It will be coordinated by the General Secretariat with the participation of the relevant departments. The second session will be held from October 2 to 27 and is preceded by two days of retreat (September 30 – October 1).
Vatican News
The General Secretariat of the Synod announces that Pope Francis has set the dates for the second session of the Sixteenth Ordinary General Assembly, which will be held from Wednesday, October 2, to Sunday, October 27, 2024, to continue the work of the Synod on it. Synod on the theme “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission”. As in October 2023, this second session will be preceded by two days of spiritual retreat, from September 30 to October 1 (participants will arrive on September 29).
At the same time as the statement was issued, an infographic was published from the Pope stipulating the formation of study groups to delve deeper into some of the issues that arose during the previous session. It will be established between the corresponding departments of the Roman Curia and the General Secretariat of the Congregation, which will coordinate it.
In the chart dedicated to the cooperation between the therapeutic circles and the Synod Secretariat, Francis mentions that in the Constitution of the Roman Curia it is read that “the life of communion gives the Church the face of collegiality.” The mission of the General Secretariat of the Council, which depends directly on the Supreme Pontiff and which “supports and accompanies the conciliar process decided from time to time”, is once again emphasized, favoring in the spirit of synod the relations of bishops and particular churches among themselves. themselves and in communion with the Bishop of Rome.
The book concludes by stating that “the circles of the Roman Curia cooperate, in accordance with their specific competences, in the activity of the General Secretariat of the Synod, and form study groups to begin, in a synodal manner, to deepen some of the issues that have arisen.” At the first session of the Synod of Bishops. “These study groups will be established by joint agreement between the competent departments of the Roman Curia and the General Secretariat of the Congregation, which is entrusted with coordination.”
In the “Towards October 2024” document of the Synod Secretariat, published on 11 December 2023, it was confirmed that the next Assembly would focus on how the Synod should be lived at all levels of the Church. Now, the Pope's decision makes it clear that some of the most important topics arising from listening to the Churches require a constant time of theological, ecclesiastical and pastoral depth according to a synodal method in which experts from all continents and Roman circles participate. Korea according to their powers. The study groups to be created and on what topics are currently being determined. The summary report that was voted on at the end of the session last October referred to some of these matters, such as the modernization of some canonical rules, the training of ordained ministers, relations between bishops and religious orders, and theological and pastoral research on the diaconate.
The contributions of the study groups, from what can be gleaned from the Secretariat document published in December and from today's papal chart, will be useful tools for thinking about the Church as a whole, but they will not directly shape the topic of discussion of the next session of the Synod, which will focus on synodality as such, which is an expression About fellowship in the life of the church. Finally, it is interesting to note the role assigned to the General Secretariat of the Synod, directed by Cardinal Mario Grech, who will coordinate the work with the Synods. An organization that is not part of the Roman Curia, but is also directly subordinate to the Pope.
The date of the New consultants
Also today, Pope Francis appointed six new advisors to the General Secretariat of the Synod, in addition to the current ten. The new chancellors are: Monsignor Alphonse Boras, Episcopal Vicar of the Diocese of Liège (Belgium); Gilles Routhier, Professor of Theology at Laval University (Canada); Ormond Rush, Associate Professor of Theology at Australian Catholic University; Sister Birgitte Weiler, MMS, professor of theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru; Professor Tricia C. Bruce, President-Elect of the Society for the Sociology of Religion; and Maria Clara Lucchetti Bingmer, professor of theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro.
