Next month from Oct. 4-29, over 400 bishops, priests, religious and laypeople from around the world, including our own Chancellor, Sister Leticia Salazar, ODN, will gather with Pope Francis to discuss and discern the information that emerged from the first three listening phases of the synodal process at the first session of the 16th General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of the Bishops at the Vatican. The second session will take place in October 2024.
In previous years, the Synod of Bishops was open only to bishops, however, for the first time, Pope Francis invited priests, religious and laypeople to the Assembly to ensure a “mixture” of the People of God.
“In this way, the specifically episcopal nature of the Synodal Assembly is not affected, but is rather confirmed,” Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Secretariat for the Synod said earlier this year when the Vatican first announced there would be non-bishops in the Synod of Bishops.
This purpose of allowing non-bishops in the October General Assembly affirms the aim of the synod which is to provide an opportunity for the entire People of God to discern together how to move forward on the path towards being a more synodal Church in the long-term.
“We are talking about 21 percent of the Assembly remaining a plenary assembly of bishops, with a sizable participation of non-bishops,” Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, the Synod’s General Rapporteur, said. “Their presence ensures the dialogue between the prophecy of the people of God and the discernment of the pastors.”
At the Synod of Bishops, our Chancellor, Sr. Leticia and the rest of the Assembly will address the overarching question of the Synod: How does this “journeying together,” which takes place today on different levels (from the local level to the universal one), allow the Church to proclaim the Gospel in accordance with the mission entrusted to her; and what steps does the Spirit invite us to take in order to grow as a synodal Church?
The Assembly will attempt to answer this question using the information that emerged from the listening stages at the local, national and continental levels, which began in 2021.
The Synod of Bishops will be organized into plenary sessions and group work, linguistic working groups of about 12 people. The Synodal Assembly process will be divided into five different segments: For a Synodal Church, Communion, Mission, Participation and the steps ahead.
Segment 1: For a Synodal Church
During the first segment, the Assembly’s goal will be to take from the experience of walking together lived by the People of God and use it to focus with greater clarity on the fundamental characteristics and conduct of a synodal Church. This first segment will take place from October 4-7.
Segments 2, 3 & 4: Communion, Mission, Participation
During the second, third and fourth segments, the Assembly’s goal will be to identify the meaningful and practical steps to be taken in order to grow as a synodal Church through discernment on the three priority issues (Communion, Mission, Participation) emerging from the consultation of the People of God. These segments will take up a majority of the Assembly from October 9-21.
Segment 5: The Steps Ahead
The last segment, conclusions, and proposals, will take place in the final days of the General Assembly from Oct. 23-28. In this segment, the Assembly will contemplate the small group discussion and the entire Assembly discussions in order to fine-tune and approve proposals.
The Assembly will use worksheets provided in the Instrumentum Laboris, a working document and tool for the participants of the Assembly, to help guide them during their discussions.
The Instrumentum Laboris includes text and worksheets that highlight the characteristics of the synodal Church, which have emerged through the experience from the listening stages at the local, national and continental levels. This document does not suggest answers but notes some insights that have emerged in the synodal process and opens up questions that invite further study.
The three priority questions that will be the main focus of the Assembly will be:
1. A communion that radiates: how can we be more fully a sign and instrument of union with God and of the unity of all humanity?
2. Co-responsibility in Mission: how can we better share gifts and tasks in the service of the Gospel?
3. Participation, governance and authority: what processes, structures and institutions are needed in a missionary synodal Church?
After an introduction of each segment’s matters for discernment by Cardinal Hollerich, the Assembly will then break into working groups of about 12 people. Once in their working group, Assembly members will contextualize each theme, expressed by the title, not in a general way, but starting from what emerged in the listening phase; then they will formulate a question for discernment.
From their working groups they will then go into a plenary session where they will share their reports made by the working groups to the entire Assembly with an open space for interventions by participants.
Assembly members will wrap up in their working groups where they will take from what they heard in the plenary session and formulate a final report, including proposals for the next steps.
In a June 30 interview with America magazine, Cardinal Hollerich suggested dialogue and discernment will be a primary focus at the first session of the Synod.
“I do not know if voting will be so important, at least in this October’s synod,” Cardinal Hollerich told America. “We will have round tables [of small language groups]. There will be a lot of sharing, discernment in the Spirit. We should never forget that it’s a synod in two sessions. So perhaps there is no need to vote on anything during this first session. But we shall see because we are open to all eventualities.”
Cardinal Hollerich mentioned that the result of the Oct. 2023 Assembly may produce a synthesis document that could result in further questions. He expressed how he felt the synodal journey has been impacting the Church so far.
“We are walking,” he told America. “The council said the image of the Church is the people of God, walking with Christ. And I feel now it’s happening. We have started to walk, and Christ must be the center. If Christ is not center, some people will walk to the right, others will walk to the left. We have to work together, with Christ. I am also not afraid that not all the questions will get answers [at the synod]. Because if we learn in the process how to live with differences inside this Church walking together, it will be a wonderful outcome.”
Elena Macias is the Managing Editor of the Inland Catholic BYTE.