Pope Francis: Synod is a time for
sharing
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| Pope Francis leads mid-afternoon prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours at the opening session of the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. (Vatican Media) |
Pope Francis leads the assembled gathering in the Liturgy of
the Hours, and gives the opening address at the XV Ordinary General Assembly of
the Synod of Bishops.
By Christopher Wells
In his Opening Speech for the Fifteenth General Assembly of
the Synod of Bishops, Pope Francis said “the Synod we are living is a time for
sharing” – sharing that must involve both speaking with courage and frankness,
and listening with humility. The Synod, he said, “must be an exercise in
dialogue,” especially for those directly participating in the event.
Pope Francis emphasized that the Synod “is an ecclesial
exercise in discernment,” an “interior attitude rooted in an act of faith.” One
of the innovations in this General Assembly will be moments of silence after
every five speeches, precisely in order for participants to discern what they
have heard.
The importance of listening was in important motif in the
Pope’s speech. In order to be a Church that “listens and journeys,” Pope
Francis said we must “leave behind” our “prejudice and stereotypes.” In
particular, he warned against both the “scourge of clericalism” and the “virus
of self-sufficiency.”
Despite the troubles the Church faces today, Pope Francis
reminded us that “our faith tells us that it is also the Kairos,”
God’s time, “in which the Lord comes to meet us in order to love us and call us
to the fullness of life.”
“May the Synod awaken our hearts!” he proclaimed, expressing
the hope that “the meeting between generations” might “be extremely fruitful
for giving rise to hope.”
During the Synod, Pope Francis said, “let us ‘spend time
with the future,’” in order “to take from this Synod not merely a document –
that generally is only read by a few and criticized by many – but above all
concrete pastoral proposals capable of fulfilling the Synod’s purpose.”
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