Rome (Italy). On 26 August 2022 in Rome, at the Press Office of the Holy See, the Press Conference was held on the presentation of the second stage of the synodal process, the Continental Phase of the Synod on Synodality, on the theme “For a synodal Church: communion, participation, and mission”, opened on 10 october 2021, con la solenne Celebrazione Eucaristica nella Basilica di San Pietro a Roma.
During the Conference, some data were provided relating to the Syntheses made starting from the consultation of the People of God in the First phase of the synodal process and received by the General Secretariat of the Synod by 15 August 2022, and some information was given on the modalities of realization of the Document for the Continental Stage.
“At the present moment, we are experiencing the first phase of the synodal process, with the conclusion of two decisive moments: the consultation of the People of God in the local Churches and the discernment of the Pastors in the Episcopal Conferences”, explained Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the General Secretariat of the Synod. He added that, starting from the summaries of the Bishops’ Conferences, the Secretariat of the Synod with a Group of experts will meet to draft the Synthesis Document that will launch the Continental Phase.
Thanking the People of God who participated in the first phase, the Cardinal highlighted that the experiences heard or lived “show a living Church, in need of authenticity, healing, and that yearns more and more to be a community that celebrates and proclaims the joy of the Gospel, learning to walk and discern together”.
In addition to the 103 (out of 114) responses from the Episcopal Conferences received by the General Secretariat of the Synod and the thousands of contributions from other ecclesial realities, the Eastern Catholic Churches, Religious Congregations, and Vatican Dicasteries also sent a summary of the listening and discernment process carried out in recent months. After having collected the summaries of the Dioceses of the five continents, it will then proceed to the elaboration of a Document.
The principle of circularity governs the entire synodal process. After listening to and consulting the People of God and discerning the Episcopal Conferences, and returning them to the Churches, “the Continental Assemblies are called to reread the Document produced by the Synod Secretariat, indicating whether it effectively expresses the synodal horizon that emerged in the local Churches of that continent”. In this way, the act of restitution can activate the synodal dynamics through the circularity between the subjects and the levels of ecclesial life.
Father Giacomo Costa, S.I., Consultor of the General Secretariat of the Synod and Head of the Task Force for the elaboration of the Document for the Continental Stage, illustrated the dynamics of this stage, which will be in continuity with the previous diocesan phase, “investing relations between neighboring Churches and Episcopal Conferences, within what we have called ‘Continents’, but which should not be understood in a purely geographical sense.” Along the process, the presence of different sensibilities emerges, sometimes even rifts, in which meeting and collaboration are to be encouraged. “For this reason, an internal task force within the Secretariat is responsible for closely accompanying each Continent, not to impose an equal model for all, which cannot exist, but making sure that everyone finds the appropriate way for their circumstances to create an opportunity for sharing and comparison”, Father Costa specifies.
Advancement in the synodal path renews every reality in the commitment to walk as a Church with the contribution of its own charism, stimulating the involvement of all, as recalled by the Superior General of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, Mother Chiara Cazzuola, on 15 March 2022 during her participation in the program “On the way” on TV2000: “Our Founders founded this religious family by focusing on a synodality that was not described with words, but lived with facts. This style of missionary synodality lived within animates our life in what are the ‘normal’ moments, times of encounter with the Educating Community, with collaborators, with the laity, with young people because one thing that the Synod has underlined is living missionary synodality not so much ‘for’ the young, but ‘with’ the young, involving them in this journey of personal formation, but also living the mission together”.
On the Website synod.va can be found documents, resources, and news to continue following the synodal journey.
In a music video on the site’s YouTube Channel, some frames of the synodal process “around the world” are shown:
