Letter of the
XVI Ordinary General Assembly
of the Synod of Bishops
to the People of God
Dear sisters, dear brothers,
As the proceedings of the first session of the 16th
Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops draw to a close, we want to
thank God with all of you for the beautiful and enriching experience we have
lived. We lived this blessed time in profound communion with all of you. We
were supported by your prayers, bearing with you your expectations, your
questions, as well as your fears. As Pope Francis requested two years ago, a
long process of listening and discernment was initiated, open to all the People
of God, no one being excluded, to “journey together” under the guidance of the
Holy Spirit, missionary disciples engaged in the following of Jesus Christ.
The session in which we have been gathered in Rome
since 30 September is an important phase of this process. In many ways it has
been an unprecedented experience. For the first time, at Pope Francis’
invitation, men and women have been invited, in virtue of their baptism, to sit
at the same table to take part, not only in the discussions, but also in the
voting process of this Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. Together, in the
complementarity of our vocations, our charisms and our ministries, we have
listened intensely to the Word of God and the experience of others. Using the
conversation in the Spirit method, we have humbly shared the wealth and poverty
of our communities from every continent, seeking to discern what the Holy
Spirit wants to say to the Church today. We have thus also experienced the
importance of fostering mutual exchanges between the Latin tradition and the
traditions of Eastern Christianity. The participation of fraternal delegates
from other Churches and Ecclesial Communities deeply enriched our discussions.
Our assembly took place in the context of a world in
crisis, whose wounds and scandalous inequalities resonated painfully in our
hearts, infusing our work with a particular gravity, especially since some of
us come from countries where war rages. We prayed for the victims of deadly
violence, without forgetting all those who have been forced by misery and
corruption to take the dangerous road of migration. We assured our solidarity
and commitment alongside the women and men all over the world who are working
to build justice and peace.
At the invitation of the Holy Father, we made
significant room for silence to foster mutual listening and a desire for
communion in the Spirit among us. During the opening ecumenical vigil, we
experienced how the thirst for unity increases in the silent contemplation of
the crucified Christ. In fact, the cross is the only cathedra of the One who,
having given himself for the salvation of the world, entrusted His disciples to
His Father, so that “they may all be one” (John 17:21). Firmly united in the
hope brought by His Resurrection, we entrusted to Him our common home where the
cries of the earth and the poor are becoming increasingly urgent: “Laudate
Deum!” (“Praise God!”), as Pope Francis reminded us at the beginning of our
work.
Day by day, we felt the pressing call to pastoral and
missionary conversion. For the Church’s vocation is to proclaim the Gospel not
by focusing on itself, but by placing itself at the service of the infinite
love with which God loved the world (cf. John 3:16). When homeless people near
St. Peter’s Square were asked about their expectations regarding the Church on
the occasion of this synod, they replied: “Love!”. This love must always remain
the ardent heart of the Church, a Trinitarian and Eucharistic love, as the Pope
recalled on October 15, midway through our assembly, invoking the message of
Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus. It is “trust” that gives us the audacity and
inner freedom that we experienced, not hesitating to freely and humbly express
our convergences, differences, desires and questions.
And now? We hope that the months leading to the second
session in October 2024 will allow everyone to concretely participate in the
dynamism of missionary communion indicated by the word “synod”. This is not
about ideology, but about an experience rooted in the apostolic tradition. As
the Pope reminded us at the beginning of this process, “communion and mission can risk remaining somewhat abstract, unless
we cultivate an ecclesial praxis that expresses the concreteness of
synodality (...) encouraging
real involvement on the part of each and all” (October 9, 2021). There
are multiple challenges and numerous questions: the synthesis report of the
first session will specify the points of agreement we have reached, highlight
the open questions, and indicate how our work will proceed.
To progress in its discernment, the Church absolutely
needs to listen to everyone, starting with the poorest. This requires a path of
conversion on its part, which is also a path of praise: “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding
and revealed them to little children” (Luke 10:21)! It means listening to
those who have been denied the right to speak in society or who feel excluded,
even by the Church; listening to people who are victims of racism in all its
forms – in particular in some regions to indigenous peoples whose cultures have
been scorned. Above all, the Church of our time has the duty to listen, in a
spirit of conversion, to those who have been victims of abuse committed by
members of the ecclesial body, and to commit herself concretely and
structurally to ensuring that this does not happen again.
The Church also needs to listen to the laity, women
and men, all called to holiness by virtue of their baptismal vocation: to the
testimony of catechists, who in many situations are the first proclaimers of
the Gospel; to the simplicity and vivacity of children, the enthusiasm of
youth, to their questions, and their pleas; to the dreams, the wisdom and the
memory of elderly people. The Church needs to listen to families, to their
educational concerns, to the Christian witness they offer in today's world. She
needs to welcome the voice of those who want to be involved in lay ministries
and to participate in discernment and decision-making structures.
To progress further in synodal discernment, the Church
particularly needs to gather even more the words and experience of the ordained
ministers: priests, the primary collaborators of the bishops, whose sacramental
ministry is indispensable for the life of the whole body; deacons, who, through
their ministry, signify the care of the entire Church for the most vulnerable.
She also needs to let herself be questioned by the prophetic voice of
consecrated life, the watchful sentinel of the Spirit’s call. She also needs to
be attentive to all those who do not share her faith but are seeking the truth,
and in whom the Spirit, who “offers everyone the possibility of being
associated with this paschal mystery” (Gaudium et Spes 22, 5), is also
present and operative.
“The world
in which we live, and which we are called to love and serve, even with its
contradictions, demands that the Church strengthen cooperation in all areas of
her mission. It is precisely this path of synodality which God
expects of the Church of the third millennium” (Pope Francis, October
17, 2015). We do not need to be afraid to respond to this call. Mary, the first
on the journey, accompanies our pilgrimage. In joy and in sorrow, she shows us
her Son and invites us to trust. And He, Jesus, is our only hope!
Vatican
City, October 25, 2023
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