LIVE: Debates of the Synod of Synodality and the future of the Catholic Church

The Brazilian bishop Mons. Pedro Carlos Cipollini stated that to achieve the changes proposed in the Synod of Synodality, it is first necessary that three types of conversion be carried out: pastoral, structural and spiritual.

Within the Synod the recommendation is unanimous. The wording of the final document – ​​which will be delivered to Pope Francis – must “be understandable to the People of God. There is great attention from the members of the Synod to make the document understandable to everyone,” said the prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, Paolo Ruffini, during the press conference on October 16.

Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, Delegate President of the Synod of Synodality, exhorted in the Synod Mass celebrated to trust in “divine help” to face with hope the criticism of “synodal life.”

An event on “ordination of women” this Tuesday, to which Synod delegates were invited via mass email, is a good illustration of how side events attempt to influence the process.

Cardinal Leonardo Steiner, Archbishop of Manaus (Brazil), stated that there are “many of our women who are true ‘deaconesses,’” while noting that Pope Francis “has not closed the issue” of the ordination of married men.

Donata Horak, an Italian canonist who has appeared before Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinals, argued that the Catholic Church should be governed by synods that are balanced based on gender, among other factors, and have the power to make decisions, not simply make recommendations.

On October 7, a bishop from the People’s Republic of China intervened: Bishop Joseph Yang Yongqiang, from the diocese of Hangzhou. It is the first time that a Chinese bishop takes the floor to address his fellow Synod delegates.

“The Shop of Synodality” is the title given to one of the Amerindia network and the Latin American Observatory of Synodality, whose objective is to reflect on the presence of Latin America in the Catholic Church.

Brazilian Archbishop Jaime Spengler OFM, one of 21 men chosen by Pope Francis to become a cardinal at the next consistory on December 8, confirmed plans for a trial of an Amazonian rite of the Mass and urged “openness” to the idea of ​​married priests to serve certain communities facing a shortage of priests.

A Lebanese bishop proposed Saint Charbel, patron saint of Lebanon, as an example of listening to the Word of God during a homily before the participants of the Synod of Synodality, on the day that marks another anniversary of the saint’s canonization, officiated by Pope Saint Paul VI on October 9, 1977.

“When the Holy Father talks about the peripheries, I think the peripheries are moving… maybe the peripheries are moving towards Europe,” said Archbishop of Tokyo, Archbishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, in response to a question from CNA during a press conference on the Synod of Synodality on October 8.

The Vatican shares the final list with the names that make up the commission to draft the final document of the Synod of Synodality, which will be presented to Pope Francis at the end of the assembly that takes place this October in Rome.

“The purpose of this month’s Synod on Synodality is to determine how to put into practice Pope Francis’ push for greater dialogue, openness and participation of the laity in the affairs of the Church. But the global gathering is also functioning as a kind as a prelude to the next papal conclave”.

While “women deaconesses” are not formally under discussion at the Synodality Synod assembly this month, the official Vatican press conference for the Synod featured a delegate who spoke about women experiencing “a call to the priesthood.” .

Invoking the intercession of the Virgin Mary for peace in the world amid growing conflict in the Middle East and the ongoing war in Ukraine, Pope Francis presided over the recitation of the rosary at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. on Sunday night.

A Lebanese bishop made an impassioned call for peace and forgiveness at the Synodality Synod’s daily press conference on Saturday, as the first week of the assembly drew to a close.

Bishop Mounir Khairallah, Bishop of Batroun shared his personal experience of suffering violence and experiencing forgiveness, telling how his parents were murdered when he was just 5 years old.

Meanwhile, a dialogue with study groups was announced for October 18 after Synod delegates voted in favor of greater interaction with groups established by Pope Francis.

As the first week of meetings closed, participants from different continents highlighted the plight of the world’s poor and vulnerable on the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi.

He Vaticanist Andrea Gagliarducci analyzes the first days of the meeting in Rome. He writes: “It seems clear that, while delegates can discuss many things over the next three weeks, nothing will be decided. There will be no doctrinal changes. There is no diminution of the role of the bishop. “There is no rush to resolve the issue of opening the diaconate to women.”

Cardinal Mario Grech, general secretary of the Synod, stated in a press conference that “each believer, man or woman, and each group, association, movement or community will be able to participate with their own contribution” through the 10 study groups of the Synod.

Bishop Daniel Flores, Bishop of Brownsville, Texas (United States), told reporters that the work of the participants in the second session of the Synod of Synodality is to find the “cohesive voice” that expresses the life of the Church.

A study group appointed by Pope Francis to explore a synodal approach to the Church’s most debated issues — including sexual morality and life issues — proposes a “contextual fidelity” and a “new paradigm” that downplays the long-standing teachings of the Church.

“Greater candor about the motivations of the German Synodal Path and its vision for the Catholic future would be helpful in determining what, if anything, it has to offer the global Church at the 2024 Synod,” he comments. George Weigel en el National Catholic Register.

Pope Francis appeared seated before the historical relic of the Chair of Saint Peter in the Ottoboni sacristy of Saint Peter’s Basilica after celebrating Mass in Saint Peter’s Square before the start of the second session of the Synod on Synodality, a photo that went viral.

Pope Francis inaugurates the second and final session of the Synod on Synodality, which aims to deepen the Church’s missionary perspective, explains EWTN’s Vatican bureau chief Andreas Thonhauser.

“Let us be careful not to turn our contributions into points to defend or agendas to impose,” Pope Francis urged the participants of the second session of the Synod of Synodality. He stressed, as on past occasions, that it is not “a parliamentary assembly,” but “a place of listening in communion.”

At the first plenary assembly meeting of the Synod on Synodality on Wednesday, Pope Francis said that a bishop’s ministry must include cooperation with the laity and that the synod will need to identify “different forms” of the exercise of this ministry.

Since Pope Francis’ speech in 2015, synodality has gone from being a theological concept to becoming a guiding principle of Church governance. Analysis by Jonathan Liedl in the National Catholic Register.