Bishops meeting in the
Paul VI at the Synod on sinodality in 2024 ( foto Agência Ecclesia)
Pope approves convocation of post-synodal Ecclesial
Assembly in 2028
Pope Francis officially initiates a new phase in the
Church’s synodal journey by approving an accompaniment process that will
culminate in an Ecclesial Assembly in 2028.
By Isabella Piro
Cardinal Mario Grech, the Secretary General of the Synod’s
General Secretariat, has announced the convocation of a special post-synodal
Ecclesial Assembly to be held in the Vatican in October 2028 as the
culmination of a three-year process accompanying the
implementation of the outcomes of the Synod.
In a letter addressed to all Bishops and Eparchs, along with
the Patriarchs and Major Archbishops of the Eastern Catholic Churches, Cardinal
Grech explained that the assembly will not be a new Synod.
The process refers to the implementation phase of the
three-year Synod on the theme: “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation,
and Mission,” which conluded in October 2024.
As the Pope immediately clarified at its conclusion, the
Final Document of the 16th General Assembly “is part of the ordinary
Magisterium of the Successor of Peter” and, as such, must be received. This,
explained Cardinal Grech, means that “local Churches and groups of Churches”
must commit to “implementing” the document’s guidelines through processes of
“discernment and decision-making”.
Making exchanges within the Church concrete
Cardinal Grech specified that the implementation phase
should not be seen as “a simple application of directives from above” but
rather as “a reception process” of the Final Document in a manner “appropriate
to local cultures and community needs.” The goal remains “to make exchanges and
dialogue between Churches and within the Church concrete.”
Involving priests, deacons, consecrated persons, and
laypeople
A crucial aspect of this implementation process is the
renewed involvement of all those who contributed to the Synod so that
“listening to all the Churches” and the discernment of their pastors can bear
fruit.
Fundamental to this effort will be “synodal teams composed
of priests, deacons, consecrated men and women, and laypeople, accompanied by
their bishop.” The Secretary General therefore recommends that these teams be
“valued” and, if necessary, “renewed, reactivated, and appropriately
integrated.”
Study groups and the Canon Law Commission
According to the Secretary General, the entire process forms
“the framework” in which the “results of the Study Groups’ work and the
contributions of the the Canonical Commission of the Synod” will be placed.
The ten Study Groups were established by Pope Francis in
March 2024 to examine issues that emerged during the first session of the 16th
Synodal Assembly in 2023.
Instead, the Canonical Commission shic has been
active since 2023 , as indicated in the Instrumentum Laboris of the
Assembly’s second session was established “in agreement with the
Dicastery for Legislative Texts, to serve the Synod.”
The Jubilee of Synodal Teams
Cardinal Grech outlined the stages of the accompaniment
process for the Synod’s implementation phase: the announcement of the process
which will be followed in May, by the publication of a specific
document detailing its execution and the celebration a of
“Jubilee of Synodal Teams and Participatory Bodies” scheduled for
October 24-26.
The Secretary General emphasized that this is “an important
event” that places “the commitment to an increasingly synodal Church within the
horizon of the hope that does not disappoint,” the central theme of the ongoing
Holy Year.
A three-year process
Between the first and second semesters of 2027, evaluation
Assemblies will take place within dioceses, eparchies, national and
international Episcopal Conferences, Eastern hierarchical structures, and other
Church groups. The first and second semesters of 2028 will be dedicated to
continental evaluation Assemblies and the publication of the Instrumentum
laboris for the Ecclesial Assembly in October 2028.
A call to pray for the Pope
Cardinal Grech’s letter concludes with an invitation to pray
for Pope Francis’ health, as he has been hospitalized at Rome’s Gemelli
Polyclinic since February 14.
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