With the closing of the second and final session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, the Synod on Synodal came to an end on Sunday the 27th October, which has seen the Catholic world confront and dialogue since 2021, first at the local level and finally, in the last two years, at the global level.
Presented by Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod, not as a convention, but as "an ecclesial assembly that prays", made up of people "docile to the voice of the Holy Spirit", the Synod showed all the differences present in the contemporary Church, understood not as divisions, but as richness, mutual listening, search for harmony. This is what Card. Leonardo Ulrich Steiner, OFM, Archbishop of Manaus (Brazil), who also underlined how in the Amazon synodality is the way to go, as well as in the Order: the importance of the laity, of the missionary sisters, of the synodal assemblies to listen to everyone are already a reality in the Amazon.
A journey that, however, does not stop there. The approved Final Document, which will not be followed by an apostolic exhortation from the Holy Father, is only a new beginning: in fact, the work of the ten "Study Groups" on particular themes will continue and above all Pope Francis will continue to listen to the bishops and the Churches, as he himself said in his speech delivered on Saturday 26 October in the Paul VI Hall to the participants of the Synod. "The key word is this: harmony. What the Spirit does, the first strong manifestation, on the morning of Pentecost, is to harmonize all those differences, all those languages... Harmony!", said Francis, well aware that in the future there will be many decisions to be made, as witnesses of peace, "also learning to give real form to the conviviality of differences".
Some of the themes on which there are different points of view and which will be explored in depth in the coming months concern the role of women in the Church (paragraph no. 60), dialogue with believers of other religions (no. 123), the revision of the liturgy (no. 27), the revision of formation courses for candidates for the ordained ministry (no. 148), the decision-making competence of the bishop (n. 92), the role of the Episcopal Conferences (n. 129), the strengthening of collaboration between the Latin Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches (n. 133), to name a few.
Concluding his greeting, the Holy Father said: "We come from all parts of the world, marked by violence, poverty and indifference. Together, with the hope that does not disappoint, united in the love of God spread in our hearts, we can not only dream of peace, but commit ourselves with all our strength so that, perhaps without talking so much about synodality, peace is achieved through processes of listening, dialogue and reconciliation. The synodal church for mission now needs shared words to be accompanied by deeds. This is the path".
Seven of our friars participated in the Synod:
Cardinal Leonardo Ulrich Steiner, OFM, Archbishop of Manaus (Brazil)
Msgr. Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera, OFM, Archbishop of Guayaquil (Ecuador)
Msgr. Jaime Spengler, OFM Archbishop of Porto Alegre (Brazil)
Msgr. Héctor Miguel Cabrejos Vidarte, OFM, Arcivescovo di Trujillo (Perù)
Msgr. Adrianus Sunarko, OFM, Vescovo di Pangkalpinang (Indonesia)
Msgr. Franz Lackner, OFM, Arcivescovo di Salzburg (Austria)
Br. Joel Da Costa Pinto Cazemiro, OFM (Timor Est)
Download the Final Document of the Synod: Italiano
Read Pope Francis' greeting: Italiano - English - Español - Deutsch - Français - Polski - Português
