Synod14: Full Text of
Pope Francis' Opening Words
"It
is necessary to say everything that, in the Lord, one feels should be said,
with human respect, without fear, and, at the same time, one must listen with
humility."
This morning, in the course of the 1st General
Congregation of the 3rd Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops,
Pope Francis addressed the following words of gratitude and greeting to the
Synodal Fathers, which we translate below
* * *
Eminences, Beatitudes, Excellences, Brothers
and Sisters,
I give you my cordial welcome to this meeting
and my heartfelt thanks for you solicitous and qualified presence and
attendance.
In your name, I would like to express my
earnest and profound gratitude to all the persons who worked for long months,
with dedication, patience and competence, reading, evaluating and elaborating
the topics, texts and works of this Extraordinary General Assembly.
Allow me to address my particular and cordial
gratitude to Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, Secretary General of the Synod; to
Monsignor Fabio Fabene, Under-Secretary, and, together with them, all the
reporters, writers, advisers, translators and all the staff of the Secretariat
of the Synod of Bishops. They worked tirelessly, and continue to work, for the
good outcome of the present Synod: thank you, truly, so much and may the Lord
recompense you!
Likewise, I thank the Post-Synodal Council,
the reporter and the Secretary General; the Episcopal Conferences that truly
worked so much and, with them, I thank the three Presidents Delegate.
I also thank you, dear Cardinals, Patriarchs,
Bishops, priests, men and women religious, laymen and laywomen for your
presence and for your participation, which enriches the works and the spirit of
collegiality and synodality for the good of the Church and of families! I also
wanted this spirit of synodality in the choice of the reporter, the Secretary
General and the Presidents Delegate. The first two were elected directly by the
Post-Synodal Council, which was also elected by the participants in the last
Synod. Instead, as the Presidents Delegate must be chosen by the Pope, I
asked the Post-Synodal Council itself to suggest names and I appointed those
that the Council proposed to me.
You carry the voice of the particular
Churches, gathered at the level of local Churches through the Episcopal
Conferences. The universal Church and the particular Churches are of divine
institution; the local Churches thus understood are of human institution. You
will carry this voice in synodality. It is a great responsibility: to carry the
realities and the problems of the Churches, to help them walk on that path that
is the Gospel of the family.
A basic general condition is this: to speak
clearly. No one must say: “This can’t be said; he will think of me this way or
that …” It is necessary to say everything that is felt with parrhesia. After
the last Consistory (February 2014), in which there was talk of the family, a
Cardinal wrote to me saying: too bad that some Cardinals didn’t have the
courage to say some things out of respect for the Pope, thinking, perhaps, that
the Pope thought something different. This is not good; this is not synodality,
because it is necessary to say everything that in the Lord one feels should be
said, with human respect, without fear. And, at the same time, one must listen
with humility and receive with an open heart what the brothers say. Synodality
will be exercised with these two attitudes.
Therefore, I ask you, please, for these
attitudes of brothers in the Lord: to speak with parrhesia and to listen with
humility.
And do so with much tranquillity and peace,
because the Synod always unfolds cum Petro et sub Petro, and
the Pope’s presence is the guarantee for all and protection of the faith.
Dear Brothers, let us all collaborate so that
the dynamic of synodality is clearly affirmed. Thank you.
[Original text: Italian]
[Translation by ZENIT]
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