October, Pope Francis will also lead an ecumenical prayer vigil in commemoration of the opening of the Second Vatican Council 62 years ago on that day. The event will take place in the Piazza dei Protomartiri, near St Peter’s Basilica.
As for the proceedings, the same method of “conversation in the Spirit” used last year will be the format. Participants will also again be divided into linguistic groups of about 10 people each.
General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality in the Church, October 2023.
Earlier this year, Pope Francis, in light of the Synthesis Report at the end of the First Session, indicated 10 themes for Synod Study Groups to consider. The groups are to offer the initial report of their activities to the Second Session, and will aim to conclude their work by June 2025. The themes include:
1) Some aspects of the relationship between the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Latin Church (Synthesis Report, No 6)
2) Listening to the Cry of the Poor (Nos 4 and 16)
3) The mission in the digital environment (No 17)
4) The revision of the Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis in a missionary synodal perspective (No 11)
5) Some theological and canonical matters regarding specific ministerial forms (Nos 8 and 9)
6) The revision, in a synodal missionary perspective, of the documents touching on the relationship between Bishops, consecrated life, and ecclesial associations (No 10)
7) Some aspects of the person and ministry of the Bishop (criteria for selecting candidates to Episcopacy, judicial function of the Bishops, nature and course of ad limina Apostolorum visits) from a missionary synodal perspective (Nos 12 and 13)
8) The role of Papal Representatives in a missionary synodal perspective (No 13)
9) Theological criteria and synodal methodologies for shared discernment of controversial doctrinal, pastoral, and ethical issues (No 15)
10) The reception of the fruits of the ecumenical journey in ecclesial practices (No 7)
General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality in the Church, October 2023.
One novelty of the Second Session will be four “theological-pastoral forums” held to address, from different perspectives, various aspects of themes relevant to the XVI Assembly of the Synod. The first two forums will be held on 9 October, simultaneously, but in two different venues. One will focus on “The People of God subject of mission”, and the other on “The role and authority of the bishop in a synodal church”.
The second two forums will hold on 16 October, again simultaneously but in different venues. The first will focus on “The mutual relationship local Church – universal Church”. The second will focus on “The exercise of the primacy and the synod of bishops”.
According to a statement by the General Secretariat of the Synod, the forums respond to the need which emerged at the First Session last year, “to continue the theological, canonical and pastoral deepening of the meaning of synodality for the different aspects of the Church’s faith... and to offer theologians and canonists the opportunity to contribute to the work of the Assembly.”
The Aula of the General Curia of the Society of Jesus will be the venue of the forums on “The role and authority of the bishop in a synodal Church” on 9 October, and “The exercise of the primacy and the synod of Bishops” on 16 October.
As it was last year,
the presence of Jesuits will not be lacking at the Second Session of the Synod.
Stay with us as we keep you updated.
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Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, SJ, the Synod’s Relator-General, emphasizes the importance of communal and ecclesial discernment towards building a Church where every Christian’s voice is heard and valued.
The second session of the Synod on Synodality started in a spirit of anticipation and hope as delegates from around the globe gathered for this final assembly in a multi-year journey aimed at deepening inclusivity, dialogue, and participation within the Church.
Let us pray that the Church continue to sustain a synodal lifestyle in every way, as a sign of coresponsibility, promoting the participation, communion and mission shared by priests, religious and laity.
Sister Nathalie Becquart is a French Xaverian religious who was chosen by Pope Francis as Under-Secretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod. She shares with us her experience at the end of the first session of the General Assembly on synodality.
Cardinal Pedro Barreto is a Jesuit and Archbishop of Huancayo in Peru. He is a member of the General Assembly of the Synod on Synodality. He shares his experience with us after the first three weeks of the Assembly.
“I am a voting member of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality. These days have been moments of deep and prayerful conversations in the Spirit as we collectively seek light to see the will of God...”
