In a letter addressed to the world’s Catholic bishops, the General Secretary and the General Relator of the Synod on Synodality have shared “considerations” on the role of bishops in the synodal process. Source: Vatican News.
Cardinal Mario Grech and Cardinal Jean Claude Hollerich shared with bishops “a few considerations for a common understanding of the synodal process, its progress, and the meaning of the current Continental stage”.
The cardinals began by noting that each bishop has “responsibility” for their own Church as well as “solicitude for the Universal Church”. The very reason for the Synod, they explained, is “to enable the exercise of the latter”, with the current synodal process making “the role of pastors and their participation in the various stages even more crucial.”
They highlighted the sole theme of the Synod: “For a Synodal Church: communion, participation, mission.”
“This is, therefore, the sole theme we are called to explore in each of the stages within the process,” they wrote.
The exclusive focus on this theme precludes the possibility of other themes being “surreptitiously introduced” by those who would “exploit the Assembly and disregard the consultation of the People of God”.
The cardinals say “it is understandable” that in the initial phase of the synod, “the scope or margins of the theme were not clearly defined”. However, they say, these have been gradually clarified in subsequent steps. “It is important to remember,” they say, that the syntheses produced in the diocesan stage “are the result of the discernment of the pastors regarding the contributions made during the consultation of the People of God.”
The Working Document for the Continental Stage, in turn, is meant to give the local Churches the opportunity to listen to others. The themes proposed in that document, they add, “do not constitute the agenda of the next Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.”
The ordinary general assembly will be held in two sessions, spaced one year apart: the first on October 4-29, 2023, and the second in October 2024.
FULL STORY
Letter from Synod leaders highlights crucial role of Bishops in synodal process (By Christopher Wells, Vatican News)
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