2023-04-26 19:01:00
April 26, 2023 / 12:01 p.m.
Pope Francis has introduced novelties in the ordering of the XVI General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which will take place from October 4 to 29, 2023. Among them are the “participation of non-bishops” and the vote of the laity, including women.
In the October Synod, 70 new non-prelate members will participate, and presumably half of them will be women.
The change has been approved by the Pontiff on April 17. Thus, the laity –men and women– who are chosen to participate will be able to vote for the first time. Until now they only had a voice, but the vote on the final document was reserved for the prelates.
These “non-bishop members” are chosen by the Pope, the synod organizers point out. “With this decision of the Holy Father, the Synod will continue to be a Synod of Bishops, but there will be this expanded participation,” said Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, in statements to the press this Wednesday, April 26, 2023. .
Likewise, the ten clerics belonging to institutes of consecrated life, who were usually elected by the respective organizations that represent the Superiors General, will be replaced by five women religious and five men religious belonging to institutes of consecrated life. As members, they will have the right to vote.
“When identifying them, not only their general knowledge and prudence is taken into account, but also their knowledge, both theoretical and practical, as well as their participation in various capacities in the synodal process,” according to the organizers.
“It is not a revolution, but an important change: the 70 new members are 21% of the assembly, which remains fully an assembly of bishops, with a certain participation of non-bishops”, confirmed Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, Rapporteur General of the Assembly during the same meeting with the press in the Vatican.
“It will be up to the continental assemblies to propose 20 names, and Pope Francis will be able to choose 10 from each continent and from the Conference of Patriarchs of the Middle East”, continued the also Archbishop of Luxembourg. “It would be good if, among these 70, half are women and that there are young people, so that the Church is well represented”, he added.
In February 2021, the Holy Father appointed a religious, Sister Nathalie Becquart, Undersecretary of the Synod. Then it was learned that she would be the first woman to vote in a synodal assembly. To date, women, religious or lay, could only be “auditors” and intervene during the assembly, without access to vote.
Another novelty is the presence in the Synod of bishops who are not part of an Episcopal Conference, such as Luxembourg. “Until now, these Churches were not represented. This time they will be able to send a member to the Synod. The Church will be more complete in this Synod, and it will be a joy to have the whole Church gathered in Rome”, stressed Cardinal Hollerich.
“The space of the store is expanding,” explained Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod. “The participation of the new members not only ensures the dialogue that exists between the prophecy of the people of God and the discernment of the pastors – the circularity set in motion throughout the synodal process – but also ensures memory.”
For Cardinal Grech, the new members “are witnesses of memory, of the synodal process, of the discernment journey that began two years ago. We hope that the changes introduced by the Holy Father can enrich not so much the Synod, whose nature is not affected because it will continue to be the Synod of Bishops, but the whole Church”.
The Synod is an assembly of bishops who meet called by the Pope and together with him, to “mutually exchange information and share experiences, with the common goal of seeking pastoral solutions that are valid and universally applicable.” It was instituted as a permanent body by Pope Saint Paul VI on September 15, 1965.
This XVI Assembly will gather in the Vatican, in October 2023, 300 participants, mostly bishops, but also representatives of consecrated life, lay people, experts and authorities of the Vatican Curia. The current regulations of the Synod continue to refer to the apostolic constitution Episcopal communion.
Responding to a question about the final votes, the Cardinals reiterated: “We are not behind the votes.” Along these lines, they clarified that voting is a human instrument that will help, but the Synod “is a discernment, it is a prayer.”
Precisely, Pope Francis has insisted on several occasions stressing that the Synod is not a “parliament”, but a “process” to listen and “get involved with the Spirit”.
It should be noted that the Synod on Synodality, which began in 2021 and will last until 2024, will not make decisions, since its purpose is not normative. The conclusions of the Assembly are simply handed over to the Holy Father to determine whether or not to draft a document.
On the other hand, the Synod on Synodality will take place in two final stages, in October of this year and in October 2024. It was preceded by a long phase of consultation in all the dioceses of the world, which was then projected at the regional level, mainland and general
The result was a working document that summarizes the various observations and that, among other things, states: “From all continents comes a call for Catholic women to be valued first and foremost as baptized and equal members of the People of God.”
The Synod Secretariat announced on April 20 that the An instrument of labor It will be ready at the end of May. This is a guide text that will serve to deepen, during the October assembly, the pastoral concerns and priorities that have emerged at the local level.
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