Here’s what will be new at the Synod on Synodality part 2

Organizers discuss the upcoming second session of the Synod on Synodality at a press conference at the Holy See Press Office on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Sep 16, 2024 / 16:15 pm (CNA).

Before the second session of the Synod on Synodality kicks off in Rome at the beginning of October, participants will gather in retreat to pray together and ask forgiveness for sins in a penitential prayer vigil led by Pope Francis.

In addition, four new forums will be conducted on two dates alongside the monthlong assembly and will provide a public platform for reflection and debate on theological topics being discussed during the synod.

These and other changes to the second part of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops Oct. 2–27 were highlighted by synod organizers on Monday.

Penitential vigil

The day before the synod begins, a prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 1 will mark the conclusion of a two-day retreat at the Vatican for synod members. At the public vigil, “some of the sins that cause the most pain and shame will be called by name, invoking God’s mercy,” synod secretary Cardinal Mario Grech said at a press conference Sept. 16.

During the prayer service, three people will speak about their experiences of being harmed by sexual abuse, war, and indifference toward migrants, and there will be a “confession of various types of sins,” Grech said. “It will not be about denouncing the sin of others but about recognizing ourselves as part of those who, by action or at least omission, become the cause of the suffering suffered by the innocent and helpless.”

The event has been organized by the synod secretariat in collaboration with the Diocese of Rome, the Union of Major Superiors, and the International Union of Major Superiors.

According to a press release, attendees will request forgiveness “in the name of all the baptized” for “sin against peace, sin against creation, against Indigenous populations, against migrants; sin of abuse; sin against women, family, youth; sin of using doctrine as stones to be hurled; sin against poverty; sin against synodality/lack of listening, communion, and participation of all.”

The Synod on Synodality will then have its official start with an opening Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 2.

Participants and methodology

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, the relator general for the Synod on Synodality, said Sept. 16 that there have been “no great changes” to the 368 voting members and 96 nonvoting participants in the second session of the assembly.

To date, only 25 changes have been recorded, mostly replacements for people who are no longer able to attend, he explained, including several for health reasons.

The number of fraternal delegates, representatives of non-Catholic Christian faiths, has increased from 12 to 16 at the request of Pope Francis. The new additions are representatives of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and all of Africa, the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, the Lutheran World Federation, and the World Mennonite Conference.

The overall format for the nearly monthlong meeting remains very similar to the prior year’s gathering — including daily prayer, theological reflections, and “conversation in the Spirit” in small working groups divided by language.

But organizers noted Monday that there will be fewer plenaries (when members have the opportunity to address the entire assembly) in 2024, and instead, representatives of each of the working groups will meet among themselves to share what emerged during conversations. 

There will also be “more pauses for prayer and reflection,” according to Sheila Pires, who is on the synod’s communication team. 

One of these pauses will be another retreat day on Oct. 21, according to Father Giacomo Costa, SJ, a synod special secretary. He explained that this retreat will allow members to spiritually prepare for the presentation of the draft of the synod’s final document, which they will be called to provide feedback for before voting on the document’s final content.

There will also be voting during the synod to determine what topics will be concretely discussed, he said.

Theological-pastoral forums

Organizers insist that hot-button topics discussed during the first session will not be on the program in October, which will focus on “how the synodal Church is on mission.”

This year, however, the theological and pastoral underpinnings of the synodal discussions will be open to the public to learn about during four forums on Oct. 9 and Oct. 16 in Rome.

The forums will be on “The People of God, Subject of the Mission,” “The Role and Authority of the Bishop in a Synodal Church,” “The Mutual Relationship Between the Local Church and the Universal Church,” and “The Exercise of Primacy in the Synod of Bishops.”

In each forum, four or five theologians, canonists, and bishops will introduce “the principle questions, focusing on the different perspective from which these issues can be viewed,” Father Riccardo Battocchio, a special secretary of the synod, said Sept. 16. 

Afterward, the floor will open up for questions and responses from those present.

According to a press release, the forums are intended for all participants in the Assembly (members, special guests, fraternal delegates, experts). Journalists accredited to the Holy See Press Office are also invited and members of the public may attend according to available space. Registration will be required for anyone who wants to participate, with details on how to register to be released at a later date.

These four forums, Battocchio said, “intend to offer a further contribution of reflections ... to those who will participate in the second session ... but also to other people interested in the themes of the synod.”

They will tackle, he continued, themes connected to several sections in the Instrumentum Laboris.

The forums’ speakers have not yet been published.

The October assembly of the Synod on Synodality will mark the end of the discernment phase of the Church’s synodal process, which Pope Francis opened in 2021.

The third phase of the synod — after “the consultation of the people of God” and “the discernment of the pastors” — will be “implementation,” according to organizers.

The Instrumentum Laboris for the final part of the Synod on Synodality, published July 9, focused on how to implement certain of the synod’s aims while laying aside some of the more hot-button topics from the October 2023 gathering, such as women deacons, priestly celibacy, and LGBTQ outreach.

These more controversial subjects and others have been delegated to the competency of 15 study groups formed starting late last year.

The 2024 guiding document instead offered concrete proposals for instituting a listening and accompaniment ministry, greater lay involvement in parish economics and finances, and more powerful parish councils.

“Without tangible changes, the vision of a synodal Church will not be credible,” the Instrumentum Laboris, or “working tool,” said.

The 15 study groups will continue to meet through June 2025 but will provide an update on their progress at the beginning of the second session in October.